House Passes Government Funding and Disaster Relief Measures

Press Release

Congressman Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) issued the following statement after the House passed a Continuing Resolution to fund the government until January 19, 2018. Additionally, the House passed an $81 billion disaster aid package for areas affected by wildfires and hurricanes.

LaMalfa said: "This is a straight funding bill that will fund the government until January and keep important programs like CHIP and the Veterans Choice program running until we can reach a better, more accountable long term solution next year. We're also sending the largest-ever disaster aid package that will help those in California that have been impacted by this year's wildfires -- and expands the ability to deduct losses from 2017. I'm disappointed the process of getting through the Senate has led us to this point, but there's still a lot left on the table to accomplish in January -- including properly funding our military. It is imperative that we fund these critical programs in the meantime and provide disaster victims with the assistance they need to recover."

Important Highlights of the spending bill:

$2.85 billion to fund the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) until March 2018.
$2.1 billion to fund the Veterans Choice program, which allows veterans to seek care outside the Department of Veterans Affairs system.
$750 million for reauthorization of critical public health programs, including teaching health centers and community health centers.
2017 wildfire losses were already deductible. This bill maintains and expands these deductions to include through the end of 2018.
Includes a waiver to prevent across the board mandatory spending cuts triggered by H.R. 1.

Source