Quigley Statement in Support of Fiscal Year 2016 Omnibus Appropriations Act and Tax Extenders

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05) released the following statement in support of the Fiscal Year 2016 Omnibus Appropriations Act:

"I am proud to vote for the fiscal year 2016 omnibus, which provides much needed federal funding for my constituents in the Fifth District in the areas of transportation infrastructure, law enforcement and homeland security, environment, health and research, and much more. The bill contained a number of big wins including $50 million available through Core Capacity grants for the Chicago Transit Authority's (CTA) modernization of the Red and Purple lines, $500 million available through Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants for a variety of infrastructure projects in the Chicago area, and $187 million available through Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grants for local communities to increase police officer hiring. By working together in a bipartisan way, Congress has averted a government shutdown, prevented the inclusion of numerous partisan policy riders, and avoided billions of dollars in harmful cuts in government services.

"Yesterday, I was proud to support the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act, which makes permanent a number of vital tax credits and deductions, such as the research and development tax credit and the expanded child tax credit. These important tax provisions will put more money into the pockets of hard working, middle-class families and small businesses. Instead of having to worry each year if Congress will extend critical tax measures they have come to rely on, Americans will now have the clarity and certainty they need to plan for the future. For businesses, that means knowing they will have the capital to hire new workers and expand their operations. For families and individuals, that means knowing that they will have enough saved up to put their children through college or purchase a new home. I'm pleased Congress was able to come together to pass these two crucial bills for the American people."

Priority investments in the Fiscal Year 2016 Appropriations Act include the following:

• Renewable Energy: Provides a major boost to renewable energy by extending the wind Production Tax Credit for five years (through 2019), and extending the solar Investment Tax Credit for five years (through 2021), while phasing both credits down somewhat over time. Extending the solar tax credit is estimated to create 61,000 jobs in 2017 alone. It is also estimated that the wind industry will grow to over 100,000 jobs over four years with the renewed wind tax credit.
• Energy Efficiency and Clean Energy R&D: Provides an 8 percent increase over 2015 for R&D activities in the pursuit of new clean energy and energy efficiency technologies.
• Overall Education: The bill restores the $2.5 billion cut in education that the GOP had proposed and also makes critical additional investments of $1.4 billion above 2015, in such areas as Title I that serves 24 million at-risk students.
• Early Learning: Investing in Head Start produces results – and this bill invests nearly $400 million more than the House GOP bill and nearly $600 million more than 2015 in this vital initiative. The bill also provides $250 million for Preschool Development Grants, assisting 18 states across the country.
• Medical Research: Medical research at NIH has been underfunded for the last several years. This bill provides $900 million more than the House GOP bill and $2 billion more than 2015 for this life-saving research.
• Infrastructure: The popular TIGER grants are being used across the country to repair infrastructure and contribute to economic growth. The House GOP bill had slashed TIGER grants by 80 percent, killing jobs, but this bill restores the funding to the 2015 level of $500 million.
• Law Enforcement: The bill provides $187 million for COPS hiring grants, $7 million above the 2015 level and $187 million above the House GOP bill, which had eliminated the hiring grants. The bill also provides $80 million for the Community Policing Initiative, including $22.5 million for body-worn cameras and $15 million for Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation grants, an increase over the House bill.