Rep. Soto Legislative Wins for Central Florida in Omnibus Funding Bill

Washington, D.C. – Last week, the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 1625) that allocates government funding for the remainder of Fiscal Year 2018, passed in Congress and was signed into law by President Trump. The legislation includes the following important funding provisions benefiting Central Floridians which were spearheaded by Congressman Darren Soto:

SENIORS

• Helping elderly with tax counseling – Rep. Soto requested $1 million increase in funding for the Tax Counseling for the Elderly program, for a total of nearly $10 million in Omnibus. The program offers free tax help to individuals who are age 60 and older. These funds are used to reimburse volunteers for their out-of-pocket expenses; including transportation, meals, and other expenses incurred by them in providing tax counseling assistance at locations convenient to the elderly taxpayers.
  
• Providing housing assistance for the elderly – Rep. Soto requested an additional $2.5 million increase in funding for housing for the elderly, for a total of nearly $678 million in Omnibus. The Department of Housing and Urban Development's Section 202 program serves very low income seniors (average income of household at $13,300). There are about 400,000 Section 202 homes in the United States, including about 19,000 units in Florida. Because of the lack of options for affordable housing, homelessness among older adults is increasing, making the waiting list to get into Section 202 years long. Only 36% of today's seniors who qualify for housing assistance actually receive it because the programs are not large enough to meet older adults' needs.

HEALTHCARE

• Supporting research for ProstateCancer – Rep. Soto requested an additional $10 million for prostate cancer research under the Defense Health Program, for a total of $100 million in Omnibus.
  
• Funding for the National Early Child Care Collaboratives program – Rep. Soto led a multimember letter asking to maintain the program funded at $4 million. Administered through Nemours, the program works with state and local partners to engage early child care and education providers in making small but impactful changes to promote healthy eating, physical activity, breastfeeding support, and screen time reduction.
  
• Increasing funding for Vector-Borne Diseases research – diseases such as Zika are a growing threat to public health. To better study the impact and prevention programs for such diseases, Rep. Soto requested additional funds for the program which totaled $38 million in the Omnibus.
  
• Supporting research for Gulf War-related illnesses – Rep. Soto requested an additional $1 million increase in funding for research, for a total of nearly $21 million in Omnibus.
  
• Increasing funding for Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity – Rep. Soto requested funding the program within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Omnibus maintained funding at $40 million.

ENVIRONMENT

• Preventing water pollution – Rep. Soto requested increasing funds for the Grassroots Source Water Protection Program by $500,000. This program helps prevent pollution of surface and ground water used as the primary source of drinking water by rural residents.
  
• Supporting Citrus Greening Research – Rep. Soto requested an additional $1 million increase in funding for the Specialty Crop Pest Program, totaling $7.5 million in the Omnibus. Citrus Greening research is crucial to the eradication of this invasive disease. The Huanglongbing Multi-Agency Coordination Group collaborates with industry, academia, and the state and federal researchers to concentrate on solutions to the most challenging issues associated with citrus greening.
  
• Obtaining aircraft to better prepare for Hurricane Season – Working closely with Senator Bill Nelson, Rep. Soto requested funds to purchase a new back-up hurricane hunter airplane that retrieves better meteorological data for hurricane forecasting. The Omnibus fully funded the purchase at $121 million.