Senator Murray: “This bill also invests in ensuring we have a capable, responsive, and accountable federal government that delivers for the American people, which includes tackling pressing challenges like the opioid and substance use disorder crisis that is causing so much pain in communities across the country.”
ICYMI: Chair Murray’s Opening Remarks at Full Committee Markup
ICYMI: Senate Appropriations Committee Approves Legislative Branch, Commerce-Justice-Science, and Financial Services Bills
Washington, D.C. — On Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee, led by Chair Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), voted to advance the Financial Services and General Government funding bill for fiscal year 2024 that Senator Murray played a key role in writing. The draft legislation provides $16.95 billion to fund the operations of the Department of the Treasury, the federal judiciary, and more than two dozen independent federal agencies—including the Small Business Administration—and will strengthen our economy, support small businesses, and protect Americans’ bank accounts. Among other things, the bill provides additional funding for the Office of National Drug Control Policy to coordinate the whole-of-government response to the opioid and substance use disorder crises.
Additionally, Senator Murray secured more than $7.2 million in the draft legislation in Congressionally Directed Spending requests for four critical projects supporting small businesses across Washington state. The Senate Appropriations Committee voted 29-0 to advance the legislation, where it now awaits consideration by the full Senate.
“This bill is so important, because the strength of our country is directly tied to the strength of our economy—and I mean on Main Street, not just on Wall Street,” Senator Murray said at today’s committee markup. “So, I’m glad we are able to support Treasury’s critical work regulating banks, strengthening our economy, and protecting American workers and savers from paying the price for Wall Street’s mistakes. And we also need to protect their nest eggs—which is why this bill includes funding for FTC which protects Americans from consumer fraud—especially seniors who are common targets of criminals, and funding for the program I established in my bipartisan retirement bill last year to help connect people with retirement accounts from past employers they are missing!”
“This bill also invests in ensuring we have a capable, responsive, and accountable federal government that delivers for the American people,” Murray continued. “Which includes tackling pressing challenges like the opioid and substance use disorder crisis that is causing so much pain in communities across the country—and that’s why I am so glad this bill delivers new and much-needed resources for the office responsible for coordinating our federal response to the opioid epidemic.”
In the draft legislation, Murray secured more than $7.2 million in Congressionally Directed Spending requests for four important initiatives to help small businesses in Washington state:
- $600,000 for the Ballard Alliance to support the small business incubator space run by the Ballard Alliance. Senator Murray met with small business owners who are part of the Ballard Alliance during a walking tour in Downtown Ballard last summer.
- $500,000 for the Refuge Artisan Initiative’s (RAI) Community and Microbusiness Development Program Initiative. RAI partners with refugee and immigrant women to aid their successful transition to the U.S. through artisan skills training and microbusiness development.
- $4 million for the Regional Port Authority of Chelan and Douglas County to construct workspaces to support small businesses.
- $2.129 million for Tacoma Arts Live’s Small Business Incubator Expansion. Senator Murray visited Tacoma Arts Live and heard from small businesses supported by their incubator program in May.
The draft legislation also provides $14 million to implement Senator Murray’s SECURE 2.0 legislation—signed into law in December—to help people locate retirement accounts from past employers that they are missing or have lost track of. It also funds the brand-new Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response, which Senator Murray established as part of her bipartisan PREVENT Pandemics Act, and which also was signed into law last year.
“I worked hard to establish the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response as part of my bipartisan PREVENT Pandemics Act, because it is clear families need us to do better next time a crisis like COVID strikes—so I’m glad we were able to work together to get this off the ground,” Murray said.
More information on the bill is available HERE.
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