Yesterday President Trump signed a $1.4 trillion spending package that prevents a government shutdown and raises the legal age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21. The spending bill is set to expire in mid-September of 2020.
“This legislation will have an enormous positive impact on public health in America, and it’s needed now more than ever as we grapple with the youth e-cigarette epidemic,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said.
In the bill, money is going to be distributed to the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the amount of $25 million to conduct research on gun violence. It took more than two decades to get this done at a federal level, and I’m sure the NRA has their sites on what their findings will reveal in the future.
Moreover, this bipartisan bill will repeal three taxes on high-cost insurance plans and medical devices since economic groups said it will add $500 billion to the national debt over a decade. The taxes were designed to fund the Affordable Care Act but had not fully taken effect yet.
Other benefits in the bill include $425 million for election security, increased funding for climate research and full funding for the 2020 census. They included a 3.1 percent pay increase for federal workers, matching the raise for members of the military.