Last week, Congress voted on a $1.2 trillion spending bill that was more than 1,000 pages long, filled with over 1,400 earmarks, was released at 2:32am on Thursday, and passed by Friday night.
Some of the most egregious earmarks – which your tax dollars are being recklessly spent towards – included were:
- $1M granted to SAGE, an elderly LGBTQ+ advocacy group in New York for "cultural competency" training for medical staff
- $2M to the University of Maine for the construction of a kelp and shellfish nursery
- $388K to Columbia University in New York, a private university with a $13.6 billion endowment
- $1.5M to Game On New York to expand the gaming industry
- $1.7M for wind energy workforce education and training in New York
- $250K for the Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education Archives in West Virginia
- $1.5M for economic and business development training for lobstering in Maine
- $249K for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
- $85K to a public school district in Connecticut to increase school attendance
- $1.1M for a food incubator project in Delaware
- $1M to Martha's Vineyard Hospital
- $500K to the San Diego Zoo for a student biodiversity corps program
These are only 12 of the over 1,400 wasteful earmarks included in this week's spending bill. Just two weeks ago, Congress had another spending bill with a price tag of $468 billion and that included over 6,000 earmarks. In one-month, big spenders in both parties in Washington have managed to waste billions of your hard-earned money on their pet projects.
This past week, I tried to offer a procedural motion that would cut just 5 percent from the bill, which is not asking a lot.
As elected representatives, we need to respect you, the taxpayers.
No more of this wasteful and excessive spending that is bankrupting our nation and driving up costs for Kentuckians across our Commonwealth. We can't continue like this, and I for one will continue fighting against this reckless spending in Washington.
You can learn more about my efforts HERE and watch my floor speech HERE.
Dr. Paul, Sens. Peters and Rubio Bipartisan Bill to Create One Deadline to Apply for FEMA Disaster Assistance Programs for Individuals Signed into Law by President Biden
Recently, after passing both the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, bipartisan legislation authored by Senators Gary Peters (D-MI), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and myself to create one application deadline for two Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) programs that individuals use for federal disaster assistance was signed into law by President Biden.
FEMA's Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) and Individuals and Households Program (IHP) previously had different application deadlines following a disaster declaration, which can cause confusion for disaster survivors who may have trouble tracking when they need to apply for each program. The bipartisan legislation ensures these programs have the same deadline to reduce the burden on people who need them to rebuild their lives after disasters. The bill passed the Senate in July 2023, and passed the House last week. When natural disaster strikes, people already have enough stress and confusion to contend with, and it is imperative that the government does not exacerbate the situation by imposing complicated and confusing rules. In order to ensure a smoother and more efficient experience for those seeking aid, I supported the Disaster Assistance Deadlines Alignment Act which would simplify the federal disaster assistance process by aligning the deadlines for two programs.
Posts
