Summary
The Senate passed its first spending package for fiscal year (FY) 2020, which includes Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS), Agriculture, Interior-Environment, and Transportation-Housing and Urban Development (T-HUD). The House has also approved a CJS appropriations bill as part of a “minibus” that included Agriculture, Interior-Environment, Military Construction-Veterans, and T-HUD. The House CJS bill is summarized in Budget Brief 19-13.
The CJS bill includes funding for state and local grants in the Department of Commerce (DOC), Department of Justice (DOJ), and other federal agencies, including the Census Bureau. This brief describes Senate funding and policy provisions affecting DOC and DOJ grant programs. Of note, the Senate appropriations committee report highlights the needs of rural communities and directs departments to give preference to rural areas in funding decisions. (The House report emphasized high-poverty areas and “persistent poverty” counties.)