Van Hollen Releases Text of FSGG Appropriations Bill, Including $500 Million in Funding for New FBI Headquarters, Investments in Economic Prosperity for Our Communities, Removal of Harmful Legacy Riders

Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, released the text of the Fiscal Year 2023 Appropriations bill. The Subcommittee provides funding for the Department of the Treasury, the Executive Office of the President, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia, and more than two dozen independent federal agencies.

“Our federal funding bills should provide investments in key priorities for our constituents and our country – not divisive and harmful policy riders. I’m proud to release this legislation that meets that mark and delivers federal dollars to where they’re needed most – to help our communities and our economy grow and thrive – and to increase investments that help protect American consumers, safeguard our democracy, support the agencies that work on behalf of the American people, strengthen our national security, and more.

“To support our federal workforce and our region, this legislation provides $500 million in funding to move forward on a new, consolidated FBI headquarters – a priority I’ve fought for over the last decade – to secure a campus that meets the mission and the needs of the FBI. This bill also strikes down any future Administration’s ability to fire civil service employees based on policy disagreements, using our civil service as a partisan punching bag and undermining our federal agencies.

“To protect the autonomy of the District of Columbia, this bill removes divisive legacy riders that unfairly restrict D.C.’s ability to fund accessible reproductive services and regulate cannabis. It also strikes down other harmful Republican poison-pills, including Republicans’ rider to prevent the SEC from providing greater transparency in political fundraising and their attempts to block the FTC from limiting the advertising of unhealthy junk food to our children.  

“To bolster our national security, this legislation provides funding for continued sanctions to inflict maximum economic pain on Putin for instigating his unprovoked war on Ukraine. It also strengthens rules preventing an Administration from withholding Congressionally-directed funds without notifying Congress – as the Trump Administration did with assistance to Ukraine. Additionally, this bill will strengthen our election security, through election grants that will go directly to improving our voting infrastructure so that we continue to maintain the integrity and safety of our elections. 

“To safeguard taxpayer dollars, our bill invests in greater enforcement at the IRS to close the tax gap by cracking down on the big corporations and ultra-wealthy households who abuse our system. It also strengthens our ability to go after those committing financial crimes to increase consumer protections. 

“And to bring greater prosperity and economic opportunity to our communities, this legislation invests critical federal dollars in areas that will bring direct benefits to the American people – from funds to support underserved communities, entrepreneurs, and small businesses through the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund to providing the necessary resources to improve taxpayer services and clear severe backlogs at the IRS. 

“Ensuring government works for all Americans should drive everything we do. I’m proud to put forward this legislation to invest in the success of our communities, our economy, and our national priorities.”  

Priorities of Senator Van Hollen’s within the legislation include: 

• $500 million in funding to move forward on a new, consolidated FBI headquarters
• Language to prevent an Administration’s ability to fire civil service employees based on policy disagreements (Schedule F)
• Language to strengthen rules preventing an Administration from withholding Congressionally-directed funds without reporting the delay to Congress as the Trump Administration did with assistance to Ukraine
• Stripping language that blocked the SEC from finalizing a rule that would require publicly traded companies to disclose their political spending to shareholders
• Stripping language that prohibited the IRS from issuing a rule that would clarify the definition of political activity for 501(c)(4) social welfare groups
• Stripping language that prevented the District of Columbia from using local funds to pay for abortion services
• Stripping language that blocked the FTC from limiting the advertising of unhealthy junk food to our children
  • $324 million for the CDFI Fund to promote economic and community development and access to capital in low-income communities
  • $1.124 billion for the SBA, including $179 million for SBA disaster loans, which provide assistance to business owners, homeowners, and nonprofits that are rebuilding local communities in the wake of devastating natural disasters, $311 million for Entrepreneurial Development grants, $138 million for Small Business Development Centers, $26 million for Women’s Business Centers, $41 million for Microloan technical assistance, and $3 million for a cybersecurity grant program that will provide small businesses with access to cybersecurity tools.
  • $13.595 billion for the IRS to allow the IRS to address the annual tax gap – the amount of taxes owed but not paid – estimated to be between $500 billion and $1 trillion annually, to improve customer service for working families, and address the agency’s aging IT infrastructure
  • $400 million for election security grants
  • $7 million in funding to pay White House and EOP interns
  • $390.2 million for the FCC, which addresses the opportunities and challenges associated with rapidly evolving communications technology and promotes broadband services in underserved areas, in particular, rural communities
  • $212 million to the Treasury Department to support sanctions efforts and other investments that will strengthen U.S. national security, including sanctions related to Putin’s unprovoked and violent assault on Ukraine 
  • $189 million for the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to continue work on a data system that tracks the ownership and control of certain companies and organizations and helps combat the use of complex corporate structures to shield illegal activity
  • $430 million for the Federal Trade Commission to protect consumers from deceptive and fraudulent practices and to promote competition in the marketplace by enforcing antitrust laws 
  • $8.476 billion for the Judiciary, which includes funding for our federal courthouses across the country to the Supreme Court, including security needs