The U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 12, 2019. The Senate has voted to advance a $1.4-trillion government spending package.The Senate has voted to advance a $1.4-trillion government spending package in a last, bipartisan burst of legislating before bolting for the holidays from a Capitol that’s toxic with impeachment.The legislation gives President Donald Trump a victory on his U.S.
Key provisions include an expensive repeal of Obama-era taxes on high-cost health plans, help for retired coal miners, and an increase from 18 to 21 in the nationwide legal age to buy tobacco products muscled into the measure by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. McConnell, Pelosi and key deputies such as the veteran, pragmatic chairs of the Appropriations Committee have wrestled over the spending package for months, finally cutting a deal on Monday that gave Trump a steady stream of funding for his long-sought border wall.“I would have preferred no funding for the wall,” said top Appropriations Committee Democrat Patrick Leahy of Vermont. “But the Republicans were clear. … They stood with the president on the wall, as they seem to do time after time.
The increase in the tobacco purchasing age to 21 also applies to e-cigarettes and vaping devices. Aides familiar with the talks said Pelosi agreed to the tobacco legislation – supported by big tobacco interests like Altria – as she also won an arcane carve-out to help unionized carpenters with lower drug costs under their health plans. Her office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Democrats also secured $425-million for states to upgrade their election systems, and they boosted the U.S. Census budget $1.4-billion above Trump’s request. They won smaller increases for the Environmental Protection Agency, renewable energy programs and affordable housing.
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