Congressman Mike Lawler voted on Thursday in favor of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026, a bipartisan funding package that completes the final four federal appropriations bills for Fiscal Year 2026 and provides full-year funding for the federal government.
The legislation includes funding for the Departments of Defense; Homeland Security; Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education; and Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, along with several health extender provisions. Lawler said the measure brings stability to federal agencies while delivering key investments to the Hudson Valley and communities throughout New York’s 17th Congressional District.
According to Lawler, completing the appropriations process provides agencies with operational certainty and allows Congress to move forward with investments in national security, public safety, healthcare, and infrastructure. He noted that the package includes pay raises for U.S. servicemembers, enhanced protections for safety-net hospitals, and improvements to the World Trade Center Health Program for 9/11 responders and survivors.
Local Funding for the Hudson Valley
The FY26 package includes Community Project Funding and additional New York investments for projects across the region, including:
-
$2.6 million for a new Rockland County Sheriff’s training facility
-
$5 million for the Town of Clarkstown and the Nanuet Transit-Oriented Development
-
$5 million for sidewalk improvements in the Town of Ramapo
-
$1.3 million for sidewalks in the Town of Orangetown
-
$4 million for road infrastructure in the Village of New Square
-
$1 million for Memorial Drive reconstruction in the Village of Suffern
-
$99,000 for a town-wide drainage study in Ossining
-
$3 million for Habitat for Humanity New York City and Westchester
-
$1 million for bus transit in the Village of Kaser
-
$500,000 for Ready Transit in the Town of Ramapo
-
$534,000 for the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival in Garrison
The Defense portion of the bill provides $839.2 billion to maintain military readiness, including a 3.8 percent pay raise for all U.S. servicemembers, additional support for military families, and investments to strengthen domestic defense manufacturing capacity.
Homeland Security funding totals $64.4 billion and includes funding to strengthen border security, disaster response, and public safety efforts nationwide. The bill allocates $300 million for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to help protect synagogues, churches, and other faith-based and community institutions, along with $684 million for AFG and SAFER grants to recruit, train, and equip firefighters.
Healthcare provisions in the package increase support for safety-net hospitals by adjusting Disproportionate Share Hospital payment caps, expand Medicare coverage for early cancer detection screenings, and improve funding for the World Trade Center Health Program, including expanded access to mental health evaluations for eligible responders and survivors.
The Transportation and Housing portion of the bill provides $102.9 billion to improve infrastructure and safety, including increased funding to modernize air traffic control systems, hire 2,500 new air traffic controllers, and support passenger rail service through $2.427 billion in funding for Amtrak, particularly in the Northeast Corridor.
The Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education section provides $221 billion to support seniors, families, and workforce development, including increased funding for the Social Security Administration, community health centers, LIHEAP energy assistance, Head Start programs, and career and technical education initiatives.
The package also reauthorizes key trade programs, including the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the HOPE/HELP programs, aimed at promoting economic development abroad while strengthening U.S. trade relationships and countering foreign influence.
The legislation now moves to the U.S. Senate for consideration.
Full details on the FY26 appropriations package are available here:
