Congressional Democrats unveiled an over 4,000-page, $1.7 trillion government funding package early Tuesday morning, leaving lawmakers little time to review the text and vote on it before a looming government shutdown on Friday at midnight. Experts point out that the omnibus bills earmarks include over $11 million in LGBT-themed projects, and GOP lawmakers say the special interest spending could be avoided if the omnibus was delayed until January when the newly elected Republican-led House would be in power.
The earmarks laid out for LGBT-themed special interest projects in the omnibus spending bill include:
$1.2 million for LGBTQIA+ Pride Centers at San Diego Community College
$1 million for Zoras Housein Ohio, a coworking and community space for women and gender-expansive people of color
$3 million for the American LGBTQ+ Museum in New York City
$1 million designated for LGBT special services program as a part of the VAWA grant funding
$250,000 for Our Lives Matter, a gay rights law archive in Wisconsin
$750,000 for the TransLatin@ Coalition to provide workforce development programs and supportive services for Transgender and Gender nonconforming and Intersex (TGI) immigrant women in Los Angeles
$105,000 for a mentoring program for LGBT youth in the greater Pittsburg area
$856,000 for an LGBT Center in New York
$523,345 for Compass LGBT Youth and Social Services programing
$113,520 for an LGBT Center of Greater Reading, Pa.
$500,000 to establish a staff position for Special Advisor to Advance the Human Rights of LGBTQIA+ persons
$1.5 million for an LGBT+ community center new home project in New York
$750,000 for LGBT and Gender Non-Conforming housing in Albany, New York