Tammy Baldwin Urges Bipartisanship in Senate Appropriations Process

Bipartisan Compromise on Appropriations

• 🤝 Senator Tammy Baldwin highlights the bipartisan partnership in developing the Labor, Health, and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Bill.
• 🎯 The bill is described as a fundamental compromise that invests in bipartisan priorities to address pressing national needs.

Investments in Health and Research

• 🔬 A $400 million increase for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is included, emphasizing its role in developing life-saving treatments.
• 💡 Funding increases are allocated for research on cancer, Alzheimer's, ALS, women's health, diabetes, and rare diseases.
• 📞 The bill supports an increase for the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline, a program Baldwin helped create to assist individuals in crisis.

Support for Education and Families

• 📚 Instead of dismantling the Department of Education, the bill invests in local schools and children's futures, ensuring timely funding allocation for planning.
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Modest increases are included for child care and Head Start programs to support working families and provide early learning opportunities.
• ⚖️ Funding for substance use and mental health programs is protected.

Criticisms of Administration Actions

• ⚠️ Baldwin criticizes administration actions that hinder government functionality, such as making it harder for seniors to contact Social Security offices.
• 🚫 She points to instances of delayed funding for NIH research and the Trump administration's decision to fire staff within the CDC's childhood lead poisoning prevention branch, which impacted the response to a lead crisis in Milwaukee.
• 📉 The elimination of funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting by a partisan majority is also noted with disappointment.

Path Forward for Appropriations

• ✅ Baldwin asserts that the appropriation process is not broken beyond repair, citing the successful bipartisan passage of similar bills in 2018 before the fiscal year began.
• 🗓️ She commits to pushing for the Labor, Health, and Human Services, Education, and Defense bills to reach the floor in September.
• 🇺🇸 Supporting this compromise is framed as a choice to better serve constituents and move away from government shutdown brinkmanship and partisan rescissions.