Florida Consolidated Appropriations Bill Passes the House

Congressman Tom Rooney, announced recently that the Florida Consolidated Appropriations Bill has passed the House of Representatives by a bipartisan vote of 309-118.

The 2017 Consolidated Appropriations bill is a comprehensive package comprised of the 11 remaining fiscal year 2017 Appropriations bills, which were the subject of hundreds of open hearings and hundreds of amendments on the House floor.

As a Member of the Appropriations Committee, Rooney worked to advocate on behalf of programs important to his home state of Florida and secured, among other provisions, the following funds:

Protects Florida’s Waterways

• Funds Everglades Restoration and the Herbert Hoover Dike – In keeping with the rules of the earmark ban, Rooney requested the Committee support the president’s budget request level for Everglades restoration and the Herbert Hoover Dike construction. The Herbert Hoover Dike received $49.5 million and South Florida Ecosystem Restoration, Everglades, FL received $106 million. An additional $106 million will fund CERP and non-CERP projects and Kissimmee River Restoration;
• Central and Southern Florida – Secures $14.88 million to provide flood relief and water conservation for the region;
• Okeechobee Waterway, FL – Provides $2.7 million for the waterway which runs through Lake Okeechobee and consists of the Caloosahatchee River on the west side of the lake and the St. Lucie Canal on the east side;
• National Estuary Program – Secures $47.7 million for the National Estuary Program, which will support $600,000 to each of the 28 estuaries in the program, including Charlotte Harbor, Sarasota Bay, Tampa Bay and the Indian River Lagoon;
• Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) – Provides $400 million for the LWCF, which includes $188 million for federal land acquisition. This land conservation is integral to Florida’s ranches and is the most cost-effective method to reduce flooding into Lake Okeechobee and to prevent damaging subsequent water releases into coastal estuaries.