May 2, 2017 — Lawmakers on Monday unveiled a huge $1 trillion-plus spending bill that would fund most government operations through September but would deny President Donald Trump money for a border wall and rejects his proposed cuts to popular domestic programs.
The bill also does not include millions in disaster relief funds for nine West Coast fisheries that fishermen and a group of 17 West Coast senators and members of Congress had hoped congressional leaders would include.
“We’re definitely not holding out hope for any sort of last minute tack-on for the deal, but there is always the opportunity for Congress to appropriate separately,” Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations Executive Director Noah Oppenheim told the Times-Standard on Monday. “Although, the chances of that happening are slim to none.”
Then-Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker declared a fisheries disasters for nine West Coast fisheries in January, including for the 2015-16 crab season in California and the 2016 salmon season for the Yurok Tribe. California 2nd District Congressman Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) was one of 17 members of Congress who drafted a bipartisan letter to congressional party leaders in early April urging that they include the disaster funds in the new spending bill. Huffman was traveling to Washington, D.C., on Monday and did not return requests for comment by the Times-Standard deadline.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Eureka Times-Standard