105 Groups Tell Congress to Reject House FY 24 FSGG Spending Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congress should reject the U.S. House Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) appropriations bill for fiscal year 2024, which is expected to be voted on this week, 105 groups in the Clean Budget Coalition said in a letter sent today.

“The FY24 FSGG bill is an unredeemable, unserious piece of legislation and we urge all Members to vote against it. It is also another example of overreaching abuse of the appropriations process, as all of the funding bills proposed by the GOP House include poison pill riders and proposed amendments that are simply inappropriate,” the letter reads. “The FSGG bill brings Congress no closer to reaching agreement to fund the government in a year already marred by perilous standoffs that have left the American people shaking their heads with disgust.”

The House FSGG bill would impose a nearly 60% reduction in programmatic funding, with massive reductions to agencies that protect children, workers, and seniors. It would cut funding for the agency working to reduce annoying robocalls and zero out funding for election security grants during a presidential election cycle.

The bill also contains numerous poison pill policy riders, including ones that would stop disclosure rules on secret corporate political spending, prevent the IRS from developing free filing software, block regulators from requiring publicly traded companies to disclose their climate-related risks, prohibits D.C. from using its own local funds to provide coverage for abortion care, and much more.

In contrast with its counterpart legislation in the U.S. Senate – which passed committee unanimously in July – the overtly partisan House FSGG bill is not a serious effort at governance, the coalition maintains. The House should take its cues from the Senate, which recently passed a three-bill appropriations package with 85 votes.

For Immediate Release: Nov. 7, 2023
Contact: David Rosen, drosen@citizen.org