Rep. Chu Votes to Pass Second Bipartisan Government Funding Package to Support Working Families, Protect Women’s Rights, and Keep Our Communities Secure

Package finalizes additional Community Project Funding that Rep. Chu secured for the San Gabriel Valley, bringing total to nearly $17.9million

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the House of Representatives voted 286-134 to pass H.Res. 1102, the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, a package of six funding bills focused on supporting American families and communities and promoting our national security. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill later this week. 

“After months of MAGA Republican-led dysfunction, extremism, and intransigence, the House appropriations process for fiscal 2024 is completewith the passage of this legislation. Once again, it’s House Democrats who provided the lion’s share of votes for legislation that supports working families, protects women’s rights, promotes America’s safety and global leadership, and helps make communities secure,” said Rep. Judy Chu, who voted in favor. “No appropriations package is perfect, and it’s unfortunate this package increased defense spending while cutting important domestic programs and foreign aid. I am particularly frustrated with Republican’s insistence on blocking funding for UNRWA, which will worsen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. And while the budget increases ICE detention bed capacity to historic highs, the package rejected MAGA Republicans’ anti-immigrant proposals, no medieval border wall funding was included, and necessary funds were designated to facilitaterefugee processing and decrease asylum and work authorization backlogs.”

“Democrats were also able to stand against Republican efforts to: limit reproductive health, including ending Title X funding; fire thousands of teachers in the classroom; kick thousands of young children from Head Start; defund the IRS’s efforts to hold wealthy tax cheats accountable; and prevent the Department of Education from providing student debt relief to millions,” continued Rep. Chu. “Not only were we able to limit Republican extremism, we secured funding increases for strategic investments in the Small Business Administration to help American entrepreneurs, child care to support working families, mental and behavioral health emergency services to provide guidance to those in acute need, and climate change and resilience activities at the Department of Defense to help protect our national security and our planet’s health. On balance, this package meets the needs of the American people, limits Republican efforts to undo progress we’ve made, and prevents a devastating government shutdown. For these reasons, I voted to send it to the Senate for final approval.” 

Rep. Chu championed Community Project Funding of $225,000 for the City of San Gabriel Emergency Operations Center in this second package of government funding bills, adding to the previously announced 14 projects included in the first government funding package. The total Community Project Funding for 2024 in California’s 28^th congressional district that Rep. Chu secured is $17, 885,783. 

“With today’s vote, I have been able to secure nearly $17.9 million in Community Project Funding for strategic investments across the San Gabriel Valley,” Rep. Chu concluded. “These investments create jobs, keep our communities safe, increase affordable housing, and care for our children—making a real difference in the lives of so many in the San Gabriel Valley. I will always fight for our fair share of federal funding to make our corner of the country healthier and stronger. President Biden has already indicated his support of this package, so I urge my Senate colleagues to swiftly pass it so that he can sign the legislation and unlock the necessary funds to run our government effectively.” 

Some of the strongest investments and victories for the American people included in this overall package can be found here. They include: 

• $1 billion increase for child care and Head Start to expand access to quality child care for hard working families and invest in the early childhood education workforce, rejecting the Republican proposal to cut funding for Head Start by $750 million, which would have resulted in 80,000 children losing access 
• $20 million increases in Title I funding, saving 224,000 teachers’ jobs that House Republicans tried to eliminate by cutting funding 
• $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. 
• $18 million increase for the 988 and Behavioral Health Crisis Services. 
• $30 million increase for the Small Business Administration  
• $160.1 million for refugee processing, asylum, and work authorization backlog reduction 
• Maintains the maximum Pell Grant award at $7,395, protecting the historic $900 increase to the maximum award secured in fiscal years 2022 and 2023. 
• Blocking 10 Republican riders to limit women’s reproductive health, including a Republican proposal to eliminate funding for the Title X Family Planning Program. 
• Rejecting Republican riders that would have blocked the Department of Education from implementing regulations related to student loans and income-based repayment. 
• Prevents additionalfunding for a border wall. 
• 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. 
• Extends funding for PEPFAR, which has saved more than 25 million lives worldwide and was set to expire. 

The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, funds the six bills at levels consistent with the bipartisan budget agreement from May 2023.House Democrats were successful in removing extreme House Republican policies from these bills that attempted to make abortion illegal everywhere, slash efforts to fight climate change, and threaten our national security.

These 2024 funding bills invest in America’s future and deliver for the American people by: 

• Helping with the high cost of living, reducing drug costs, helping with child care and Head Start. 
• Siding with the hardworking majority of Americans by supporting education and job training and placement programs that help Americans find high paying jobs, safeguarding robust worker protection agencies that ensure Americans are safe and properly compensated at work, and ensuring billionaires and wealthy corporations pay the taxes they owe. 
• Protecting women’s rights by blocking attempts to limit women’s access to reproductive health care including the elimination of Title X Family Planning and Teen Pregnancy Prevention Grants and supporting the reproductive health of women overseas. 
• Reinforcing America’s global leadership by strengthening defense capabilities, ensuring America can respond anywhere in the world where freedom and democracy are under attack, amplifying American diplomacy, and reaffirming our global commitments to fight climate change and reinforce global health. 
• Helping our communities be safe and secure by funding border security, preventing the trafficking of fentanyl and other dangerous drugs, bolstering cyber security, protecting consumers from scammers, fraudsters, and dangerous products, and enabling robust and immediate responses to natural disasters. 

 This second and final package follows the first six appropriations bills signed into law on March 9, which Rep. Chu voted in favor of. 

Click here to read the legislation. 

Click here for a detailed summary of the legislation. 

Click here for the list of fully approved Community Funding Projects for California’s 28^th congressional district.