Senate Appropriations Summarizes Fiscal 2015 Omnibus Bill

In addition, it includes: $5.4 billion of emergency funding to prepare for and respond to the Ebola outbreak; $73.7 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations; and $6.5 billion of disaster aid.

Bill Summary

The Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill invests in a wide range of critical programs that affect the lives of every man, woman and child in the United States. The bill invests in essential programs that directly impact public health and safety. Through nutrition programs, such as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), the bill helps assist the young and most vulnerable populations. Increased funding for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will ensure our food and drug supply remains the safest and most reliable in the world.

The bill makes substantial investments in improving job opportunities and the quality of life in rural America. Almost $25 billion in single family housing loans are made available, providing homeownership opportunities for more than 170,000 rural households. More than $2.2 billion is provided for essential community facilities, including schools, hospitals, health clinics, day and elder care facilities, libraries, etc.

The bill further provides funding for critical programs such as PL 480 Title II, which will help feed millions of people around the world.

Highlights of the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Bill

Agriculture Research

• The bill provides $1.133 billion for the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), which is $11 million more than fiscal year 2014 and makes critical investments in agricultural research across the country.

• The research funding addresses a wide array of critical problems affecting American agriculture from animal and crop protection and production to human nutrition, food safety and natural resources conservation. In fiscal year 2015, one of the many issues that ARS will focus on is increasing efforts to address the decline of honey bee health -- which has widespread implications for food and plants. ARS will develop and test the efficacy of best management practices to help prevent colony collapse disorder (CCD), reduce colony mortality to acceptable levels and potentially isolate causal factors of CCD.

• The bill provides $1.289 billion for National Institute of Food and Agriculture, or NIFA, which is $12 million more than fiscal year 2014. This amount includes $325 million for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, $244 million for Hatch Act and $300 million for Smith-Lever funding.

• These programs support research, education and extension, including plant and animal health, food safety, nutrition and health, bioenergy, natural resources and environment and agriculture systems and economics.

• The bill provides $6.623 billion for WIC, which is $93 million less than fiscal year 2014, but fully funds participation. WIC helps improve the health and nutritional intake of low-income pregnant, breastfeeding and postpartum women as well as infants and children up to their fifth birthday. Funding will support benefits for the more than eight million individuals expected to participate in the program each month. Additionally, WIC participants are given access to nutrition assessments, blood tests for anemia, nutrition education, breastfeeding promotion and health care referrals.

• The bill provides $25 million for school meal equipment grants. These equipment purchases are long-term investments that help schools serve healthier meals, improve food safety and expand access to nutrition programs. The grants will help replace outdated equipment with new, energy efficient appliances such as refrigerators, ovens and other food service related equipment. A recent survey of school food service personnel reported that 88 percent of schools need one or more pieces of equipment in order to meet the current lunch standards. Furthermore, only 42 percent reported having a budget adequate to help them meet their equipment needs.

• The bill provides $211 million for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which is $8.8 million more than fiscal year 2014, and will fully fund current participation and allow the program to expand into seven additional states.

• The bill provides $16 million to continue Summer Electronic Benefit Demonstration Grants, which provide the families of low-income children with benefits similar to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and WIC in an effort to provide alternative access to food for these children during the summer months, when school is not in session. Preliminary results of the demonstration grants have shown a decrease in food insecurity among participating children by 19 percent, and a decrease in very low food security, the most severe category, by 33 percent.

• The bill also provides struggling schools with limited flexibility in meeting the whole grain standards implemented as part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, and a delay in implementation of further sodium standards.

• The bill provides $1.088 billion for rental assistance, which is $22 million less than fiscal year 2014. This funding will allow almost 244,000 very low-income, rural residents to continue to live in affordable rental housing. The majority of these households are headed by elderly, disabled or women with an average household income of just $12,000.

• The bill maintains over $1.7 billion in water and waste loans and grants, restoring almost $150 million in grants cut from the President's request. These funds will allow small, remote rural communities to obtain the clean water and sanitary waste disposal systems they need.

• The bill includes almost $2.3 billion to finance essential community facilities in rural towns and villages. These projects span from providing fire trucks to constructing rural regional hospitals, schools, health clinics, town halls and libraries.

• The bill includes almost $25 billion for single family housing financing. This will provide almost 170,000 very low to moderate-income rural households the opportunity to own their own home.

• The bill provides $2.589 billion for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is $37 million more than fiscal year 2014. The FDA promotes and protects public health by overseeing the safety, efficacy, quality and security of food, human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices and cosmetics. Investments in the agency results in better safety all around.

• Funding includes an increase of $27 million for implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) to make our food supply safer. This funding increase will allow FDA to improve compliance and inspection programs to ensure the successful implementation of FSMA. It will also allow FDA to invest in cutting-edge tools to significantly reduce the time it takes to respond to complex food and produce safety issues.

• Additional increases include $15 million for oversight of compounding pharmacies; $5 million for additional investigations of counterfeit drugs, both domestically and overseas; $2 million for increased foreign drug inspections; and $3 million to enhance the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System.

• Additionally, the bill provides $25 million in emergency funding, as requested by the Administration, for increased work at FDA related to the ongoing Ebola epidemic, including increased medical countermeasures activities.

• The bill provides $1.466 billion for PL 480 Title II, which is the same amount provided in fiscal year 2014. This funding will provide food assistance to meet emergency needs around the world. In an emergency where people face the threat of imminent starvation, Title II emergency programs save lives, help boost the resilience of disaster-affected communities and support the transition from relief to recovery. The food provides life-saving assistance to millions of vulnerable people facing disasters overseas.

• The bill provides $192 million for the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education Grants. The program provides for the donation of food as well as logistical, financial and technical assistance to carry out school feeding programs for children in other countries. These funds will reduce the incidence of hunger and malnutrition, while also helping to improve literacy and primary education. These measures contribute to a healthy, literate workforce that can support a more prosperous, sustainable economy and ensure long-term food security. This funding will help more than four million children and mothers gain access to improved nutrition in many countries around the world.

• The bill provides $1.2 billion for the Farm Service Agency (FSA) to support their local field service system. FSA has offices in most rural counties throughout the country, allowing agricultural producers better access to the government programs they need.

• The bill also provides $3.5 billion for farm ownership loans and $2.645 billion for farm operating loans. The levels are expected to fully fund farmers' demands for these programs.

• The bill provides $1.016 billion for the Food Safety and Inspection Service, which is $5 million more than fiscal year 2014. This includes required funding for federal, state and international inspection services in order to staff our nation's beef, pork and poultry plants and ensure the continued safety of our food supply.

• The bill provides $871 million for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which is $49 million more than fiscal year 2014. This includes funding to control and eradicate feral swine in the U.S. Feral swine are present in at least 37 states and cause over $1.5 billion in damages to crops and the environment per year.

• The bill includes substantial funding for research and surveillance to combat the new Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea (PED) virus that is decimating swine herds. Although not dangerous to humans, the PED virus is lethal to piglets up to three weeks old. After being identified in the U.S. in May 2013, the virus has already caused the death of millions of young pigs.

• The bill provides $79 million in disaster relief spending for the Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) Program. These funds will help many states across the country respond to natural disasters. EWP is an emergency recovery program designed to remove hazards to life and property caused by floods, fires, windstorms and other natural disasters.

• The bill also provides $3 million in disaster relief spending for the Emergency Forestry Restoration Program. These funds will help land owners across the country restore forests and forest resources damaged by natural disasters.

• The bill provides $9 million in disaster relief spending for the Emergency Conservation Program. These funds will help producers rehabilitate farmland damaged by natural disasters such as hurricanes and tornadoes.

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Inspector General (OIG)

• The bill includes $1.5 million for the OIG of HHS to increase oversight of the programs and operations at the FDA.

• The bill places limitations on IT spending at FSA, including a limitation on multi-year funding availability, and requires a detailed spending plan to be submitted to the General Accountability Office.

• The bill prohibits the closure of 250 FSA offices, which was proposed in the budget, and requires a comprehensive workload review and analysis, taking into consideration recent passage and implementation of the Agricultural Act of 2014.

• The bill prohibits renewals in less than 12 months, which saves $15 million and encourages project managers to better administer their resources.

• The bill directs the Secretary of Agriculture to work with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), who is leading the initiative, to design a coordinated environmental review process for tribal housing and related infrastructure development.

• The bill will decentralize the payments from the central rent account, thereby holding each agency accountable for their physical space and associated security costs. This decentralization will require each agency to improve space utilization, encourage use of modern housing practices and recognize flexibilities provided by the use of the internet, cloud computing, flexi-place and other forms of alternative workplace scheduling.

Bill Summary

The Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies bill invests in a wide range of critical programs that affect the lives of all Americans. The bill provides $28 billion for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to keep America safe from criminals and terrorists as well as provide grants and assistance to state and local law enforcement that puts police officers on the beat, equips them with bulletproof vests, tests backlogged DNA evidence, protects schools and college campuses and assists victims of violent crime and sexual assault.

The bill makes investments in public safety, economic growth, innovation, job creation and trade promotion with $8.5 billion for the Department of Commerce to warn Americans about severe weather, promote American businesses and exports, create cybersecurity standards to protect dot-mil, dot-gov, and dot -com, protect American ideas, foster economic development and enable sustainable development of ocean resources.

Science agencies supported by the bill include the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). These agencies fund research that not only wins Nobel prizes, but also makes our lives better -- from earlier severe weather warnings to coming up with the next technological breakthroughs that will lead to entirely new industries. Innovation leads to economic growth and prosperity as discoveries turn into new products and new technologies that create jobs.

Highlights of the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Bill

Keeping America Safe

The CJS spending bill provides $28 billion for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to fight crime and terrorism and protect communities and families, split between state, local and tribal law enforcement grants and federal law enforcement responsibilities. This amount is $393 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level.

• State, Local, and Tribal Law Enforcement. The CJS bill is the major federal funding source for our state, local and tribal partners who fight violent crime, combat violence against women and children and support victims of crime. State and local law enforcement need the assistance provided by federal resources to continue to keep our communities safe, vibrant and strong. The bill provides $2.3 billion to support state and local law enforcement with the tools they need to fight violent crime and gangs. This amount is $55 million more than the fiscal year 2014 level and includes funding for key grant programs, such as $376 million for Byrne Justice Assistance Grants, $180 million for Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) hiring grants, $430 million for Violence Against Women Act programs and $252 million for juvenile justice and mentoring grants.

• This level of funding will help state, local and tribal law enforcement place roughly 1,000 cops on the beat; provide women with support services to leave violent abusers; put away rapists, child abusers and sex predators; break up child pornography and prostitution rings; build the capacity of crime laboratories to process DNA evidence and thousands of untested sexual assault kits; break the school-to-prison pipeline; and help root out and prosecute the most violent gang members.

  The DOJ estimates that 400,000 sexual assault kits are sitting untested in police evidence lockers. To help communities address this backlog, the bill includes $41 million for a new community-based sexual assault response reform initiative. The initiative will provide a thorough approach that includes rape kit testing, investigation and prosecution of sexual assault crimes, training for law enforcement officers and victim services. The goal of the program is not only to test backlogged kits, but also to develop approaches that improve the law enforcement response to sexual assault and services to victims.

• Federal Law Enforcement. Gangs and illegal drug use are on the rise with 30,000 gangs operating in America, the highest number in 14 years, and with heroin use rising 79 percent between 2007 and 2012. The bill provides nearly $26 billion to fund the critical core national security, law enforcement, investigation and prosecution missions of the DOJ to protect the safety and security of our communities, and to help ensure that criminal perpetrators are brought to justice.

• • Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) -- The bill provides $8.3 billion for FBI salaries and expenses, $81 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level, to investigate terrorism, violent crime, economic fraud, crimes against children and cybercrime.

  • Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) -- The bill provides total resources of $2.4billion for the DEA, $21 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level, to target and dismantle criminal narcotics activities and regulate and combat prescription drug abuse.

  • Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) -- The bill provides $1.2billion for the ATF, $22 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level, to enforce federal firearms and explosives laws.

  • U.S. Marshals Service -- The bill provides $1.2 billion for U.S. Marshals Service, $10million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level, to apprehend dangerous fugitives, protect the federal judiciary and transport prisoners for court proceedings.

  • U.S. Attorneys -- The bill provides $2 billion for the U.S. Attorneys, $16 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level, to prosecute cases in international and domestic terrorism, mortgage fraud and financial crime, human trafficking, child exploitation and firearms and violent crime.

  • Federal Prison System -- The bill provides $6.8 billion for the salaries and expenses of the Bureau of Prisons, $46 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. This funding will maintain staffing levels at existing prisons to ensure safe and adequate facilities to house the inmate population, continue the activation of newly constructed or acquired prison facilities and expand reentry programs for eligible inmates to successfully transition back into the community.

• Gun Violence. This bill fights gun violence with $1.1 billion in resources to help keep our homes, schools and neighborhoods safe. This is $53 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. The bill provides $142 million to the FBI, $13 million more than fiscal year 2014, to run instant background checks so legal buyers can exercise their Second Amendment rights while keeping guns out of the hands of known criminals. It will give ATF an additional $22 million for a total of $798 million for criminal enforcement, investigations and inspections tools to enforce gun laws, trace firearms found at crime scenes and keep illegal guns away from traffickers and criminals. The bill also provides $73 million for all states to improve the quality of criminal and mental health records so interstate background checks are more effective, $15 million to train local police how to respond to active shooter situations so police and bystanders can get out safely when the unthinkable happens and $3 million for local law enforcement to provide firearm safety materials and gun locks to their communities. The program for comprehensive school safety is funded at $75 million through DOJ's Office of Justice Programs (OJP), which will allow communities to conduct school safety assessments and fill gaps in school safety plans.

• Heroin Crisis. The DEA's 2013 National Drug Threat Assessment Summary notes the troubling trend of increases in the numbers of heroin seizures and overdose deaths in recent years. Heroin use has become a growing problem across the nation as it is often an inexpensive substitute for prescription pills, costing as little as $10 a hit. This bill adds $7 million to fund a new program within the COPS Office for anti-heroin task forces. Competitive grants will be awarded for drug enforcement, including investigations and activities related to the distribution of heroin or unlawful diversion and distribution of prescription opioids. The agreement calls on the DOJ to take the lead in convening experts in the law enforcement, medical, public health and educational fields to develop a comprehensive government-wide solution for this crisis. The bill also provides funding for OJP grant programs available to state and local governments for residential drug treatment ($10 million), prescription drug monitoring ($11 million), and drug courts ($41 million).

• Crime Victims. This bill raises the cap on the Crime Victims Fund to $2.36 billion, $1.6billion more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level, to help victims of violent crime and their families receive critical care and services, provide federal victim witness coordinators and operate the Federal Victim Notification System. States will be able to dramatically increase direct compensation to victims of violent crime, which includes medical care costs, as well as victim assistance grants provided to non-profit organizations for counseling, legal assistance and outreach services to victims.

• Weather. In 2013, the United States suffered seven major weather and climate disasters that are estimated to have cost more than $1 billion dollars each. One-third of U.S. GDP is affected by climate and weather, including everything from farmers trying to protect livestock and crops, to cities relying on energy from wind turbines and solar panels, to air travelers trying to get home safely and on time despite storms. That is why this bill puts $3.2 billion in the federal checkbook to make American weather prediction and operations the gold standard, $170 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level.

• This funding directly supports our federal weather infrastructure with the full request of $2 billion, $139 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level, to keep our flagship weather satellites on budget and on schedule. Our forecasting offices will be staffed and ready with $1.1 billion in weather service operations and infrastructure, which is $21 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. This funding will help modernize weather warning communications, strengthen tsunami warnings and support next generation radar technology.

  A world class weather service depends on other ocean and atmospheric observations, data and research to understand our planet and predict the weather with greater precision. That's why this bill supports a healthy and balanced National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, funded at $5.4 billion, which is $126 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level.

• Cybersecurity. Roughly half of American adults have had their personal information exposed by hackers in the last 12 months. Chinese military operatives have been indicted for stealing nuclear, steel and solar industry trade secrets. Cybercrime does not just happen inside of a computer, and the off-line impacts of an attack can be devastating. This bill ensures that the DOJ can continue to respond to attacks and catch and prosecute the criminals behind the keyboard by funding cybersecurity for the DOJ at $722 million, the same as the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. The bill helps the National Institute of Standards and Technology build partnerships that will protect critical infrastructure like the power grid, so dot-com can protect itself. Working together, the government and the private sector will improve upon and identify best practices in cybersecurity through the $15 million National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence. NSF awards grants for merit-reviewed, next generation cyber research, like new techniques for building secure networks, with $159 million for cybersecurity research and development.

More than half of U.S. economic growth can be attributed to innovation that began with basic research. New ideas become new products and new companies. The unexpected consequences of a new idea can be transformational. For example, two Stanford graduate students used an NSF grant to optimize search engines, changing the Internet and the way people search, e-mail and use the cloud when they created Google.

Not every NSF grant has the potential to be another Google, but basic research remains the crucial element in high growth, high value companies. That's why the bill focuses on increasing research at key science agencies.

• The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) laboratories and research are funded at $676 million, which is $25 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. This funding enables a set of initiatives that will catalyze innovations, develop measurements and provide technical resources to promote the global competitiveness of U.S. manufacturers and aspiring start-ups. NIST's Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership and Advanced Manufacturing Technology Consortia will help manufacturers accelerate development and adoption of cutting-edge manufacturing technologies for making new, globally competitive products.

• Science, technology, discovery and innovation are areas where strategic public investments can be catalysts for change and drive American exceptionalism. That is why the bill provides $7.3 billion for the National Science Foundation (NSF), $172 million more than fiscal year 2014. The increase will provide about 350 more competitive grants supporting 4,100 more technicians, teachers, scientists and students in fiscal year 2015.

• No agency represents the Nation's scientific prowess like the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The dream of space inspires schoolchildren to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics. NASA scientists and their private sector and university partners are peering into the Big Bang and the origins of the universe, drilling into rocks on Mars, researching cures for salmonella on the International Space Station, building vehicles that will let humans explore beyond low earth orbit, preparing to analyze samples from the Sun and looking back at Earth to understand and protect our planet. The bill's $18 billion investment in NASA balances the portfolio of science, aeronautics, technology and human space flight investments. Moreover, it will keep NASA in the forefront of innovation, inspiring private companies to build new crew transportation and fueling a new satellite servicing industry that can revive, refuel and rejuvenate defunct communications satellites. The amount provided for NASA is $364 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level.

The bill builds American prosperity by protecting American intellectual property, investing in economic development, promoting international trade and protecting American companies from unfair trade practices.

• Protecting American Ideas. According to the Department of Commerce, the to pintellectual property-intensive industries in the U.S. support at least 40 million jobs and contribute more than $5 trillion to U.S. gross domestic product each year. The bill fully funds the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), with $3.48 billion to protect inventors so they can reap the profits from their ideas. This level is $434 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level.

• Building Businesses. The bill provides $250 million for the Economic Development Administration (EDA), including $10 million for the Regional Innovation Program. This funding will allow EDA to award more than 700 grants to help communities plan and execute regional strategies for long-term growth, leveraging $2.5 billion in private investment and generating thousands of jobs in small and American-owned businesses. This funding level is $3 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level.

• Promoting International Trade and Protecting American Companies. U.S. exports support more than 11 million American jobs. The International Trade Administration (ITA) is funded at $472 million, $2 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level, to help U.S. farmers, manufacturers and service providers sell their products overseas. ITA has trade promotion offices in 77 countries and more than 100 American cities. The bill also funds the Interagency Trade Enforcement Center, which supports the agencies that aggressively tackle unfair trade practices hurting American businesses.

• Supports the Travel and Tourism Industries. The bill includes the text of the Travel Promotion, Enhancement, and Revitalization Act, also known as "Brand USA," to promote international travel and tourism to the United States. In 2013, Brand USA brought an additional 1.1 million visitors to the United States who spent an estimated $3.4 billion while they were here. This program is entirely funded by private industry and foreign visitors, and will return $264 million to the Department of the Treasury over 10 years.

• Establishes the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation. The agreement includes the Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation Act, or "RAMI." The Centers for Manufacturing Innovation, created by the bill, are public-private-academic partnerships conducting research on, and assisting in commercialization of, advanced and specialized manufacturing processes. Pilot centers have already seen great success in studying technologies like 3D printing, and this bill will expand the program to nanotechnology, photonics and other fields, while giving NIST the authority to oversee the programs and share best practices among centers.

All of the agencies funded under the bill are called on to be better stewards of taxpayer dollars. The bill:

• Provides robust funding for Inspectors General (IGs), the taxpayers' watchdogs, and directs agencies to implement IG and Government Accountability Office (GAO) report recommendations;

• Sustains or reduces reception and representation funds at the fiscal year 2014 level, which was a cut of 25 percent below fiscal year 2010 levels, so agencies reduce costs of executive meetings, receptions and conferences, and buy fewer promotional items like t-shirts, hats and mugs;

• Prohibits lavish banquets and conferences by requiring agencies to report conference spending to the IGs;

• Requires the IGs to do random audits of grant funding to find and stop waste and fraud;

• Establishes an early warning system on cost overruns and techno-boondoggles, which requires agencies to notify the Committee when costs of projects grow by more than 10 percent;

• Caps costs for major acquisition projects, including weather satellites and space telescopes; and

• Improves oversight of funding for official travel and advertising expenses.

In compliance with the earmark moratorium, the bill contains no congressionally directed spending items.

The Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2015 emphasizes the following priorities:

The three million active duty, reserve and civilian employees are the Department of Defense's most valuable resource. The bill protects investments in, and makes targeted increases for, the members of the Armed Forces, their families and the civilian employees of the DoD. Major initiatives include:

• Funding the one percent pay raise for military and civilian personnel, as requested by the DoD and authorized by the Senate Armed Services Committee;

• Providing an additional $25 million for continuation and expansion of the Special Victims' Counsel Program to provide victims of sexual assault with legal assistance and support. Congress is committed to addressing this epidemic in the military. With this additional funding, sexual assault prevention funding will have nearly tripled over the past three years;

• Transferring $24.1 million to fully fund the National Guard's Military Burial Honors program in order to fulfill our nation's commitment to those who served;

• $3.6 million for Health Artifacts and Imaging Management Systems to support ongoing efforts between DoD and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to better manage veterans' health information and improve care;

• $3 million for the Healthy Base Initiative, which promotes wellness practices for troops and their families living on base;

• Adding $190 million to maintain operations at commissaries, pending the commission on compensation report due next year;

• Provides $88 million for Basic Allowance for Housing in accordance with the authorized one percent reduction in fiscal year 2015; and

• $13 million for an initiative to provide pre-kindergarten through 12th grade Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education activities for military children.

Investing in basic and advanced research has been a critical factor in the strength of the U.S. economy and our dominance on the battlefield. There are numerous examples of DoD-initiated research efforts that have had significant impacts across society. It is imperative that we continue to invest in medical breakthroughs and technological advancements that keep us at the forefront of innovation, improve the health and safety of our troops and contribute to our overall national security. The bill does this by making significant investments in research. Major initiatives include:

• Increasing DoD's core medical research budget as well as Congressionally-directed medical research funding by $1.26 billion. As a result, funding increased 11 percent from fiscal year 2014 to 2015, including the emergency Ebola funding. These increases will be focused in the competitively awarded Peer-Reviewed Medical Research Program and Peer-Reviewed Cancer Research Program;

• Adding $257 million to basic (non-medical) research for the Army, Navy, Air Force and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), equates to a five percent increase from fiscal year 2014 to fiscal year 2015; and

• $220 million to fund a competition to develop a new rocket propulsion system: the Competitive Rocket Innovation -- Motor/Engine Arrangement.

Sequestration in fiscal year 2013 had a major impact on the operations of the Department of Defense. Restoring readiness remains a top priority of all the service chiefs, particularly regarding depot and facility maintenance. The bill eliminates billions in wasteful, unnecessary and duplicative funding across all branches. Instead of indiscriminate across-the-board sequestration cuts, the bill proposes 832 specific cuts to programs and redirects some of those funds to higher priorities. The targeted reductions break down as follows:

• Improving Funds Management: Updated cost estimates and excess carryover of prior year funds result in billions of dollars that are not needed for defense programs this year;

• Restoring Acquisition Accountability: Detailed oversight of acquisition programs and practices show savings that are due to schedule delays, unit cost growth, troubled acquisition strategies or concurrency in test and production;

• Maintaining Program Affordability: Re-evaluation of defense strategies reveal unjustified growth in lower priority defense programs; and

• Reducing Duplication: Cuts are proposed due to redundant programs, disparities found in-budget justifications or programs that have been terminated since the budget submission.

• An increase of $2.3 billion for readiness shortfalls, including $900 million for facility sustainment, a top service priority, and an additional $202.5 million for depot maintenance. The bill includes a $1 billion readiness transfer fund to address other readiness shortfalls;

• $848.5 million for the modernization of CVN 73, the USS George Washington;

• Full funding for three Littoral Combat Ships, plus an additional $80 million for long-lead parts to purchase the final ship of the block by next year, at this year's pricing;

• $337.1 million to maintain the A-10 fleet. The bill also contains $90.5 million to continue operations of the full fleet of 31 E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACs) radar aircraft;

• $1.46 billion to purchase 15 EA-18G Growlers;

• $224 million for two additional F-35 Joint Strike Fighters for the Air Force and $255 million for two additional F-35 Joint Strike Fighters for the Navy. In all, 38 F-35 aircraft are funded in the bill -- nine more aircrafts than fiscal year 2014;

• $125 million for an additional competitive space launch;

• Stabilizing the ground vehicle industrial base by adding $72 million for the Improved Recovery Vehicle, $28.5 million for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, $120 million for the Abrams tank and $79 million for Stryker vehicle development and production;

• Supporting the Israeli Government request for $347 million for Israeli missile defense programs, including $175 million for Iron Dome. In all, $619.8 million for Israeli programs; and

• Adding $341 million to modernize up to 12 Apache helicopters and nine Black Hawk helicopters, and includes a bill provision limiting the transfer of Apache helicopters out of the National Guard in 2015 until enactment of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2015.

In addition, reforms aimed at improving efficiency, saving money and improving resource management are made across the DoD. Major initiatives include:

• Directing a $15 million reduction to management headquarters for the Office of the Secretary of Defense. This is a reduction in personnel funding to ensure that the Office of the Secretary of Defense be included in the targeted savings goal of 20 percent of management headquarters funding by 2019;

• Eliminating the five percent discount for tobacco and tobacco-related products sold at military exchanges;

• Transferring funding to a new defense agency to take over the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action (POW/MIA) mission, consistent with the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2015. The Government Accountability Office's 2014 annual report on opportunities to reduce overlap and duplication identified the personnel accounting mission as an area of high risk;

• Reducing civilian workforce targets by $662 million due to overestimation;

• Allowing a pay freeze for general and flag officers and slowing the growth of the basic allowance for housing (BAH), saving $8.8 billion in personnel costs over the next five years;

• Directing the DoD to report on the feasibility and cost of the DoD assuming responsibility for conducting security clearance investigations for DoD personnel. The bill also encourages the Secretary of Defense to consider measures to streamline data sharing for continuous personnel security evaluations and threat analysis;

• Cutting $270 million, or two percent, from the operation and maintenance information technology (IT) budget request. Trimming IT funding will help prioritize and better target non-cyber IT investments in an era of fiscal constraint; and

• Directing the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to improve acquisition strategies for two major new acquisition programs to avoid repeating previous mistakes where the system was rushed to fielding without being properly tested.

Military Personnel

The bill provides $128 billion in the base for military personnel. The recommended level fully supports the authorized end strength and includes a one percent pay raise. It follows through on Congress' reversal of the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) reduction by adding $215.3 million to fully fund military retirement benefits. The bill also includes $88 million for BAH to allow the authorized one percent reduction in fiscal year 2015.

Operation and Maintenance

The bill provides a total of $161.7 billion in base funding for the operation and maintenance accounts, which represents one percent growth in operation and maintenance funding from the fiscal year 2014 enacted amount in order to restore readiness levels affected by sequestration cuts. This growth enables the DoD to begin establishing a new readiness posture and transition from a force focused largely on current operations to one capable of meeting a broader mission portfolio.

The bill includes a one percent pay raise for the civilian workforce and supports requested personnel increases for intelligence and cyber mission areas and decreases based on a 20 percent management headquarters reduction over the next five years. The bill also maintains a strong commitment to taking care of the troops and their families and includes an additional $8.25 million for expanded access to mental and behavioral health care and an additional $25 million for the continued implementation and expansion of the Sexual Assault Special Victim's Counsel Program.

Procurement

The bill provides $93.8 billion for procurement and grants new start procurement authority for programs to fill critical capability shortfalls. Additional significant items include:

• $100 million to the Combat Rescue Helicopter to help pay down the Air Force identified shortfall in fiscal years 2016 and 2017;

• $200 million for an additional Joint High Speed Vessel;

• $1 billion to incrementally fund a LPD amphibious warship, as authorized;

• $102 million for an additional MC-130J;

• $11 million in procurement and $27.4 million in Operations and Maintenance funding for the Civil Air Patrol; and

• $81.7 million to continue Tomahawk missile production.

The bill provides $63.7 billion for research and development. The bill also provides new start authority for needed programs, which would not be allowed to proceed under a full-year continuing resolution. Significant items include:

• Full funding for the Army's Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle (AMPV) program, allowing it to proceed on schedule. The bill also dedicates $4 million within Army studies to analyze whether the Stryker or any other vehicle can compete in a follow-on to the current AMPV program;

• Adding $50 million to MDA Ground-Based Midcourse Defense program to improve system reliability and maintainability;

• Providing an additional $31 million for Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) basic research;

• $10 million for research opportunities at the nation's Historically Black Colleges and Universities;

• $225 million for the Rapid Innovation Fund, which supports small businesses around the country in their efforts to provide leap-ahead technologies to meet our national security needs;

• Full funding for the Air Force's Long Range Strike Bomber and the KC-46 tanker programs;

• Full funding for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter development and test program; and

• Full funding for the Navy's Ohio-class replacement submarine and the Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike development programs.

The bill provides $64 billion for DoD Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO). Significant items include:

• $1.3 billion for the new Counterterrorism Partnerships Fund (CTPF) account to increase U.S. counterterrorism cooperation with countries such as Yemen, Libya and Somalia;

• $5 billion for anti-Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) operations, including $1.6 billion for training of Iraqi and Kurdish security forces;

• Authorizes a DoD-led program to train and equip vetted elements of the Syrian opposition through September 30, 2015, and allows for up to $500 million in funding for the program;

• $810 million for the European Reassurance Initiative, part of the President's OCO request to support the rotation of the U.S. Armed Forces through Europe and to increase train and equip programs for European countries. The bill requires that not less than $175 million be spent in support of Ukraine and the Baltic nations, a substantial increase to current plans;

• $4.1 billion for the training and sustainment of Afghanistan's security forces;

• $250 million to dispose of unexploded ordinance on U.S. bases in Afghanistan over the next two years, which will ensure that all remaining U.S. bases will be clean prior to their transition to Afghani control; and

• $1.2 billion for the National Guard and Reserve Equipment Account.

• Guantanamo: Maintains the prohibition on transferring detainees to the United States as well as prohibiting the construction, modification or acquisition of facilities to house detainees within the U.S. The bill includes a provision that will allow for the transfer of detainees overseas to their country of origin or another country.

• Ebola: The bill provides $112 million for Ebola response and preparedness. Of these funds, $45 million is directed to DARPA long-range research programs, $50 million to nearer-term research programs of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and $17 million for procurement of necessary equipment.

• Climate Change: The bill addresses climate change by adding $20 million each for the Army, Navy and Air Force for alternative energy research that is contributing to reduced emissions. In addition, report language further encourages DoD to continue aggressively planning for the effects of climate change, particularly in regard to the Arctic, adding $5 million to Arctic Domain Awareness programs at DARPA.

• Arsenal Sustainment: The bill adds $225 million to further stabilize rates at the three manufacturing arsenals.

The U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development fiscal year 2015 funding legislation totals $34.202 billion in discretionary budget authority, $142 million more than the fiscal year 2014 level and $519 million less than the President's request level.

Bill Summary

The Energy and Water Development bill invests in a wide range of critical programs that are vital to America's economic competitiveness and protect Americans from the threat of nuclear terrorism.

The bill provides $5.483 billion for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge America's waterways to support the movement of critical commodities, reduce the impact of natural disasters by focusing on flood control efforts and providing recreation opportunities at campgrounds, lakes and marinas. The bill also provides $1.14 billion for the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation to improve the management of water resources for 31 million people in 17 states and mitigate the impact of recent droughts in Western states.

The bill also provides $27.9 billion for the Department of Energy (DOE) to develop clean energy technologies that combat climate change while creating U.S. jobs, modernize the nuclear deterrent, secure dangerous nuclear and radiological materials around the world and clean up the country's Cold War environmental legacy.

Title I -- Corps of Engineers

The Energy and Water bill provides $5.483 billion, $922 million more than the budget request, for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Highlights

Investigations of Water Resource problems and needs: The bill provides $122 million for water resources studies. This amount is $42 million more than the Administration's request. The bill allows 10 new study starts.

Water Resources Construction: The bill provides $1.640 billion for water resources projects that provide for improvements to navigation, flood risk management and for ecosystem restoration. This amount is $16 million less than the fiscal year 2014 enacted amount and $515 million more than the request. The bill allows four new construction starts.

Mississippi River and Tributaries: The bill provides $302 million for the construction,operation and maintenance of navigation, flood control and ecosystem restoration projects along the Mississippi River and its tributaries from Cairo, Illinois to the mouth of the Mississippi River. This amount is $5 million less than the fiscal year 2014 enacted amount and $57 million more than the fiscal year 2015 budget request.

Water Resources Operation and Maintenance: The bill provides $2.9 billion for operation and maintenance of water resources projects. That is $48 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted amount and $309 million more than the fiscal year 2015 request. The bill provides $1.1 billion for eligible activities that are reimbursed by the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund.

Title II -- Department of the Interior

The bill provides $1.14 billion for the Department of Interior, which is $27 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted amount and $97 million more than the budget request. This amount includes $9.9 million for the Central Utah Project and $1.13 billion for the Bureau of Reclamation.

Highlights

Providing water and power to the West: $978 million is provided for water and related resources to address water storage and conveyance, power and environmental compliance and restoration activities in the west. Within this amount, the bill provides $50 million for the Bureau of Reclamation to address the exceptional drought conditions that are impacting many parts of the Western United States.

Title III-Department of Energy (DOE)

The Energy and Water bill provides $27.9 billion for DOE. This amount is $636 million more than the fiscal year 2014 level and $519 million less than the President's budget request.

Highlights

Scientific Discovery: The bill provides $5.071 billion, which is the same as the fiscal year 2014 level, for the Office of Science. The Office of Science is the largest federal sponsor of basic research in the physical sciences and supports 22,000 researchers at 17 national laboratories and more than 300 universities. The bill continues to advance the highest priorities in materials research, high performance computing and biology to maintain U.S. scientific leadership.

Applied Energy Research and Development: The bill provides $3.7 billion for applied energy programs. This funding supports research, development, demonstration and deployment of an extensive range of clean energy technologies, including for nuclear, fossil and renewable energy applications, that keep the United States at the forefront of energy innovation. This amount includes $280 million for the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy to develop next-generation, innovative energy technologies.

Next-Generation Computing: The bill provides $141 million, including $91 million in the Office of Science and $50 million in the National Nuclear Security Administration, for the Exascale Computing Initiative. This amount will keep DOE on track to deploy this next-generation computing system by 2022. Exascale computers will not only be substantially faster than today's highest-performing systems, but also provide new capabilities to answer complex problems needed for scientific discovery, national security and applied energy research.

Cybersecurity: The bill provides $304 million, which is $25 million more than the fiscal year 2014 level, for cybersecurity activities. This amount will better protect the DOE and the national laboratories from increasingly frequent cyber-attacks and improve the cybersecurity of the energy sector.

Nonproliferation: The bill provides $1.641 billion, which is $86 million more than the budget request, for nonproliferation activities that reduce the threat of nuclear terrorism. This amount will accelerate efforts to secure and permanently eliminate remaining stockpiles of dangerous nuclear and radiological materials around the world. The bill also invests in new technologies that can detect uranium and plutonium production activities in foreign countries.

Nuclear Weapons: The bill provides $8.232 billion, which is $387 million more than the fiscal year 2014 level, for nuclear weapons activities. This amount will advance life extension programs for the B61 gravity bomb and the W76 submarine-launched warhead, invest in the science, technology and engineering needed to maintain a safe and secure stockpile without underground nuclear weapons testing and upgrade or replace aging infrastructure, especially for uranium and plutonium activities.

Naval Reactors : The bill provides $1.239 billion, which is $144 million more than the fiscal year 2014 level, for naval reactors. This amount includes $156 million to continue the design of a 40-year nuclear reactor core to power the Ohio-class submarine and $126 million to refuel a research and training reactor in New York.

Environmental Cleanup: The bill provides a total of $5.871 billion, which is $26 million more than the fiscal year 2014 level and $249 million more than the budget request, for environmental cleanup activities across the DOE complex. This amount includes $320 million for recovery efforts at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant -- the nation's only deep geologic repository for nuclear waste.

Title IV -- Independent Agencies

The Energy and Water bill provides $269 million for eight independent agencies, including the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, five regional commissions, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board. This amount includes $120 million for the NRC.

FINANCIAL SERVICES AND GENERAL GOVERNMENT

The fiscal year 2015 Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Appropriations agreement includes a total of $21.820 billion in discretionary budget authority, $246 million less than the 2014 enacted level of $22.066 billion and $2 billion less than the President's request of $23.833 billion.

The bill protects the public and consumers by focusing on five priority areas:

• Protecting investors from fraud and manipulation of the financial markets;

• Safeguarding the financial system from abusive and illegal practices such as money laundering and deciphering complex tax code provisions so that taxpayers can accurately file a return;

• Promoting a fair, safe and robust marketplace by preventing fraud and enforcing against it and other unfair business practices, protecting against unreasonable risks of injury or death from consumer products and promoting a rapid, reliable communications network;

• Creating jobs by supporting Americans who start, build and grow small businesses and by providing seed financing for community development; and

• Ensuring the appropriate balance between anti-terrorism efforts, privacy and civil liberties.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC): Farmers and businesses that use the futures markets to manage risk, as well as pensions and endowments, rely on the CFTC to properly monitor the markets to guard against fraud, manipulation or systemic risk. Bringing more transparency and accountability to the futures and derivatives markets is crucial. The agreement provides $250 million for the CFTC. This funding level is $35 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level of $215 million. These resources will help ensure that needed staffing and sophisticated technologies are in place to foster open, competitive and financially sound futures and swaps markets.

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC): The strength of our economy and the soundness of our financial markets depend upon investor confidence in the financial disclosures and statements released by publicly traded companies for which SEC's oversight is indispensable. The agreement includes $1.5 billion to help SEC fulfill its mandate to protect investors, promote capital formation and maintain fair, honest and efficient stock and securities markets. This funding level is $150 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level and is fully offset by fees collected on transactions.

Safeguarding our financial system

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN): The battle against terrorism and crime must be fought on all fronts, including by tracking and disrupting illicit financial activity and preventing terrorists, criminals and rogue nations from accessing the U.S. financial system to launder proceeds from crimes that threaten our national security. The agreement provides $112 million for the FinCEN, which plays a critical role in safeguarding our financial system by collecting and disseminating financial data; creating and enforcing regulations to promote safety and security in U.S. financial institutions; and supporting federal, state and local law enforcement efforts to fight and stop terrorist financing, money laundering, narcotics trafficking and other illicit financial activity.

Ensuring fair administration of the Tax Code

Internal Revenue Service (IRS): Failing to collect what taxpayers owe leaves the federal budget short about $345 billion per year, primarily due to underreported income. The IRS needs resources to provide timely responses to millions of taxpayers who seek assistance, acquire better tools to identify unreported income, pursue tax cheats, execute ever-expanding responsibilities under the tax code and improve collection rates to narrow the tax gap. The agreement provides $10.945 billion, $346 million less than fiscal year 2014 funding, for the IRS.

Protecting the public and consumers

Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC): The agreement provides the requested $123 million, $5 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level, for the independent regulatory agency responsible for protecting the public against unreasonable risks of injury from consumer products. With this funding, CPSC will continue to enhance import surveillance activities at the nation's ports of entry to prevent hazardous products from entering the U.S. consumer marketplace. The CPSC will continue development of mandatory product safety rules for durable infant and toddler products. It will expand global outreach efforts to help safer products enter the United States.

Federal Trade Commission (FTC): A marketplace can only thrive if consumers can count on robust, open competition and trustworthy information about products and services. The agreement provides the requested level of $293 million for the FTC to detect and eliminate illegal collusion, prevent anticompetitive mergers, combat consumer fraud, fight identity theft and promote consumer privacy. Since the financial crisis, the FTC has been particularly diligent about working to protect consumers from mortgage and debt reduction scams. The recommended level enables the FTC to continue to protect consumers and markets, but is $5 million less than the fiscal year 2014 level due to the completion of a one-time project.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC): Promoting and maintaining a robust yet adaptable communications network is critical to our daily lives -- from communicating during emergencies, to promoting economic growth, to fostering political debate and individual expression. The agreement continues the fiscal year 2014 enacted level of $340 million to carry out this mission and ensure all Americans have access to the system by promoting competition and protecting consumers.

Supporting job creation

Small Business Administration (SBA): Ensuring small businesses have the tools to grow is critical for our nation's fragile economic recovery. Over the last two decades, small and new businesses created two out of every three net new jobs in the U.S., and today over half of all working Americans own or work for a small business. To ensure that small businesses have access to credit and critical technical assistance, the agreement includes $888 million for the SBA. The agreement provides $220 million, $24 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level, for entrepreneurial development grants, including $17 million for State Trade and Export Promotion, $22 million for microloan technical assistance and funding for other key programs that provide technical assistance, training and business planning guidance for starting and growing small businesses. The agreement includes $195 million for business loans and allows the SBA to guarantee up to $18.75 billion in 7(a) loans to expand access to capital for small business owners. Finally, the agreement includes $187 million to support disaster lending to businesses of all sizes, homeowners and renters recovering after major natural disasters.

Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund: Investing in our communities is more critical than ever as our economy works to recover. The CDFI Fund has the unique ability to leverage private sector investment in community development projects like affordable housing, retail development and lending to small businesses, filling some of the gap left by private sector investment after the financial crisis. The agreement supports community development in underserved areas, including in Tribal nations, by providing $231 million for the CDFI Fund, $5 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. The agreement includes $22 million to expand access to healthy foods, $18 million for the Bank Enterprise Award program and $1 million to promote CDFI expansion into underserved communities, especially in rural areas. The agreement provides $15 million for CDFIs that benefit native communities and waives match requirements for both native and small CDFIs that may still be suffering from the impacts of the recent recession and in need of additional assistance. The agreement also authorizes the Department of the Treasury to guarantee $750 million in bonds to CDFIs, at no cost to the taxpayer, by providing long-term, low-rate financing for community development in our nation's communities hardest hit by the economic downturn.

Protecting privacy and civil liberties

Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB): The agreement includes $7.5 million for the PCLOB to help ensure that federal laws and policies related to terrorism appropriately consider privacy and civil liberties. These resources, $4.4 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level, will enable the PCLOB to pursue its mission without delay.

The Federal Judiciary: Our citizens rely on a federal court system that guarantees the rights of all Americans, ensures the right to a defense and secures public safety through the use of probation officers to supervise offenders living in our communities. The agreement provides $6.698 billion in discretionary funding for the federal courts, $182 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level.

General Services Administration (GSA): For construction and acquisition of federal buildings,the agreement provides $510 million, $3 million less than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. For repair and alteration of federal buildings, the bill includes $818 million, $259 million less than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level.

Inspectors General (IG): Throughout the federal government, agency IGs serve as instrumental watchdogs of government operations, programs and use of resources to prevent and detect waste, fraud and abuse and promote economy, effectiveness and efficiency. Inspectors General, while independent, are expected to keep the agency head and Congress up to date on and fully informed of weaknesses, egregious and flagrant problems and recommendations for corrective action. The agreement provides the requested funding for various Inspectors General as follows:

• Treasury Inspector General: $35 million, $600,000 more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level;

• Special Inspector General for Troubled Asset Relief Program: $34 million, $700,000 less than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level;

• Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration: $158 million, $2 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level;

• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Inspector General: $35 million, equal to the fiscal year 2014 enacted level;

• Office of Personnel Management Inspector General: $26 million, $300,000 less than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level.

District of Columbia: The agreement includes nearly $680 million in special federal payments for over a dozen distinct purposes relating to the District of Columbia. This is $6 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted funding. Of the total, $570 million is for the salaries and expenses of the local courts ($245 million); defender services ($91 million); and pre-trial and post-conviction offender supervision ($234 million). All these accounts are fully dependent on federal funds for their operations and independent of the local government. The remaining $110 million is designated for the District government. Of this $110 million, $75 million is for education-related functions: $45 million for elementary and secondary school improvement and $30 million for the District of Columbia Tuition Assistance Grants for post-secondary education. The agreement recommends $14 million for the Clean Rivers Project to remediate combined sewer overflow into waterways of the nation's capital and $5 million for prevention and treatment to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In addition to the special federal payments, the annual bill approves the District's annual $12 billion local operating budget.

Executive Office of the President: The agreement includes $688 million for the Executive Office of the President. Within this amount:

• $222 million is for White House Office and Operations, $10 million above the fiscal year 2014 enacted level, for the staffing and operations of the White House, including the National Security and Homeland Security Councils, the Council of Economic Advisers, the Office of the Vice President, the Executive Residence, initiatives on IT reform and other administrative functions;

• $92 million for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), $2 million above the fiscal year 2014 enacted level; and

• $375 million for the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), $8 million above the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. This includes $245 million for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) Program and $93.5 million for the Drug-Free Communities program.

Department of the Treasury headquarters: The agreement provides $323 million for Departmental Offices, for oversight and management of the Department of the Treasury, including the President's request of $10 million for oversight and implementation of the RESTORE Act. The agreement also includes $3 million for capital investments, $348 million for the Fiscal Service, and $100 million for the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.

Contractor reporting of waste, fraud and abuse: A provision is included ensuring that contractors are not prevented from reporting waste, fraud or abuse by signing confidentiality agreements that would prohibit such disclosure.

Improving oversight using agency IG management challenges: The accompanying statement requires all FSGG agencies to include in the fiscal year 2016 budget justifications, a separate table on key management challenges identified by the agency's IG and an explanation of how the budget request addresses the challenges.

Portraits: A provision is included prohibiting funds for the painting of a portrait of an employee of the federal government including the President, the Vice President, a Member of Congress, the head of an executive branch agency or the head of an office of the legislative branch. This provision was included in the fiscal year 2014 Omnibus.

Improving IRS response to payroll tax provider fraud: A bill directive is continued for IRS to provide address change notification and give special consideration to offers-in-compromise in these cases.

No contracts for corporations with unpaid federal taxes: A provision is included prohibiting funds to any corporation with certain unpaid federal tax liabilities unless an agency has considered suspension or debarment of the corporation and made a determination that further action is not necessary to protect the interests of the government.

OMB guidance on government-wide provisions: The statement requires OMB to issue a memo to all agencies, alerting them of their responsibilities included in the government-wide general provisions.

No contracts for corporations with felony criminal violations: A provision is included prohibiting funds to any corporation that was convicted of a felony criminal violation within the preceding 24 months unless an agency has considered suspension or debarment of the corporation and made a determination that further action is not necessary to protect the interests of the government.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES

The U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies funding totals $30.044 billion in discretionary budget authority, $14 million less than the fiscal year 2014 level and $610 million more than the President's request.

Bill Summary

The Interior and Environment bill invests in a wide range of critical programs that are vital to the continued conservation of America's public lands and cultural resources, protection of the environment and public health and the appropriate development of our domestic natural resources.

The bill provides $10.657 billion for the Department of the Interior (DOI) for the operation of the National Park Service (NPS), which is preparing for its 2016 Centennial; wildlife and land management responsibilities of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS); upholding federal trust responsibilities to Indian Tribes and Alaska Natives; and providing opportunity for and managing the responsible development of renewable and conventional energy on public lands and the Outer Continental Shelf.

The bill also provides $8.14 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to protect human health and the environment.

The bill provides $306 million to DOI and the Forest Service for the four land management agencies to acquire and conserve lands through the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which is equal to the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. And the agreement includes the 10-year average wildfire suppression total of $1.394 billion for the Forest Service and DOI to respond to forest fires.

In addition to the resources provided in the Interior division, the bill provides $372 million for Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT). This funding, in addition to the $70 million provided in the National Defense Authorization Act, fully funds PILT at $442 million for fiscal year 2015.

Title I -- Department of the Interior

The bill provides $10.657 billion, $244 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level and $103 million more than the budget request, for the Department of the Interior.

Highlights

National Park Service (NPS): The bill provides $2.61 billion for NPS. This amount is $53 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level and equal to the budget request. The agreement provides $35 million in program increases for the 2016 Centennial, including $10 million for the "Centennial Challenge" matching grant program that will support public-private partnership projects. It also provides funding for National Heritage Areas at $20.3 million, which will maintain existing heritage areas and provides new funding for heritage areas scheduled to have plans approved in this fiscal year. There is also $56 million for historic preservation fund grants to states and tribes.

Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS): The bill provides $1.44 billion for FWS. This amount is $12 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. The agreement provides $14.6 million for law enforcement activities to respond to the global wildlife trafficking crisis and $474 million for the operation of the National Wildlife Refuge System.

Offshore Energy Programs: The bill provides $170 million for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and $205 million for the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement to continue to oversee the appropriate development and production of offshore oil and gas and renewable energy projects in federal waters.

Title II -- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

The bill provides $8.139 billion for the EPA, $61 million less than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level and $250 million more than the budget request.

Highlights

Water infrastructure investments: The Clean Water State Revolving Fund receives $1.45 billion in funding, equal to the fiscal year 2014 enacted level and $431 million more than the request. The agreement also provides the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund with $906.8 million, equal to the fiscal year 2014 enacted level and $150 million more than the request.

Geographic Programs: EPA Geographic Programs are funded at $428 million, $12 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level and $33 million more than the request. Within Geographic Programs, the Great Lakes Restoration Agreement receives $300 million, equal to the fiscal year 2014 enacted level and $25 million more than the request. The Chesapeake Bay program receives $73 million, $3 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level.

Operating Programs: EPA operating programs funded through the Environmental Programs and Management appropriation receive $2.613 billion. That amount is $11 million less than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level and $124 million less than the budget request. National Estuary Programs are also funded at the requested level of $27 million.

Title III-Related Agencies

The bill provides $11.247 billion for Related Agencies, including the Forest Service, Indian Health Service, Smithsonian Institution and other cultural agencies. This is $20 million less than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level and $256 million more than the budget request.

Highlights

Forest Service: The bill includes $5.056 billion for the Forest Service. This includes $296 million for Forest and Rangeland Research, $53 million for the Forest Legacy Program, $8 million for International Forestry and $40 million for the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Fund. $362 million is provided for hazardous fuels reduction, $55 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level.

Indian Health Service: The agreement provides $4.642 billion for Indian Health Service programs, a total of $208 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. An amount of $4.182 billion is provided for the provision of health care services, including increases of $34.6 million for Preferred/Referred Care and $75.6 million for Contract Support Costs. An amount of $460.2 million is provided for the construction, repair and maintenance of Indian health facilities. Staffing of new facilities is funded at $70.8 million, which meets the budget request.

Smithsonian Institution: The agreement provides $819.5 million for Smithsonian Institution programs and facilities construction, a total of $14.5 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. The agreement includes $24 million to complete the federal funding commitment for construction of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Funds are also provided within the "Salaries and Expenses" account to expand staff for curatorial work and other programmatic and operational activities required for the museum's opening in 2016.

National Endowments for the Arts (NEA) & Humanities (NEH): The agreement meets the budget request of $146 million each for the NEA and NEH to support arts and humanities programs.

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars: The conference agreement includes a total of $10.5 million for the Wilson Center.

The Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Bill also constitutes the largest share of non-defense discretionary spending, 32 percent of the total. As a result, the funding available for programs in this bill -- everything from funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to home energy assistance -- is closely tied to overall discretionary budget caps. In fiscal year 2015, total non-defense discretionary budget authority subject to statutory discretionary spending caps will increase by just 0.1 percent.

Total spending in this bill subject to discretionary spending caps is $10 million less than fiscal year 2014 level. All increases in discretionary budget authority provided in this bill are fully offset by cuts to discretionary spending elsewhere in this bill. This has required difficult and, at times unfortunate, decisions. While much more needs to be done to support investments in biomedical research, early childhood care and education, preventive health and services for people with disabilities, seniors and other vulnerable populations, sequester must be replaced for that to happen. Within a very austere cap, this bill maintains a wide-range of critical investments and responds in targeted ways to a variety of new and emerging needs here and abroad.

Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) -- The bill includes $2.435 billion, a $75 million increase, for the CCDBG. In November, Congress overwhelmingly passed the CCDBG Act of 2014, the first reauthorization of the program since 1996. This reauthorization included key updates and reforms, including requiring states to strengthen health and safety standards. Improving the quality of child care programs while maintaining working families' access to quality child care options will require significantly more resources, but the increase in funding for the CCDBG is an important step in helping states implement these key reforms and support working families' access to quality, affordable child care.

Head Start -- The bill includes $8.598 billion for Head Start, maintaining support for key investments in Head Start and Early Head Start, including Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships, made last year.

Preschool Development Grants -- The agreement provides $250 million to continue support for Preschool Development Grants. The Departments of Education and Health and Human Services (HHS) awards $250 million to states through grants designed to help states initiate or implement high-quality public preschool programs for low- and moderate-income families. The funding in this bill will support the second year of what is expected to be four year awards. Research is clear that the benefits of high-quality early childhood education programs exceed costs by varying but significant amounts.

This bill includes $948 million for the UC program, $80 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. This will allow HHS to continue to provide vital health, mental health and education services for children when they first arrive in the United States. It will also support legal services for children as they seek safety in the United States from extreme violence and abuse in their home countries. In addition, given the uncertainty in this program, the bill provides expanded transfer authority to help HHS respond to sudden or urgent needs in the future.

The agreement also includes $14 million in new funding for schools that have experienced a significant increase in the number of immigrant children enrolled in the current school year. These funds will help schools provide academic instruction and support to such students, without reducing support for existing student populations.

Ebola Preparedness and Response -- The bill includes $2.742 billion for responding to Ebola and other infectious disease threats, both in the U.S. and abroad. Funding is provided for the development of vaccines and treatments, to train hospital workers and other workers potentially exposed to Ebola through their jobs, to bolster quarantine stations at the nation's ports of entries, to create isolation units on a regional basis, to reimburse hospitals spending millions for expensive care and to send Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) scientists to help stop the spread of Ebola where it is currently affecting the most number of people.

Not-for-Profit Student Loan Servicing -- The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 eliminated the mandatory funding source that supported not-for-profit student loan servicer contracts. The bill provides $1.397 billion, an increase of $230.924 million, for the Student Aid Administration, to prevent disruption of student loan servicing for millions of borrowers.

Job Training -- The bill includes $2.624 billion, an increase of $36 million, for Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Grants to states to provide job training skills and assistance to low-skilled adults, dislocated workers and low-income youth with barriers to employment. The bill also increases the Governor's Reserve to 10 percent from 8.75 percent. The funding increase provided for the WIOA state grant programs allows the Governor's Reserve to grow without reducing funds for local areas. Combined with funding provided in fiscal year 2014, the fiscal year 2015 funding level results in an estimated total increase of $138 million for the Governor's Reserve out of an overall increase of $156.518 million for state grant funding.

YouthBuild -- The bill includes $79.689 million, an increase of $2.155 million, for YouthBuild. This program helps at-risk youth obtain their high school diplomas while learning job skills by building affordable housing for low-income and homeless people in their communities.

Reintegration of Ex-Offenders -- The bill includes $82.078 million, an increase of $2 million, for the Reintegration of Ex-Offenders program. This program helps youth and adult ex-offenders overcome educational and labor market barriers as they return to their communities. A set-aside of $20 million is included to support activities that prepare young ex-offenders for employment, with a focus placed on projects carried out in high-crime, high-poverty areas.

Expanding Apprenticeships -- The bill includes $34 million, an increase of $4 million, to expand the successful model of Registered Apprenticeship. Research shows that apprentices earn more over the course of their careers than their peers and are well-positioned to meet the needs of employers in in-demand industries, such as manufacturing, transportation, information technology, healthcare and skilled trades.

Protecting Whistleblowers -- The agreement includes $552.787 million for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), targeting a $500,000 increase for its enforcement of whistleblower laws. These laws provide important protections for workers who raise issues in their workplace about practices that could impact fellow employees or the public.

Workers' Rights. -- The bill preserves the ability of federal agencies to carry out their Congressional mandates to protect workers' rights, including the National Labor Relations Board's ability to conduct fair union representation elections; the Employee Benefits Security Administration's ability to promulgate a fiduciary standard; and other Department of Labor agencies whose current and planned policies can go forward without delay. These agencies will be able to implement and propose policies that will keep American workers safer on the job and protect their rights in the workplace.

Federal Work Study (FWS) -- The bill includes $989.728 million, an increase of $15 million, for the FWS program to help needy students meet the cost of their education through part-time employment. At this funding level, an additional 8,900 students will receive FWS awards.

Career Pathways -- The bill includes a new provision reinstating financial aid eligibility for students without high school diplomas enrolled in career pathway programs at community colleges. Research shows that when low-skilled adults are enrolled in these programs, which provide education, training, counseling and supportive services concurrently, they are more likely to earn college credits and workforce credentials and to receive higher wages than their peers.

Adult Education State Grants -- The bill includes $568.955 million, an increase of $5 million, for Adult Education State Grants. Thirty-six million adults lack basic literacy and numeracy skills and are not well-positioned to compete for living wage jobs in the 21^st century economy. The increase in funding above the fiscal year 2014 level helps to address this persistent challenge.

Aid for Institutional Development -- The bill includes $530.014 million, an increase of $8.715 million, for the Aid for Institutional Development programs, which are designed to strengthen institutions of higher education that serve high percentages of minority students and students from low-income backgrounds. The bill also includes a new provision allowing community colleges and Minority-serving Institutions to continue using income earned from endowments for student scholarships.

TRIO -- The bill includes $839.752 million for TRIO, an increase of $1.5 million, to help low-income and first generation college students plan for, prepare for and succeed in college. The bill also includes a new provision ensuring TRIO Student Support Services grants are awarded to institutions in a timely manner.

Centers of Excellence for Veteran Student Success -- The bill includes $5 million to establish Centers of Excellence for Veteran Student Success on college campuses. These centers provide a single point of contact to help veterans integrate into the university community by providing comprehensive support services, including counseling, academic advising and the coordination of federal student aid and veterans benefits. This program last received funding in fiscal year 2010.

First in the World (FITW) -- The bill includes $60 million to implement the second year of the FITW initiative. FITW provides grants to colleges and universities to support innovative strategies that make college more affordable and improve educational outcomes. In fiscal year 2014, 24 colleges and universities received FITW grants. With the funding provided in fiscal year 2015, the Department of Education will make new awards through a second grant competition.

National Center for Information and Technical Support for Postsecondary Students with Disabilities (National Center). -- The bill includes $2.5 million to support a new National Center that increases the access to and completion of postsecondary education for students with disabilities. The National Center will help students with disabilities make the transition from high school to college by providing information on accommodations and transition programs available at institutions of higher education. The National Center will also provide training to college faculty and staff on how to improve services and provide accommodations for students with disabilities.

Fighting Healthcare Fraud and Abuse -- The bill includes $672 million for the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control (HCFAC) program at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), more than doubling the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. The latest data demonstrates that for every $1 spent on fraud and abuse control, $8.10 is recovered by the Department of the Treasury. This is the highest three-year average return on investment (ROI) in the 17-year history of HCFAC. The bill will create over $5.4 billion in savings to the Department of the Treasury.

Performance Partnerships for Disconnected Youth -- The bill continues authority for Performance Partnerships that will provide states and local communities with unprecedented flexibility to improve services for disconnected youth. Up to an additional 10 states and/or local communities will be allowed to combine funding that they receive through various programs within this bill for these pilot projects which will be rigorously evaluated and provide critical information about how to better serve disadvantaged youth.

Community Health Centers (CHCs) -- The bill includes $1.492 billion for CHCs. Combined with mandatory funding provided in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the fiscal year 2015 program level for CHCs is $5.092 billion, an increase of $1.452 billion.

Low Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) -- The bill includes $3.390 billion for home energy assistance for low income households, the same as the comparable fiscal year 2014 level, rejecting the administration's proposed cut to the program.

Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) -- The bill includes $674 million for the CSBG, the same as the fiscal year 2014 funding level, rejecting the administration proposed cut to the program.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) -- The bill provides $6.926 billion to the CDC, $42.685 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted funding level. This is in addition to the $30 million already provided in the fiscal year 2015 Continuing Resolution for the CDC response to Ebola.

Title I (Education for the Disadvantaged) -- The bill includes $14.410 billion, an increase of $25 million, for Title I grants to Local Education Agencies for improving education for low-income students. These funds support roughly 90 percent of the 14,000 school districts across the nation.

Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy Program -- The bill provides $160 million, an increase of $2 million, for this literacy program. Funds support states in improving literacy instruction for children from birth through 12th grade.

Children's Hospitals Graduate Medical Education (CHGME) -- The bill includes $265 million for CHGME, the same level as in fiscal year 2014. The bill rejects the elimination of this program proposed by the administration.

HIV/AIDS Prevention and Treatment -- The bill includes $2.319 billion for the Ryan White HIV/AIDS program. The bill rejects the consolidation the Part C and Part D programs as the proposed by the administration.

Elder Justice Initiative -- The bill includes $4 million for a new Elder Justice Initiative within the Elder Rights Support program to develop partnerships across disciplines for the prevention, investigation and prosecution of abuse, including financial abuse against the elderly.

Agencies and offices funded in the bill support accountability, transparency and continuity of the legislative process by conducting critical oversight of federal spending and programs, preserving and ensuring public access to government documents and protecting people visiting and working in the Capitol complex.

Government Accountability Office (GAO). GAO is an independent, nonpartisan agency that functions as the audit and investigative arm of Congress. The bill provides $522 million for GAO, which is $16.6 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level and the same as GAO's fiscal year 2014 request, as adjusted for updated technical assumptions. From fiscal year 2011 to fiscal year 2013, budget pressures resulted in a loss of about 500 positions, or 15 percent, of GAO's staff, hampering the agency's ability to deliver audits and evaluations in a timely manner to Congress and the American people. The bill enables GAO to restore an additional 120 positions in fiscal year 2015, building on the 40 positions GAO in the past year.

Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS provides timely, objective, authoritative and confidential research and analysis to support Congress in drafting legislation and conducting oversight. The bill provides $107 million for CRS, which is $1.6 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level.

Congressional Budget Office (CBO). CBO provides Congress with objective, nonpartisananalyses of budgetary and economic issues. Every year, CBO provides Congress dozens of reports and hundreds of cost estimates. CBO also makes much of that information publicly available to the American people. The bill fully funds CBO at $45.7 million, which is the same as the fiscal year 2014 enacted level.

Library of Congress (LOC). LOC is the oldest federal cultural institution and largest repository of the world's recorded knowledge. LOC also houses the Copyright Office, which administers U.S. copyright law to legally document ownership of American works. According to the LOC, the work of the Copyright Office impacts a $1 trillion segment of the U.S. economy. The LOC's Books for the Blind and Physically Handicapped program supports a national reading program for eligible blind and physically handicapped residents of the United States and U.S. citizens living overseas. In addition to funding provided for CRS, which is also housed within LOC, the bill provides $484 million for LOC responsibilities. This amount is $10.3 million more than the fiscal year 2014 level and $700,000 below the LOC's fiscal year 2015 request.

Government Publishing Office (GPO). GPO promotes transparency of federal governmentactivities by providing open access to all three branches of government. The bill provides $120 million for GPO, which is $700,000 more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level and $9 million less than GPO's fiscal year 2015 request. Of this funding, $8.8 million is provided for the GPO Revolving Fund for digital production and dissemination projects to further enable electronic availability of government documents.

The bill also includes a provision that renames GPO from the Government Printing Office to the Government Publishing Office to reflect its modernized mission, which now focuses mainly on digital composition and maintenance of online databases to support government transparency. Paper printing is now a minor part of GPO's spending and activities.

U.S. Capitol Police. The Capitol Police provide security and law enforcement for the Capitolcomplex and dignitary protection for congressional leadership, ensuring the safety of staff and visitors as well as the unobstructed continuity of the legislative process. The bill provides $348 million for the Capitol Police, which is $9.5 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level and $7.7 million less than the fiscal year 2015 request. This funding level enables the Capitol Police to continue new officer training and maintain the number of sworn officers, both of which were restored with fiscal year 2014 funding. These efforts will reduce the need for overtime pay once new officers are fully trained, saving taxpayer dollars in fiscal year 2015 and future years.

Architect of the Capitol (AOC). The AOC is responsible for the maintenance, operation andpreservation of 16.5 million square feet of buildings and more than 450 acres of land throughout the Capitol complex and its annexes. The bill provides $600 million for the AOC, including funding for both Senate and House facilities. This amount is $2 million less than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level and $76.4 million less than the fiscal year 2015 request. In addition to supporting the daily upkeep of the Capitol complex, the bill funds major projects that address fire and safety needs and ensure proper preservation and longevity of the historic buildings in the Capitol complex. The bill also fully funds the fourth and final phase of a major project to restore and preserve the Capitol Dome.

Prohibit Federal Spending on Portraits During Fiscal Year 2015. The Senate LegislativeBranch fiscal year 2015 appropriations bill included a provision that prohibits federal spending on official portraits. That provision is included in a separate title of the Omnibus and will apply to the Legislative Branch as well as all federal agencies.

Reform Senate Stationary Procurement. The bill eliminates an outdated requirement that the Secretary of the Senate purchase newspaper advertisements to solicit bids for procuring stationary products and allows the Secretary to utilize the basic procurement process used by executive branch agencies. This provision will decrease federal spending by eliminating purchases of newspaper ads and also potentially by lowering the cost of Senate stationary products due to increased competition.

Allow Office of Compliance to Email Employee Notices. The Office of Compliance (OOC) iscurrently required to mail notices to employees related to their employment rights. The bill will save $10,000 in postage costs per year by allowing OOC to email these notices.

Improving Oversight. The bill authorizes GAO to establish a Center for Audit Excellence toprovide high-quality training and technical assistance to other audit organizations, domestically and internationally. The Center will operate on a fee basis and not require additional funding.

Agreement Summary

The Military Construction, Veterans Affairs (VA) and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill provides funding for the construction of mission critical and support facilities for U.S. military personnel and their families serving around the world. The agreement also provides funding for veterans medical care and benefits, and for VA facilities throughout the country. The related agencies funded in the bill include Arlington National Cemetery, The American Battle Monuments Commission, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims and the Armed Forces Retirement Homes.

Major Initiatives

Mandatory Advances

The agreement authorizes advance funding for VA mandatory veterans benefit accounts, to be carried in next year's bill for fiscal year 2017. These accounts include Compensation and Pensions, Readjustment Benefits and Insurance and Indemnities. This is in addition to advance funding for VA medical care accounts, which the Committee began providing in fiscal year 2010. This authorization was included to shield veterans from the uncertainty of timely enactment of annual appropriations bills and the potential of a future government shutdown, which could delay payments and impose unwarranted hardship on veterans who depend on these benefits.

VA Patient Scheduling

Over the past year, the VA has been rocked by the exposure of deceptions and delays involving the scheduling of patients at medical centers across the nation. Veterans have suffered the consequences of these unconscionable delays in scheduling appointments. In response, Congress passed, and the President enacted, the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act, giving veterans access to care outside the veterans medical network until the VA can provide the necessary level of care and accessibility required. However, the long-range solution rests with the VA to implement necessary reforms and establish a sustainable annual operating budget. This agreement lays the foundation for those reforms and provides $5 million more than the budget request for the Office of Inspector General to continue a nationwide investigation throughout all Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISN) of scheduling practices and procedures.

Claims Processing

Building on the 10-point claims processing initiative included in the fiscal year 2014 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, this agreement includes additional funding and oversight provisions to continue the VA's claims processing surge effort until the current backlog is eliminated. Importantly, the agreement augments these efforts by putting into place a plan for workplace management reforms that ensure the long-term stability, accuracy and timely disposition of veterans' disability claims.

The agreement provides $2.5 billion for the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA). To expedite claims processing, the agreement includes $40 million more than the budget request to hire additional claims and support personnel at regional offices, to expand the Veterans Claims Intake Program records scanning system and to implement the centralized mail initiative. The VA is also directed to utilize $10 million of the increased funding for hardware upgrades at regional offices to ensure that the VA rapidly transforms from a paper-based claims processing system to one that uses modern technology that supports the deployment of the Veterans Benefits Management System (VBMS) nationwide.

Now is the time for the VBA to plan strategically to position itself for the future. To that end, the agreement requires the VA to work with the congressionally chartered National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) to ensure that VA develops and implements business practices to prevent the recurrence of a backlog in claims processing. NAPA will assess, identify or propose:

• VA's current progress in reducing the backlog and preparation for future claims processing;

• VA's current business processes and management structures, and specific changes needed to accommodate increasing claim complexity;

• specific procedures that must transform as VBA migrates to an electronic, paperless environment;

• future circumstances that could precipitate another backlog; and

• mitigation strategies, including short, medium and long term, that the VA should utilize to reduce the backlog while improving service.

Joint VA-Department of Defense (VA-DoD) Electronic Health Record Project

Recognizing the importance of providing the necessary resources and maintaining vigilance over the development of a joint VA-DoD Electronic Health Record (EHR) system, the agreement includes funding and oversight controls to ensure that interoperability will remain the focus of efforts within both the VA and DoD to modernize and streamline their respective electronic health record systems. The agreement provides $344 million to modernize the VA's EHR system and to continue the development of a fully interoperable VA-DoD electronic health record. In addition, the agreement continues to fence 75 percent of the EHR funding for the VA's modernization effort until the VA establishes and transmits to Congress a coherent governance structure for the modernization and interoperability of its EHR program. To maintain oversight of the efforts both agencies are making to ensure interoperability, the VA and DoD are required to provide the Federal Chief Information Officer a monthly progress report on EHR interoperability, and to provide the Committee quarterly briefings on the status of EHR interoperability issues.

Title I -- Military Construction and Family Housing

The agreement provides $6.558 billion for military construction and family housing, approximately equal to the request and $3.25 billion less than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level.

Highlights

Active component military construction: $4.35 billion to fund military construction projects worldwide. The agreement is $81 million less than the request and $2.9 billion less than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level.

Reserve component military construction: $426.5 million for readiness centers, training facilities and related military construction necessary for the training and administration of the Guard and reserve components. This is equal to the budget request and $239 million less than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level.

Unfunded military construction priorities: $117 million for certain unfunded military construction projects for the Army, Army Reserve and Army National Guard as authorized in the fiscal year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act; and $125 million for certain military construction projects authorized but not funded in fiscal year 2014.

Family Housing: $1.19 billion for family housing construction and improvements, equal to the request and $325 million less than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level.

Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC): $315 million for the Department of Defense Base Closure Fund, $45 million more than the request and $136.7 million less than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. The additional funding is to expedite environmental remediation at Navy legacy BRAC locations.

NATO Security Investment Program (NSIP): $199.7 million, as requested, to fund the U.S. share of joint U.S.-NATO military facilities, equal to the fiscal year 2014 enacted level.

Chemical Demilitarization Construction: $38.7 million, as requested, which is $83.8 million less than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level.

Energy Conservation Investment Program (ECIP): $150 million, as requested, for projects to improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas production on military installations. In an era of declining defense budgets and in an environment in which energy efficiency, security and renewable energy investments are mission-critical requirements, projects such as energy security microgrids, net-zero facilities and renewable energy projects have the potential to offer long-term pay-back that far exceeds initial investment.

Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO), Title IV: $221 million, including $175 million to fund military construction projects in Eastern Europe associated with the European Reassurance Initiative. This funding was requested in the OCO budget amendment to the Defense bill, but is funded in the Military Construction agreement in a new title IV for Overseas Contingency Operations.

Title II -- Department of Veterans Affairs

The agreement provides $159.14 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for fiscal year 2015. The total includes $94.1 billion for mandatory programs, $618.6 million more than the request (this reflects the Administration's mid-session review of mandatory programs) and $9.4 billion more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. For VA discretionary funding, the agreement provides $65.01 billion (this figure includes $55.6 billion in previously appropriated advances for veterans medical care), $1.8 billion more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. The agreement also includes $58.7 billion in advance appropriations for fiscal year 2016 VA medical care.

Highlights

Rural Health: Building on the Rural Health Initiative launched by the Committee in fiscal year 2009 to close gaps in VA service in rural and remote areas, the agreement provides $250 million, as requested. This money will help provide telehealth and mobile clinics for veterans in rural and highly rural areas, including Native American populations. Veterans in rural areas represent approximately 36 percent of the enrolled VA population and approximately 30 percent of veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. The mission of the Rural Health Initiative is to support veterans by researching and field-testing innovative approaches to deliver health care in rural areas, including mobile clinics and telehealth services. The fiscal year 2016 advance appropriation also includes $250 million for the Rural Health Program.

Homeless Veterans Programs: $7.42 billion for health care and support services for homeless veterans. This includes $1.64 billion in direct programs to assist homeless veterans, including $374 million for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and VA's Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program, and $253 million for the Homeless Grant Per Diem Program. The 2013 point-in-time count prepared by HUD estimated that there were 57,849 homeless veterans in the U.S.n a single night in January 2013. While a single homeless veteran is one too many, homelessness among veterans has declined 24 percent between 2009 and 2013. The total number of veterans served in Veterans Health Administration programs for homeless or at risk veterans in fiscal year 2013 was over 240,000, 16 percent more than 2012.

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans: $4.2 billion, as requested, to meet the health care needs of veterans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, which is $500 million more than the current estimate for fiscal year 2014. The VA estimates that the number of Operation Enduring and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) veterans in its health care system will reach 757,674 in 2015. This funding includes medical treatment associated with combat-related injuries, including traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. The fiscal year 2016 advance appropriation includes $4.7 billion for OEF/OIF war veterans.

Women Veterans Programs: The agreement includes $4.6 billion to provide healthcare for women veterans, including $403 million in gender-specific health care to meet the unique needs of female veterans. To improve access for women veterans, the agreement includes direction to the VA to conduct a system-wide review of the number of gender-specific healthcare providers currently in the system. This review will help the VA properly staff hospitals and clinics with healthcare professionals providing gender-specific care and lead to improved access for women veterans. Understanding demand is key to providing high quality services, yet the VA does not collect, analyze and publish data by gender or minority status. This type of data is essential for the VA and Congress to enhance services for women veterans by developing programs and ensuring adequate funding levels of those programs. Therefore, the agreement directs the VA, through the Women's Health Service and the Center for Women Veterans, to collect and analyze gender-specific data and to develop programs and funding recommendations based on this data. Additionally, the fiscal year 2016 advance appropriation provides $5.7 billion to provide healthcare for women veterans, including $436.7 million in gender-specific healthcare.

Medical and Prosthetic Research: $589 million, equal to the budget request, for research in a number of areas, including mental health, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, burn injury, polytrauma injuries and sensory loss.

Long Term Care: $7.04 billion for long term care for the nation's aging veterans as well as severely wounded combat veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The funding includes both institutional and home-based care programs. The agreement provides $90 million for grants for the construction of state extended care facilities, $10 million more than the request.

Information Technology (IT): $3.9 billion to support the VA's IT needs. Funding includes $344 million for modernization of the VA's electronic health record and development of interoperability between the VA and DoD and $137 million for the VBMS paperless claims system. To continue to modernize the VA IT infrastructure, the agreement includes $10 million for hardware upgrades at local VBA regional offices.

Office of Inspector General (IG): The agreement includes $126.4 million for the IG's office. This is $5 million more than the budget request and $5 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. The agreement includes the additional resources for the IG to continue audits throughout the entire VISN of scheduling practices and procedures.

Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA): The agreement includes $99.3 million for the BVA, $5 million more than the budget request and $11 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. The VA projects that appeals received by the BVA will increase by 52 percent, from 47,763 in fiscal year 2011 to 72,786 by the end of fiscal year 2015. This funding will increase manpower resources to expedite the appeals process.

Title III -- Related Agencies

American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC): $76 million, $4 million more than the request, to support the operations and activities of the ABMC. The additional funding is to address urgent maintenance and repair requirements at America's World War I and World War II cemeteries overseas, and to support the interpretive program.

U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims: $31.4 million, as requested, to address expected increases of the court's docket stemming from appealed claims.

Arlington National Cemetery (ANC): $65.8 million for operations, $20 million more than the request and equal to the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. The additional $20 million is included for operational, maintenance and repair projects at the ANC that the Administration proposed to fund through the Army Operation and Maintenance account in the defense appropriations bill.

Armed Forces Retirement Home: $63.4 million for operations, maintenance and capital investments. This is equal to the budget request.

A summary of the bill is below. All comparisons are to the fiscal year 2014 enacted level or to the fiscal year 2015 budget request. Some dollar figures are rounded.

The bill includes reforms to address long-standing concerns about the effectiveness and sustainability of U.S. foreign aid programs, including:

• Reforms of Foreign Service Officer human resources mechanisms to provide the necessary foreign language training, skills, overseas assignments and career incentives to enable officers to work closely with local communities and governments on sustainable, locally driven development projects;

• Enhances the effectiveness of humanitarian aid by collecting real-time feedback so U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and other donors know the needs beneficiaries and can respond;

• Requires public disclosure of reports requested by the Committee, with exceptions for confidential, proprietary and sensitive information;

• Establishes a Small Grants Program within USAID, funded with $45 million, to provide grants, cooperative agreements and other funding mechanisms to small nongovernmental organizations, universities and other similar entities with multi-year grants of under $2 million; and

• Includes provisions designed to improve the quality, transparency and oversight of lending by the World Bank and other international financial institutions.

The bill requires cost saving measures and tradeoffs to ensure adequate funding for Department of State and USAID operations as well as programs, including responding to the changing situations in Ukraine, Syria and Iraq and the draw-down in U.S. personnel from Afghanistan.

Reducing Waste, Fraud and Abuse

The bill includes several requirements designed to reduce waste and corruption:

• Provides funding for the Department of State and USAID Inspectors General (IG), including the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, and directs implementation of key IG and Government Accountability Office recommendations;

• Includes limitations on the use of funds for conferences;

• Requires U.S. executive directors to the international financial institutions to require progress by borrowing countries against fraud and corruption; and

• Directs agencies to continue efforts to improve financial management, contracting processes and internal controls to reduce the potential for waste and fraud.

• HIV/AIDS. A total of $6 billion to combat HIV/AIDS. Of this amount, $4.32 billion isfor the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which is $300 million more than the budget request (without cutting other critical life-saving programs); $1.35 billion for a U.S. contribution to the Global Fund; and $330 million is for USAID's HIV/AIDS programs.

• Ebola. $2.5 billion in emergency funding to respond to the Ebola epidemic in WestAfrica and to strengthen public health capacity in other countries threatened by the virus.

• Polio. $59 million for polio prevention programs, which is $9 million more than the President's budget request.

• Family Planning/Reproductive Health. $575 million for bilateral family planning assistance, plus $35 million for the UN Population Fund. The prohibition on funding for abortion and involuntary sterilization is continued.

• Children's Vaccines. $200 million for the Gavi Alliance, which is $25 million more thanthe fiscal year 2014 level.

• Malaria. $669.5 million to combat malaria, which is $4.5 million more than the fiscalyear 2014 level.

• Tuberculosis. $236 million to combat tuberculosis, which is equal to the fiscal year 2014 level and $45 million more than the President's request.

• Pandemic Influenza. $72.5 million for pandemics and other emerging health threats, which is $22.5 million more than the President's budget request.

• Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD). $100 million for NTDs, which is $13.5 million more than the President's budget request.

• Contributions for International Peacekeeping Activities. The bill provides sufficientfunding and authorities to cover U.S. assessed contributions to UN peacekeeping missions as a critical component of furthering U.S. strategic interests globally.

• Contributions to International Organizations. The bill provides $1.4 billion to support U.S. contributions to UN organizations, but does not include a contribution to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which is prohibited by law.

• International Financial Institutions (IFI). The bill substantially meets ourcommitments to the IFIs, including $1.28 billion for the International Development Association.

• • Clean Technology Fund. $201.2 million.

  • Strategic Climate Fund. $63.1 million.

  • Global Environment Facility. $136.6 million.

• International Organizations and Programs. The bill provides a total of $344 million for voluntary contributions to UN agencies, including $132 million for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and $80 million for the UN Development Program. A portion of the funds is conditioned on transparency, audit and reporting requirements.

The bill provides substantial funding for key allies, including:

• Israel. As in past years, the bill provides the President's request of $3.1 billion formilitary aid for Israel.

• Middle East Response. $400 million to address additional requirements in the Middle East, including for non-lethal aid to counter Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria.

• Jordan. A total of $1 billion in economic and military aid for Jordan, in addition to humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees in Jordan.

• Egypt. $1.3 billion in military aid, subject to democracy and human rights conditions,with waiver authority for the Secretary of State and exceptions for counterterrorism and border security. $150 million in economic aid.

• Ukraine, Europe and Eurasia. $502 million, including for loan guarantees, and aframework within a new general provision to respond to Russian aggression in Europe and Eurasia.

• Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons. $3.06 billion, which is $1.01 billion morethan the President's request.

• Aid for Natural and Man-made Disasters. $1.89 billion, which is $505 million more than the President's budget request.

• Central American Migrants. $260 million to respond to a surge of unaccompaniedchildren from Central America coming to the U.S. The funds will be used to implement a prevention and response strategy focused on border security and the reintegration of migrants, as well as the causes of the migration, including programs to improve education and employment, support families, counter gangs, coyotes and drug cartels and professionalize police forces.

• $379.5 million for the Peace Corps, which is $500,000 more than the fiscal year 2014 level, and

• $899.5 million for the Millennium Challenge Corporation, which is $1.5 million more than the fiscal year 2014 level.

• Asia Rebalance. Provides a framework for the President's Asia Rebalancing Initiative toenhance regional partnerships, improve trade and human rights in the Asia and Pacific regions and includes requirements to provide greater clarity in the funding requests to support the initiative.

• Global Internet Freedom. The bill provides not less than $50.5 million for programs to promote internet freedom in countries whose governments restrict freedom of expression.

• Human Rights. The bill maintains human rights conditions on a portion of aid to thearmed forces and police of several countries.

Bill Summary

The Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill provides funding for programs that build our nation's transportation network and support our communities. The bill includes funding for a broad range of transportation infrastructure, including roads and bridges, railroads and transit systems. The bill ensures that Amtrak continues to deliver passenger rail transportation throughout the country, a system on which both urban and rural communities depend. It also invests in the modernization of our air traffic control system and provides grants for airport improvements. The bill includes funding at HUD to maintain housing assistance for low-income tenants through the Section 8 rental assistance programs. It continues funding for the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program, which is critical to eliminate homelessness among veterans. The bill also continues to support housing and economic development activities across the country through the CDBG program.

Major New Initiative: Protecting the Safety of Crude Oil Shipments

The production of domestic energy resources has increased dramatically in recent years, providing us with more affordable oil and natural gas, and helping to make the country less dependent on foreign energy imports. However, the sharp increase in domestic energy production has also meant a rapid increase in oil shipments by rail instead of ocean tankers. This change in the shipment of crude oil poses new challenges for DOT as it works to ensure the safety of our railroads and the communities close to their tracks.

The bill provides the Secretary of Transportation with additional targeted investments to deliver a comprehensive prevention, mitigation and response safety strategy for the shipment of energy products:

• Inspectors -- 15 new rail and hazardous materials inspectors to ensure compliance with federal safety standards for the safe transportation of energy products and other hazardous materials.

• Track Inspections -- $3 million to expand the use of automated track inspections to ensure proper track maintenance on crude oil routes -- covering 14,000 miles of track nationwide. Funding will also be used to expedite implementation of a remote automated track inspection capability to increase inspection mileage at a reduced cost.

• Short Line Safety Institute -- The bill supports the establishment of a Short Line Safety Institute to perform safety compliance assessments and safety training for short line railroads that transport crude oil. Short Line Railroads operate on more than 50,000 miles of track, which is one-third of the national railroad network. Short line railroads use a wide variety of safety management systems and many companies lack the resources to conduct hazardous materials safety training.

• Classification Activities -- Each classification of flammable liquids has different requirements for packaging, hazard communications, operational controls and safety and security planning throughout the supply chain. Proper classification ensures that emergency responders understand the hazards of the products being shipped and the correct way to respond in the case of an accident. The bill provides funding for testing shale crude oil to determine the most appropriate criteria, sampling methods and testing procedures for energy products. These activities will also help identify any safety gaps in current regulations for the safe transportation of energy products.

• Tank Car Design -- There is indisputable evidence that the existing DOT-111 tank car design is an inadequate standard for the transportation of hazardous flammable liquids like crude oil. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) began regulatory action to change the tank car design standards in September 2013. The bill directs PHMSA to finalize these regulations no later than January 15, 2015.

• Training -- Emergency responders are the last line of defense for communities to contain the impact of an oil spill and prevent damage to people, property and the environment. The bill includes funding for a web-based hazardous materials emergency response training curriculum to train public sector emergency response personnel based on or near rail lines that transport a significant amount of high-risk energy products or toxic inhalation hazards. Web-based curricula are an important tool for many tribes and public sector emergency response personnel, particularly in rural areas, to get the training they need.

• Railroad Grants -- The bill continues investments in our nation's railroad infrastructure to make safety improvements by providing $10 million in grants for railroad grade crossing and track improvements on routes that transport energy products.

The bill provides a total of $17.8 billion in discretionary budget authority for DOT for fiscal year 2015. The bill includes another $53.5 billion in limitations on obligations for DOT, for a total of $71.3 billion in budgetary resources for fiscal year 2015. This total level of budgetary resources is $134.9 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level, which included $17.7 billion in discretionary budget authority and $53.5 billion in obligation limitations.

The bill is also $18.2 billion less than the funding levels included in the President's budget request, which included $13.7 billion in discretionary budget authority and $75.8 billion in obligation limitations. The President's budget relied more heavily on obligation limitations because it assumed that many programs would receive mandatory funding through new legislation to authorize highway, highway safety, public transit and rail programs instead of through the appropriations process.

Highlights

Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Grants: $500 million for grants to state and local governments to support a wide variety of transportation options, including roads and bridges, railroads, transit systems and port infrastructure. TIGER grants are distributed by competition, and the demand for these grants is enormous in comparison to the available funding. For fiscal year 2014 funding, for example, DOT received applications from almost every state in the country for projects that totaled $9.5 billion. The funding level is $100 million below the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. The President's budget request had included $1.25 billion for this program, but it also assumed that the funding would be provided through new legislation authorizing surface transportation programs instead of the appropriations process.

Federal-aid Highways Program: $40.3 billion for the Federal-aid Highways program, which is equal to the level enacted for fiscal year 2014. This program provides grants to every state in the country to build and maintain roads and bridges. Funding is consistent with the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21^st Century Act (MAP-21), the most recent authorization law for federal surface transportation programs, and assumes that MAP-21 will be extended through fiscal year 2015. The President's budget request had included $47.3 billion for the highway program, but it also assumed that the mandatory funding would be provided through new legislation authorizing surface transportation programs instead of the appropriations process.

Rail Investments: $1.39 billion for Amtrak, which is consistent with the level of funding provided in fiscal year 2014. This funding will allow Amtrak to continue providing passenger rail service in 46 states. Amtrak's ridership hit an all-time high of 31.6 million people last fiscal year, and Amtrak has reached record ridership levels for 10 of the last 11 years. This level of funding will allow Amtrak to make investments in the state-of-good repair infrastructure projects and to operate a safe and reliable passenger rail network for the nation. The agreement provides $1 billion less than the budget request, which assumed the mandatory funding would be provided through new legislation authorizing surface transportation programs instead of the appropriations process.

Transit Investments: $10.9 billion for transit programs, $141 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level and $6.7 billion less than the request. These resources will be used to improve subway, light rail and bus rapid transit services in 15 states. The President's budget assumed passage of a surface transportation bill that would fund most transit programs rather than the appropriations process. The bill includes $8.6 billion for formula grants, $37.5 million for research and technical assistance and $150 million to continue modernizing the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. In addition, it provides $2.12 billion for the transit capital investment grants, an increase of $177 million to help communities build new rail and bus rapid transit capacity in California, Maryland, North Carolina, Colorado, Florida, Texas and other states. These investments help communities find solutions to road congestion, support economic development, manage population growth and reduce air pollution.

Air Transportation: $15.7 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which is $83 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level and $437 million more than the President's budget request. This funding makes it possible for the FAA to supply air traffic control services 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The agreement includes $144 million to fully fund the FAA's contract towers in fiscal year 2015 and $3.5 billion for airport grants. The agreement also provides $856 million for NextGen, the FAA's effort to modernize the country's air traffic control system.

Automobile Safety: $830 million for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which is $11 million more than the fiscal year 2014 level and $13 million less than the budget request. The increase in funding will allow NHTSA to make important investments in its safety defects analysis and investigation programs and improve the agency's ability to aggressively screen defect trends. This will help the agency identify safety defects earlier and recall vehicles and vehicle equipment that pose an unreasonable safety risk.

Title II -- Department of Housing and Urban Development

The bill provides a total of $35.6 billion in discretionary budget authority for HUD for fiscal year 2015. The bill also includes offsetting receipts estimated by Congressional Budget Office at $9.7 billion, which allows for program funding levels totaling $45.4 billion. The level of discretionary budget authority is $3 billion more than the $32.7 billion requested by the President. However, the President's budget assumed $4.2 billion more in offsetting receipts, as estimated by Office of Management and Budget, which allowed for a program level of $46.7 billion. As a result, the level of discretionary funding in the bill is $2.9 billion more than the President's request, but the overall program funding level included in the bill is $1.3 billion less than the President's request. The level of funding in the agreement is $2.8 billion more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level and supports $104 million less in program funding.

Highlights

Community Development Block Grant (CDBG): $3 billion for the CDBG program, which provides grants to state and local governments to support housing and economic development projects in urban and rural communities across the county. These funds can be used to address a variety of needs from revitalizing distressed areas by improving streetscapes and sidewalks and supporting small businesses to removing blight and assisting seniors and others with home repairs. CDBG helps communities develop projects that meet their unique needs and support efforts to create jobs. The funding provided is $200 million more than the budget request and $30 million less than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level.

Section 8 Rental Assistance: $19.3 billion for tenant base rental assistance, which supports safe and affordable housing for over two million of the nation's low-income families and individuals, including elderly and disabled residents. These funds subsidize rent, allowing families to afford safe housing in urban and rural communities in all 50 states. The funding level is $127 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level and $741 million less than the President's request. The amount provided for renewals is based on updated data and is sufficient to maintain existing vouchers. The bill also includes protections that will allow public housing authorities to maintain vouchers that are leased before the end of the year.

The program also includes $75 million for HUD-VASH to provide housing for 10,000 additional veterans experiencing homelessness. This program has helped reduce homelessness among veterans by 33 percent since 2010, and will help reach the goal of eliminating homelessness among the nation's veterans. The bill requires HUD to set aside a portion of HUD-VASH funding to conduct a pilot that will provide housing and supportive services to Native American veterans who are homeless or at-risk of homelessness living on tribal reservations or in other Indian areas.

Section 8 Project -based Rental Assistance (PBRA): $9.7 billion for project-based rental assistance, which supports an estimated 17,400 contracts with private owners of multifamily housing. The agreement is consistent with the budget request and $200 million less than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. Through this program, HUD and private sector partners support the preservation of safe, stable and sanitary housing for more than 1.2 million low-income Americans, 60 percent of whom are elderly or disabled.

Homeless Assistance Grants: $2.14 billion for the Homeless Assistance Grants program, which provides families and individuals experiencing homelessness access to permanent supportive housing, rapid rehousing and emergency shelters. Local communities use these grants to move homeless individuals from the streets to a permanent home with supportive services. Of the amount provided, at least $250 million is for the Emergency Solutions Grants program, which supports efforts to move families quickly out of shelters and into permanent housing and ensures that emergency shelters are available to those that find themselves without housing. These programs are critical to achieving the goals to prevent and end homelessness in the country. Based on the most recent count of homeless persons, homelessness has declined by 10 percent since 2010, with a decline of 21 percent among chronically homeless individuals and 33 percent among veterans. Since the homeless youth population has not seen similar improvements, the agreement includes efforts to better address their needs, including a demonstration on improving youth self-sufficiency and an evaluation and report by the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness on how to better coordinate federal programs serving homeless youth. The agreement provides $40 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level.

Choice Neighborhoods: $80 million for Choice Neighborhoods grants, which help tear down and rebuild distressed public or HUD assisted housing. The program builds on the successful HOPE VI program and helps transform housing, neighborhoods and the lives of those living in them. The agreement provides $10 million less than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level and $40 million less than the budget request.

Public Housing: The bill provides public housing agencies (PHAs) with resources to manage their programs, including $1.88 billion for the public housing capital fund and $4.44 billion for the public housing operating fund. Funding for the capital fund is equal to the fiscal year 2014 enacted level and $50 million less than the budget request. Funding for the operating fund is $40 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level and $160 million less than the budget request. These funds are used for both the operation and basic maintenance of existing housing units, as well as larger capital projects that can include replacing roofs or upgrading outdated units.

Rental Assistance Demonstration program (RAD): The bill increases the cap on the number of public housing units that can participate in RAD from 60,000 to 185,000. RAD allows PHAs to access private sector funding to address their capital needs, while maintaining protections for residents and the long-term affordability of the housing. The bill also permanently extends the second component of RAD, which streamlines and consolidates multiple rental assistance programs into section 8. These conversions will reduce the number of rental assistance programs and preserve the long-term affordability and quality of this important affordable housing.

Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS): The bill provides $75 million for the Family Self-Sufficiency program that helps residents of public housing and section 8 achieve self-sufficiency and economic independence. It helps fund service coordinators and helps link residents to employment assistance, job training, child care, transportation and financial literacy assistance. For the first time, the bill language also allows residents living in project-based section 8 housing to participate in the program.

The bill includes a new pilot program to test the effectiveness of pairing the FSS program with the family unification program (FUP) vouchers for homeless youth or those aging out of foster care to increase their opportunities for self-sufficiency through housing stability, education and job training.

Native American Housing Programs: $716 million for Native American Housing programs. This includes $650 million in Native American Housing Block Grants, which are allocated on a formula basis to tribes. The funding provided by the agreement is consistent with the budget request and the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. The bill also includes $66 million for the Indian Community Development Block Grant program, including $6 million for a national competition to remove and prevent mold in housing on Native American reservations. These funds provide critical support to tribal governments and tribally designated housing entities to improve housing conditions and economic opportunities for Native Americans. The bill also directs HUD to coordinate with other federal agencies to streamline and coordinate environmental reviews for housing and related infrastructure development, as recommended by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME): $900 million for the HOME program, which helps support the creation of affordable housing. This level of funding is $100 million less than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level and $50 million less than the President's request.

Title III -- Related Agencies

National Transportation Safety Board: $104 million for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is almost $1 million more than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level and the President's budget request in order to ensure that the NTSB does not lose any of its staff due to budgetary constraints. The NTSB investigates every civil aviation accident in the United States and significant accidents in the other modes of transportation, such as railroads, highways and pipelines. Since its inception in 1967, the NTSB has investigated more than 139,000 aviation accidents and thousands of surface transportation accidents, and the board has issued more than 13,900 recommendations to improve the safety of our transportation system.

Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation (NeighborWorks): $185 million for NeighborWorks, which is $3 million more than the budget request and $19 million less than the fiscal year 2014 enacted level. The bill includes $50 million for the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling program to provide support in communities that continue to suffer from high rates of foreclosures.

Reforms

The bill includes numerous reforms, including provisions to address wasteful spending, improve transparency, improve federal coordination and reduce duplication and overlap among federal programs.

To prevent wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars, the agreement includes provisions that limit how the departments and agencies funded in the bill can spend their budgetary resources. Specifically, this bill prohibits agencies from sending more than 50 employees to an international conference. Prohibitions on spending funds for the painting of official portraits and awarding contracts to people convicted of a felony or cheating on their federal taxes have also been applied to all bills within the omnibus.

To improve transparency in the federal government, the agreement requires the departments and agencies funded in the bill to report on their vehicle fleets and attendance at conferences. In addition, the agreement requires the departments and agencies to make their reports available to the public.

The agreement recommends several initiatives to improve federal coordination, and reduce duplication and overlap:

Improving Emergency Preparedness Grants: PHMSA administers competitive grants to states and tribes for hazardous materials emergency preparedness response training. According to a recent investigation by the DOT Inspector General, this program has been hampered by statutory limitations on the period that grantees have to spend the money and a lack of capacity for PHMSA to properly oversee the use of grant funds. The bill includes provisions that would allow grants to be spent over a longer period of time and increase the administrative funds available for grant management.

Streamlining of Environmental Reviews for Native American Housing: The agreement directs HUD to coordinate with other federal agencies to streamline environmental reviews for housing and related infrastructure projects on tribal lands. The agreement offers this reform in response to a recent report by the GAO that found tribes face multiple and duplicative requirements that add unnecessary costs to housing development.

Improving the CDBG Program: The agreement includes a provision that prohibits communities from selling a CDBG grant to another community. The bill also requires underwriting for any grant provided to a for-profit organization for economic development. The agreement provides HUD with the authority to enforce these requirements.

Holding Property Owners Accountable: The agreement includes a provision in the bill that requires HUD to take enforcement actions if a property owner fails to maintain the physical condition of their HUD-assisted property. Enforcement actions include imposing monetary penalties or transferring the property to another owner.

Fulfilling Violence Against Women Act Requirements: The agreement includes funding that supports efforts to improve the coordination between domestic violence service and housing systems to improve assistance to domestic violence survivors and ensure that housing providers are effectively meeting Violence Against Women Act requirements.

Expanding the Use of Cost-Benefit Analysis: Under the agreement, the Federal Highway Administration is encouraged to work with state departments of transportation on the use of cost-benefit analysis in the selection of highway projects.

• Funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is frozen at the fiscal year 2014 level by a Continuing Resolution (CR) through February 27, 2015. At this level, the Department will be able to maintain all frontline personnel and operations to: secure and manage our land, air and maritime borders; enforce and administer our immigration laws; safeguard and secure cyberspace; prevent illegal drugs, weapons and counterfeit merchandise from crossing our borders; detect chemical, biological and nuclear threats; ensure the safety of our President; and help communities and individuals respond to, recover from and rebuild after natural disasters or man-made attacks. Under a CR, the Department cannot fund new proposals requested by the President or improvements to his request contained in the House and Senate reported bills.

• The CR does not allocate any funding specifically to address the humanitarian crisis of children and families with children crossing our Southwest border, nor does it include any funding to address security weaknesses at the White House complex. The CR continues language contained in the expiring CR for U.S. Customs and Border Protection as well as U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement so that their funding can be obligated at a rate of operations to sustain current staffing levels, for border security and immigration enforcement, and detention requirements. An anomaly extending DHS' "Other Transactional Authority" is continued so that the Department can obtain leading edge research and development from non-traditional sources. In addition, an anomaly extending the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standard program is continued to ensure the program can operate until authorizing legislation is passed. Finally, new anomalies were added permitting funds to be used by the Secret Service to prepare and train for the next Presidential election campaign and to continue preparation for a new biosafety laboratory.