While there is still much work to be done, it was a rewarding week in Congress as several commonsense bills advanced, some becoming law, and Americans’ tax dollars are being handled with much greater care and transparency than has been the case in many years.
On Monday, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 909, the Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act, a bill I had the pleasure to co-lead with Congresswoman Ann Wagner (MO-2). When I served as Kansas attorney general, I oversaw critical support services for crime victims and their families. These services are vital to support victims of rape, domestic violence, and child abuse. Our bill will stabilize funding for these services for several years until a permanent fix to declining funding can be agreed upon. I appreciate the House approving our bipartisan legislation with broad support and hope for a similar outcome in the Senate to get our bill to President Trump’s desk.
Rep. Derek Schmidt (KS-2) speaking on the House floor on the Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act (H.R. 909). Click here to watch remarks.
Earlier this week, the House also passed S. 269, the Ending Improper Payments to Deceased People Act, sending it to the President. This bill makes permanent the Trump administration’s priority of eliminating government payments to deceased individuals by tearing down bureaucratic walls that have allowed those who commit fraud to hide their misconduct. I was proud to join my colleagues in both political parties in supporting this bill. In my view, its just common sense.
On Wednesday, I cosponsored the American Dream Act (H.R. 7051), which would allow individuals 65 or older to sell any real property, including rental houses, with a sales price of $500,000 or less to a first-time homebuyer without the sale being subject to capital gains tax. In my view, removing the capital gains tax on sales to first-time homeowners will help increase the supply of houses available for first-time buyers by encouraging owners of those houses to sell to first-time buyers. This is a creative and reasonable step to make homeownership possible for more new buyers, and I am proud to be an original cosponsor on this bill.
Funding annual government operations through the ordinary appropriation process that is open and transparent is progressing. The House passed Wednesday night two more annual appropriation bills – National Security and Department of State & Financial Services and General Government (H.R. 7006) – that fund operations of the federal government. This brings to 9 the total number of annual funding bills that have passed the House (there are 12 in total).
On Thursday, the Senate passed the three appropriation bills that had passed the House last week with bipartisan support – Commerce, Justice, and Science; Interior and Environment; and Energy and Water (H.R. 6938). They will now make their way to the President’s desk.
My goal in the appropriations process is to reduce overall federal spending as much as possible because of the urgent need to slow the explosive growth of the federal government. Once Congress has an agreement on how much spending can be reduced and still pass the appropriation bills, then my focus becomes fighting hard to make sure our priorities in the Second District are fully considered within those limits. So far in this Congress, I have secured funding for the following district priorities:
Crawford County: $5.1 million for research and commercialization at Pittsburg State University, including $1.5 million for the Center for Graphene, $1.5 million for the Center for Commercialization, and $2.1 million for the Kansas Cyber Security Institute.
Shawnee County: $750,000 for expanded mental health services for the Shawnee County Department of Corrections
Leavenworth County: $1.25 million for water distribution system improvements for Leavenworth Waterworks
Montgomery County: $4.0 million for water distribution system improvements for Caney. Schmidt secured this funding in close cooperation with Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.)
Labette County: $2.3 million for public safety modernization for Parsons
Marion County: $600,000 for fire station modernization for Hillsboro
Neosho County: $668,975 for medical imaging equipment and department modernization and related community health needs for the Neosho Memorial Regional Medical Center
Funding for other Second District community priorities is pending in the remaining bills that have not yet passed.
Constituent Services
My team stands ready to help Kansans in the Second Congressional District who are dealing with unresolved federal issues. This includes assistance with the VA, Social Security, the IRS, and other federal agencies.
