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WASHINGTON, DC—Congressman Paul D. Tonko (NY-20) today voted to pass a package of six funding bills that will help Americans deal with high prices, side with the hard-working middle class, reinforce America’s global leadership, and help keep communities safe and secure. The package passed in the House hours before a shutdown, during which funding was set to lapse for nearly three quarters of the government.

“After months of negotiations, I’m relieved to finally take this long-overdue action to advance a government funding package that invests in the critical programs and services that will support our Capital Region communities,” Congressman Tonko said. “The bipartisan suite of bills advanced out of the House today will help address childcare costs for families, support our military personnel, promote job development, and more. Having worked throughout my career to support those living with Alzheimer’s and their families, I’m particularly pleased that this funding will invest strongly in research on Alzheimer’s and related dementias. With these final funding bills, we are investing in everyday Americans.”

Throughout bill negotiations, Democrats held firm to reject extreme Republican cuts and policies to advance a funding package that includes:

• $1 billion increase for child care and Head Start
• $120 million increase in funding for cancer research at the National Institutes of Health
• $100 million increase for Alzheimer’s and Alzheimer’s disease-related dementias research
• Saving 224,000 teachers’ jobs House Republicans tried to eliminate and protecting Job Corps and more than 20 K-12 and higher education programs
• Blocking 10 Republican riders to limit women’s reproductive health
• 12,000 more Special Immigrant Visas for Afghans that assisted the United States
• $1 billion increase in climate change and resilience activities at the Department of Defense

This package includes the following funding bills: Defense; Financial Services and General Government; Homeland Security; Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies; Legislative Branch; and State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs. A detailed summary of the legislation is available here.

A package containing six other appropriations bills for fiscal year 2024 passed the House earlier this month and was signed into law by President Biden on March 9th. That package included funding for a slate of local development and improvement projects Tonko pushed for through the Community Project Funding process.