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Sarbanes Secures Millions of Dollars in Federal Funding for Maryland

June 19, 2019

House-Passed Appropriations Bill Would Strengthen Maryland’s Health Care System, Fund Groundbreaking Medical Research, Boost Early Childhood and K-12 Education, Protect Student Borrowers, Increase Support for Job Training Programs and Help Protect the Chesapeake Bay

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) today helped secure millions of federal dollars for Maryland by passing H.R. 2740, an appropriations bill that would strengthen the state’s health care system, increase funding for lifesaving medical research, enhance education and job training programs and help protect the Chesapeake Bay.

“This infusion of federal resources will help hardworking Maryland families and communities across our state,” said Congressman Sarbanes. “These federal dollars will strengthen the health and resiliency of the Chesapeake Bay, increase funding for addiction treatment and services to help fight the opioid crisis, enhance access to affordable health insurance, boost funding for early childhood education and K-12 education programs, crack down on predatory student loan servicers, invest billions of dollars in medical research at the National Institutes of Health and direct the CDC to finally conduct research on gun violence in America, among many other important Maryland priorities.”

See below for key highlights of H.R. 2740.

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Health Care

  • Increases funding at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by $2 billion.
     
  • Provides the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with $25 million in new funding for gun violence research.
     
  • Appropriates $250 million – an increase of $40 million – for CDC research on tobacco and e-cigarettes.
     
  • Extends $3.8 billion – an increase of $24 million – to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) for substance use treatment, including funding for opioid prevention and treatment. Funding also includes $212 million for substance abuse prevention – an increase of $7 million.
     
  • Increases funding for Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), including $1.7 billion – an increase of $50 million – for community health centers, $2.4 billion – an increase of $116 million – for the Ryan White HIV/AIDS program, and $973 million – an increase of $46 million – for programs that improve maternal health and children’s health, along with $5 million to reduce maternal mortality.
     
  • Boosts Title X funding by $114 million for a total of $400 million. The bill also rescinds the Trump Administration’s “gag rule” on Title X funding, which banned any funding recipient from providing, educating or giving referrals for abortion.
     
  • Directs $100 million to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to support navigators, outreach and enrollment efforts that help Americans get health insurance.
     

Energy, Environment and the Chesapeake Bay

  • Includes language championed by Congressman Sarbanes that directs $5 million of dedicated funding to Maryland and Virginia for oyster restoration in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.
     
  • Allows projects identified in the Chesapeake Bay Comprehensive Plan to be eligible for new construction funding, as requested by Congressman Sarbanes.
     
  • Increases the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund by 9 percent, which will help bolster the Port of Baltimore.
     
  • Provides a total of $300 million to modernize the nation’s electricity grid and defend the U.S. energy sector against cyber and other attacks – $61.5 million above the FY 2019 level.
     
  • Offers an 11 percent increase in funding for the Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Office, which helps boost access to affordable clean energy.
     
  • Rejects the Trump Administration’s proposed elimination of the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) – which supports breakthrough clean energy innovations – and instead, increases ARPA-E’s funding by 16 percent for a total of $425 million.
     
  • Reverses Trump Administration cuts to clean energy and directs $179 million to renewable energy projects and $177 million to renewable energy adaptation.
     

Education

  • Includes language requested by Congressman Sarbanes that directs the Department of Education to award new contracts to loan servicers that comply with federal and state law. This helps protect student borrowers from harmful practices conducted by loan servicers.
     
  • Extends $42.2 billion for K-12 education programs, an increase of $3.4 billion.
     
  • Increases funding for early childhood programs, including the Child Care and Development Block Grant and Head Start, by $4 billion.
     
  • Allocates $14.5 billion for Special Education, an increase of $1.05 billion.
     
  • Provides $350 million in funding for Temporary Expansion Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
     
  • Appropriates $1.3 billion – a $150 million increase – for the Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants program, which supports environmental education and literacy activities for students across America.
     
  • Increases the Pell Grant maximum to $6,345.
     

Jobs and the Economy

  • Deploys $10.6 billion for the Employment and Training Administration, a $709 million increase, including $250 million – a $90 million increase – for Registered Apprenticeship Grants and $150 million for a new investment in community college job training grants.
     
  • Provides $1.8 billion for Worker Protection Agencies, an increase of $237 million. This funding includes $298 million to enforce wage and hour laws and $661 million for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to improve worker safety.
     
  • Extends $316 million – an increase of $16 million – for Veterans Employment and Training Service (VETS).
     

Defense

  • Provides $200 million to fully support Israeli Cooperative procurement programs, including Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow.
     
  • Increases funding for the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Sexual Assault Prevention and Response programs by $38 million, for a total of $297 million.
     
  • Gives the military a 3.1 percent pay raise.
     
  • Repeals the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) 240 days after enactment of the Act.
     
  • Explicitly states that nothing in the AUMF can be construed as authorizing the use of force against Iran.
     
  • Directs the removal of the U.S. Armed Forces from hostilities in the Republic of Yemen that have not been authorized by Congress.
     

State, Foreign Operations

  • Prevents the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey – an effort led by Congressman Sarbanes – until the Department of State can certify that Turkey will not purchase S-400 missile systems from Russia.
     
  • Supports cooperation among Greece, Cyprus and Israel, and notes that any funds spent on Cyprus should only be used to support reunification efforts.
     
  • Appropriates $7.97 billion for migration and refugee assistance.
     
  • Provides $2.6 billion for maternal and child health, and for nutrition programs.
     
  • Includes the Global HER Act – a bill co-sponsored by Congressman Sarbanes – to permanently repeal the Global Gag Rule and block funding for implementing the Trump Administration’s expanded Global Gag Rule, which undermines AIDS relief, maternal and child health, nutrition and other key aid programs.
     
  • Removes the Trump Administration’s prohibition on funding for the Green Climate Fund and blocks funding for the withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement.
     

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