Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson today applauded the House passage of H.R. 244, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017, which included many important provisions for Idaho and Western States. “This is a comprehensive and responsible package that contains many significant wins for Idaho and Western States, and will avoid a government shut down,” said Simpson. “It is the product of this past year’s worth of thoughtful deliberation and line-by-line analysis of every program in the federal budget. F... Read more

Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson issued the following statement concerning the release of President Trump’s Budget Blueprint. “The Administration’s budget blueprint has given us a sense of what President Trump’s priorities will be in the coming fiscal year. I look forward to receiving the full budget soon so that Congress can get to work and get back to regular order in our budget and appropriations process. Once we receive the full budget, our subcommittee will do what it does every year; it will... Read more

Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson voted for two pieces of regulatory reform legislation to prevent regulatory overreach by the Obama administration during its final days and to return accountability and transparency to the federal regulatory process. The total cost of regulations imposed by federal agencies is estimated at $1.88 trillion annually. “Each year, federal agencies issue regulations without considering both their cost and benefits,” said Simpson. “Congress needs to reestablish its author... Read more

Idaho Congressman Simpson praised the strong passage of legislation to provide funding for veterans this week by a vote of 342-85. H.R. 5325 also continues funding for all federal government operations at current levels through December 9, 2016. H.R. 5325 includes the full year Military Construction and Veterans Affairs (VA) Appropriations bill that passed the House of Representatives on May 19, 2016 with bipartisan support. “Funding provided by this legislation is necessary to keep the governme... Read more

Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson issued the following statement after the President’s State of the Union Address. “I am not surprised that the President missed another opportunity to unite our country with his last State of the Union address,” said Simpson. “Instead of engaging Congress with a list of policy proposals we can work on together, the President chose to use the speech to lecture the nation on his agenda and his tired executive actions that continue to be blocked by our judicial branch.... Read more

Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson today applauded the passage of H.R. 2029, the Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations bill that included many important provisions for Idaho and Western States. The House passed H.R. 2029 by a vote of 316-113, and it will be considered by the U.S. Senate today. Links to the bill text and reports can be found here: https://rules.house.gov/bill/114/hr-2029-sa. “I applaud Chairman Rogers and Speaker Ryan for their hard work in assembli... Read more

Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson applauded the release of H.R. 2029, the Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations bill that included many important provisions for Idaho and Western States. “I applaud Chairman Rogers and Speaker Ryan for their hard work in assembling this comprehensive and responsible package that will keep the government open through the rest of this fiscal year,” said Simpson. “This bill contains many critical wins for Idaho and Western States. It ... Read more

The House Appropriations Committee released FY2016 Omnibus Appropriations bill last night. This legislation includes funding for the 12 annual Appropriations bills through the end of the fiscal year, September 30, 2016. Many provisions that are critical to Idaho are included in the legislation. Chairman Simpson secured increased funding for operations and research at the INL, funding for the A-10 at Gowen Field, and full funding for the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program. Simpson’s language... Read more

Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson today supported the conference report to reauthorize highway programs for five years, providing long-term certainty to state and local governments to carry out much needed maintenance and repair projects for our roads, bridges, and transit systems. The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act passed the House by a vote of 359-65. “Funding for highways is some of the most important money appropriated on the federal level,” said Simpson. “Idaho’s economy de... Read more

Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson today voted to support H.R. 1314, the Bipartisan Budget Agreement of 2015. In addition to preventing a catastrophic national default, this agreement achieves long-term savings through entitlement reform, delivers predictability and certainty to the appropriations process and the funding of our national defense, and repeals an onerous mandate put in place by Obamacare. H.R. 1314 is fully offset and does not increase taxes. “It is imperative that we act in the best i... Read more