Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine)—a member of the House Appropriations Committee—voted tonight in support of a package of seven bipartisan, bicameral appropriations bills to support programs important to Mainers and keep the government open through September 30th, the rest of the fiscal year. The package passed the House 300-128.
 
“The 35-day shutdown inflicted unnecessary pain throughout Maine, especially on our federal workforce. I voted for this common sense appropriations package that will not only keep the government open through the fiscal year, but it will also provide a 1.9% pay raise for federal workers whose livelihoods were needlessly put in jeopardy by President Trump earlier this year,” said Pingree “As a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, I fought for this bill to include meaningful investments in conservation, climate research, and the EPA and I am grateful they were included since our environment and public lands have been under attack by the Trump administration for the past two years. It’s also encouraging to see the sustainable food and farming investments, which I’ve advocated for as a member of the Subcommittee on Agriculture, included in the final bill. Funding for USDA programs like Value Added Producer Grants translate to jobs in rural economies like Maine’s.”
 
The $333 billion spending bill passed by the House consists of seven appropriations bills: Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies; Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies; Financial Services and General Government; Homeland Security; Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies; State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs; and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies.
 
Some highlights of the funding bill for Maine include:

AGRICULTURE: RESEARCH, OUTREACH, AND GRANTS
Value Added Producer Grants, $17.5 million  
National Organic Program, $14 million
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, $37 million 
Food Safety Outreach Program, $8 million 
Organic Transition Program, $6 million  
 
INTERIOR: ENVIRONMENT, OCEANS, and THE ARTS
National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, $155 million
Katahdin Woods and Waters, $400,000
National Fish Hatchery Budget and Aquatic Animal Drug Approval Program, $59 million
LWCF, $435 million
National Estuarine Research Reserve System, $27 million which funds the Wells Estuary Reserve.
IOOS Buoys Program, $38.5 million
Coastal management grants relative to marine aquaculture & ocean acidification, $54 million
 
HOMELAND SECURITY
Assistance to Firefighters (FIRE) Grant Program, $350 million
Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant Program, 350 million
 Coast Guard’s Fishing Safety Training and Research Grants Program, $6 million 
 
SMALL BUSINESS
Small Business Administration’s Entrepreneurial Development Programs, $247.7 million 
 
TRANSPORTATION AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), $3.3 billion
Essential Air Service, $175 million
BUILD Grants (Formerly TIGER), $900 million
MARAD Small Shipyard Grants: $20 million