The following article by Alicia Parlapiano was posted on the New York Times website February 9, 2018:
The two-year budget agreement passed by Congress early Friday is projected to contribute hundreds of billions of dollars to federal deficits.
The deal increases spending for bipartisan priorities.
>Republicans have pushed for a boost in military spending, while Democrats have long argued for similar increases for domestic programs. The deal includes more spending for both for the 2018 and 2019 fiscal years.
The deal primarily affects discretionary spending, which makes up about one-third of the federal budget and does not include entitlements like Social Security and Medicare.
But it will contribute to rising deficits and debt …
According to a preliminary analysis of the deal, federal deficits are projected surpass $1 trillion by 2019, a level not seen since the recession and its aftermath.
Deficits will grow even more if the policies in the deal are extended beyond 2019. Lawmakers have also promised that individual tax cuts passed in December that are set to expire after 10 years will be extended, which would put even more pressure on the federal debt.
… and will break through spending caps for military and domestic programs.
The caps, which Congress set for itself in 2011, will be surpassed by about $300 billion over two years, significantly more than in the past.
The deal includes:
- $90 billion in disaster relief
- $20 billion for infrastructure projects
- $6 billion to combat the opioid crisis
- $5.8 billion for the Child Care Development Block Grant program
- $2 billion for National Institutes of Health (NIH) research
It will also:
- Increase the debt limit through March 1, 2019
- Authorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for an additional four years (on top of a recent six-year extension)
- Extend 48 different tax credits for one year
- Reauthorize Community Health Centers for two years
- Makes structural changes to Medicare
- Repeal an independent medical advisory board established under the Affordable Care Act to control Medicare spending
- Create a new committee on pension solvency