Today, Rep. Mike Bost (IL-12) voted for a year-end funding package that will keep the federal government operating for the next fiscal year. The bipartisan legislation – which passed the House by an overwhelming 316-113 margin – tightens restrictions on the Visa Waiver Program, funds national security priorities, extends vital tax relief, blocks EPA overreach, and lifts a 40-year-old ban on crude oil exports.
“While this legislation may not have included everything we wanted, it does make significant reforms that are win-wins for Southern Illinois,” said Rep. Bost. “Now that we’ve come together to provide long-term certainty for our military members, small businesses, and hardworking families in Southern Illinois, we can now redouble our efforts on the important initiatives that were not included in this bill and hopefully make progress there as well.”
2016 Omnibus Appropriations Bill for Southern Illinois:
Strengthening National Security:
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Strengthens national security by tightening requirements under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) and increases funds so that our troops have the resources they need to confront more radical and more complex enemies; and
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Ensures Scott Air Force Base and other military installations receive the funding they need to keep America safe.
Spurring Economic Growth:
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Lifts the government’s 40-year-old ban on crude oil exports which will encourage investment, spur innovation, at create jobs here at home;
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Permanently extends vital tax relief for Southern Illinoisans and allows for inflation in 2016;
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Prevents a taxpayer bailout of Obamacare’s risk corridors program and reduces Obamacare tax burdens on hardworking Americans; and
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Extends bonus depreciation treatment for property through 2019, which is extremely important for job creation and economic growth in the nation’s agricultural and manufacturing sectors.
Reining In Executive Overreach:
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Stops the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from suppressing free speech by interfering with the civic participation of non-profit organizations; and
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Rejects funding for new or expanded EPA programs that let top-down bureaucrats pick winners and losers and holds the agency to its lowest spending levels since 2008.