Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On How The Senate-Passed Omnibus Legislation Will Help American Families Lower Out-Of-Pocket Costs

Washington, D.C. –  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor about how investments made in the omnibus government funding legislation passed by the Senate last week will help American families lower out-of-pocket costs. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

I want to revisit the groundbreaking omnibus package that the Senate passed last week with bipartisan support, which fully and robustly funds the government through the end of the 2022 Fiscal year.

As I said on Thursday, this year’s bipartisan budget bill is one of the boldest and most significant packages that we’ve seen pass through the Congress in a long, long time.

It is a deal just overflowing with good news for American families looking to cut costs and make ends meet. Let me highlight just a few ways this bill will lowers costs in the coming months.

For working Americans struggling with energy costs, this year’s budget increases domestic investments that help people pay for their heating and air-conditioning bills. Utility costs have always fall hardest on those least able to bear them, and I am glad this year we are increasing the help we provide working families to pay for their utilities.

We are also boosting funding for child nutrition programs by 7% compared to 2021, so kids don’t go to school on an empty stomach or go through summer school uncertain about what – or if – they’re going to eat.

Working parents will also get a break: we are dramatically increasing the amount dedicated for child care assistance, making it easier for parents to re-enter the workplace and earn a paycheck without having to worry about paying to take care of their kids.

Head Start programs will see more resources to help them prepare young kids thrive in the classroom. Funding for Title 1-A grants—which help more than half of our nation’s public schools boost student performance—will receive the largest increase in a decade. College students, meanwhile, will see the largest increase in Pell Grant maximums since the 2009-2010 academic year, a desperately needed injection of funding.

These investments only scratch the surface: from housing assistance, to help with energy costs, to aid for the elderly and our veterans, and investments in child nutrition, this year’s funding package will drive down costs for parents, students, the elderly, small businesses. Because both sides were able to work in good faith, American families will see more help come their way through the annual funding bill than they’ve seen in a long, long time.

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