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Collins votes yes on $1.1 trillion spending plan

By Howard B. Owens

Press release:

Congressman Chris Collins (NY-27) today released the following statement after passage of the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act for FY 2015.

“This legislation is a tremendous win for Western New York,” Congressman Collins said. “It holds the line on discretionary spending, ensuring continued deficit reduction, while fully funding vital government programs. In politics it is crucial not to let perfect be the enemy of good, and although people on both sides have their concerns, I'm proud of what this accomplishes for Western New York.”

Here are highlights from the bill that directly affect Western New Yorkers.

· Provides $122 million for the improvement and expansion of the VA Medical Facility in Canandaigua;

· Provides $68 million for OMEGA at the University of Rochester to expand its nuclear fusion laser lab facility;

· Increases funding for the National Institutes of Health grant programs that help fund research centers like the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo;

· Eliminates funding for the Race to the Top Initiative, reducing the incentive for States to continue the implementation of the Common Core Standards;

· Blocks the EPA from applying the Clean Water Act to certain farm ponds and irrigation ditches;

· Allows more flexibility to school districts implementing new whole grain nutrition standards in school lunches;

· Cuts EPA funding for the fifth consecutive year and brings staffing to the lowest level since 1989;

· Cuts IRS funding by $345.6 million and bans the agency from targeting organizations seeking tax-exempt status based on their ideological beliefs;

· Provides $300 million to improve and restore the Great Lakes;

· Increases funding for the Harbor Maintenance Trust fund by $100 million.

James Renfrew

The Congressman neglects to mention that the bill opens the floodgates even wider for corporate money to influence elections. That's not good for this district (or the nation).

Dec 11, 2014, 11:49pm Permalink
Tim Miller

...and removes barriers erected after the crash or 2008 to keep banks and other financial institutions from gambling with their customers and federal money - "investing" in opaque derivatives, just like they did with mortgages.

Dec 12, 2014, 8:41am Permalink
david spaulding

a trillion dollars...... hard to imagine that amount of money. I believe you can only imagine it.
68 million for a laser lab in Rochester, bring out the champagne, they just hit the lottery. how is this lab and their laser going to benefit anyone from Batavia, unless you work there.
moving on, there is not a dollar figure posted for the amount going to roswell park. while cancer is a bad thing, I'd still like to know how much this gov't. program is donating.
eliminates funding for race......... it costs money to eliminate funding?
blocks the EPA......... this costs money too?
allows more flexibility for schools to implement whole grain standards? you must be kidding Mr. Collins, if you are not, please explain this.
provides $300 million to improve and restore the Great Lakes.... mmmm how does that work? hire more government employees and grant them authority to dictate rules and regulations that, you Mr. Collins, have to make new laws to over rule.
last but not least, an increase of $100 million to the Harbor maintenance trust fund. I have 3 questions on this one. What is the Harbor maintenance fund? What is the amount of the fund before this increase of $100 million? How does this fund benefit anyone in Genesee county.
I guess I need to get with the program and understand that the imaginary term of Trillion is the new school.

Dec 12, 2014, 2:48pm Permalink
Ed Hartgrove

David, you surprise me. Don't know what a TRILLION $ looks like?
If you go to http://www.pagetutor.com/trillion/index.html they have a great graphic. It starts out with the "lowly" $100 bill, then show you what $10, 000 looks like, followed by a million, billion, and eventually a trillion.

And, as the graphic says, Notice those pallets are double stacked....and remember those are $100 bills.

I can't see what the problem is. After all, we're ONLY 18 of those (as shown in the graphic) in debt. Well, actually, I guess the problem is, any money collected in taxes only goes for our day-to-day expenses. None of it goes towards the debt. That keeps growing, minute by minute (See http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/ )

The National Debt has continued to increase an average of $2.40 billion PER DAY since September 30, 2012!
Concerned? Then tell Congress and the White House!

Dec 12, 2014, 4:34pm Permalink

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