07.13.23

Senate Committee Approves FY24 Financial Service & General Government Appropriations Bill

 

Bill passes Committee by a vote of 29-0

 

Washington, D.C. – The Senate Committee on Appropriations today approved the Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Appropriations Act, providing support for physical and cyber security, communications infrastructure, and overall legislative work capacity.

 

The measure, which was advanced by a vote of 29-0, provides $16.950 billion in discretionary funding, including $43 million in defense funding and $16.764 billion in non-defense funding.  The bill also includes $143 million for disaster relief.

 

"This bill covers a wide swath of federal government funding issues—from anti-terrorism efforts at Treasury to the operation and protection of the Judicial Branch.  I am glad to see that the subcommittee has addressed the IRS’s budget in a responsible way and continues the call for greater protection of taxpayer information,” said Senator Collins.  “I thank Ranking Member Bill Hagerty for his hard work on this bill, and as the Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, I will continue to advocate for this funding as the appropriations process moves forward.”

 

“This bill is the result of tough, bipartisan negotiations, and while it doesn’t include everything that every member wanted, the bill contains a host of important provisions that improve the efficiency and operations of the federal government, protect U.S. economic competitiveness, and enhance services for our constituents,” said Senator Bill Hagerty, Ranking Member of the FSGG Appropriations Subcommittee.  “Importantly, the bill freezes the discretionary budget for the IRS for the second consecutive fiscal year and claws back $10 billion of mandatory funding for ‘IRS Enforcement Operations’ that was previously provided in a partisan manner.  Additionally, this bill includes critical funding to combat the drug epidemic that is killing more than 100,000 Americans every year.  Finally, the bill includes several important provisions that will strengthen our national security, root out waste, fraud, and abuse, and strengthen American financial systems.”

 

Bill Highlights: 

 

Department of Treasury: $14.215 billion, including $12.3 billion for the Internal Revenue Services (IRS).  The bill rescinds $10 billion in IRS Enforcement funding provided in the Inflation Reduction Act in accordance with the debt ceiling agreement.

 

  • Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI): $221.059 million—an increase of $5 million above the enacted FY23 level—to combat terrorism financing and administer economic and trade sanctions through its Office of Foreign Assets Control.

 

Executive Office of the President (EOP):$887 million for the EOP, including $301.6 million for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) and $109 million for Drug-Free Communities (DFC) programs within the Office of National Drug Control Policy to combat heroin and prescription opioid abuse.

 

  • Evolving and Emerging Drug Threats:$6.3 million to implement response plans to evolving and emerging drug threats, such as the use of xylazine as a common adulterant in fentanyl.

 

Judiciary: $8.568 billion—an increase of $106 million above the enacted FY23 level excluding emergencies—for federal court activities, including timely and efficient processing of federal cases, court security, and defender services.

 

  • Supreme Court Security: $9.8 million for security, specifically for personal protection for the justices and protective intelligence.

 

 Additional notable provisions include:

 

  • Encourages the Federal Acquisition Service to take action to ensure that no products from Lorex, Dahua, or Huawei Technology are included on GSA Advantage.

 

  • Directs the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) to provide a report to the Committee on the IRS’ controls to prevent the unauthorized transfer of sensitive taxpayer data.

 

  • Encourages more meaningful public stakeholder input of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) rulemaking process and ensures proposed rules incorporate robust economic analysis. Additionally, the bill requests the Inspector General of the SEC to audit the rulemaking process.

 

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