Big government agenda of Democrats

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer will reap big rewards with the passing of the $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill which passed the House and Senate bill this week.

$507,093,000 for the Presidential Helicopter program and $156,085,000 for the Combat Rescue Helicopter (CRH) program, two major helicopter construction projects being undertaken by a team of Sikorsky Aircraft and Lockheed Martin Owego.

$66.8 million for Impact Aid section 8002 (Federal Properties), which will mean about $3.5 million in federal aid for the Highland Falls-Fort Montgomery School District.

Extension of the “mass transit tax benefit,” which would provide $250 per month for 2015 and $255 for 2016 in pre-tax savings to help cut costs for mass transit commuters, customers would be eligible for higher tax deductions to save them hundreds of dollars a year.

$105 million for upgrades and renovations to the Alexandria Bay border crossing in New York State.

$4.5 million in funding for Rome Labs in New York State.

$2.32 million in federal funding to dredge the Port of Rochester’s Harbor in New York State.

$1,285,000 in federal funding to fully dredge the Port of Oswego’s Harbor in New York State.

$70 million in funding for Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID), an increase of $3 million from last year’s funding level.

$68 million for the University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) in New York State.

$166M for Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and $110 million for the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) and $15.5 million for the light source’s experimental tools.

Teacher Expense Deduction allowed eligible educators, including teachers, instructors, counselors, principals, and aides, to deduct up to $250 from their tax bill for any unreimbursed expense incurred for books, supplies, computer equipment (including related software and services), and other equipment, as well as supplementary materials used in the classroom, making this tax benefit a permanent part of the tax code.

$19 million in funding for a new $19 million non-commissioned officer (NCO) training academy at Fort Drum in Watertown, New York.

$157.19 million for two radar systems manufactured by teams at the Lockheed Martin Salina plant.

$1.3 billion in funding for the Naval Reactors program.

$91 million in funding for the Department of Defense’s (DOD) Test and Evaluation/Science and Technology (T&E/S&T) program, an increase of roughly $9 million from last year.

Language that will provide Puerto Rico with the same base payment rate as hospitals in the states, will provide hospitals in Puerto Rico with an additional $618 million between 2016 and 2025. Eliminates the exclusion of Puerto Rico hospitals from the Medicare component of the HITECH Act, which authorizes bonus payments for hospitals that become meaningful users of electronic health records, could increase payments to Puerto Rico hospitals by $266M over 10 years.