The news from Capitol Hill is that budget negotiators have reached an agreement ‘in principle’ for all 12 of the FY 2020 spending bills, and Politico reports that a vote on the legislation could be held as early as Tuesday, December 17, 2019. Politico writes, “Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said staff members are working out “a few details.” He and Lowey announced the agreement with Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the ranking member of Senate Appropriations, and Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas), ranking on House Appropriations.” The bill text has not been released, but details may emerge over the weekend or as late as Monday afternoon. Our team is looking forward to learning more about how the reported increase in investment towards domestic spending bills will impact the funding levels of our key rural health line items, such as funding for CHCs, the NHSC, and more.
