WASHINGTON, D.C. — Since President Donald Trump signed the bipartisan Budget Deal of 2018 roughly a week ago, lawmakers have been dealing with the political fallout.
The spending bill increases the defense spending cap to $647 billion by Fiscal Year 2019 and the non-defense spending cap to $597 billion by the same year. Total non-discretionary funding would increase by $296 billion for at least the next two years. In total, the bill would push the annual deficit to over a trillion dollars by 2019 – spending levels higher than the last five years.
Three of the four national representatives for the region voted in favor of the spending bill. Senators Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman both touted the bill as a success that appropriates funds to combat some of Ohio’s statewide problems, such as $6 billion to the opioid epidemic, and sending additional funding to keep community health centers open and the Children’s Health Insurance Program operational.
“I’m pleased to see both parties come together and reach an agreement to increase funding for our military and our veterans and make key investments to address this opioid crisis while keeping our government running,” Portman said.
“Like any good compromise, neither side got exactly what it wanted in this deal. But it delivers important victories for Ohio,” Brown said.
U.S. Rep. Bob Latta also voted yes on the bill because of its focus on increasing defense spending, helping veterans and committing funds to the opioid crisis.
“The budget was critical to the rebuilding of our military after nearly a decade of drawdowns under the Obama Administration, and it also provides critical resources to fight the opioid crisis — an issue that has devastated communities across Ohio,” Latta said. “No legislation is perfect, and this budget was no exception. However, ensuring our military has the resources they need to be successful in a dangerous world is a priority of mine.”
U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan voted no on the bill, and he’s been vocal throughout the last week against the bill, especially against House Speaker Paul Ryan, who shepherded the bill through the House.
“Just a few years ago, Speaker Ryan was viewed as the individual in our party, in our country, who was focused on fiscal responsibility, and then you saw what happened last week,” Jordan said.
Jordan supported the increase of military spending in the bill but disagreed with the increase in non-defense spending.
As an appropriations bill, the spending bill does not include exactly what the new funds will be spent on, and lawmakers will be using the next six weeks to hammer out the finer details through further legislation.
However, the deal does explicitly give Congress orders to spend certain amounts to combat particular problems — $3 billion on the opioid epidemic, $2 billion on veteran-related issues, $10 billion on infrastructure, $2 billion on higher education and $2.9 billion on healthcare.
According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, if the spending bill’s policies were to become standard practice, annual deficits would rise to $1.7 trillion by 2027.
