{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://maloney.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/maloney-votes-against-omnibus-spending-bill", "Maloney votes against omnibus spending bill", "2014-12-12", "2014", "2014-12", "Democrat", "House", "NY", "Carolyn Maloney", "M000087", "maloney.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON \u2013 Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) last night voted against the omnibus spending package, which passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 219-206. Maloney opposed the inclusion of a campaign finance provision that would provide for a ten-fold increase in maximum allowable donations to a political party committee. She also opposed the inclusion of funding to train anti-ISIS rebels, and was deeply concerned by a provision that will cause benefit cuts to retirees with multi-employer pension plans.\n\u201cAlthough there were some important provisions in the omnibus spending bill, like the inclusion of an additional $41 million in funding to help eliminate the rape kit backlog, I was deeply troubled by other pieces of the bill,\u201d said Maloney. \u201cAt a time when money is flooding our political system, I can\u2019t in good conscience support a ten-fold increase in campaign contribution limits to political parties. I have been consistently opposed to spending taxpayer money on training Syrian opposition forces\u2014an unprecedented scenario in which the U.S. is trying to re-invent a substantially degraded rebel army to act as our boots on the ground in a religious civil war. I am also troubled by the pension cutback rider, which could cut pensions for working class people by more than half.\u201d\nCampaign finance provision:  \n\tThe bill included a provision that would allow campaign donors to increase their contributions to political parties from $32,400 to $324,000 per year, bringing the maximum amount a married couple can contribute to $1,296,000 in a two-year election cycle. The campaign finance provision also increases the amount an individual can give to the Democratic or Republican congressional campaign committees. Current limits are set at $32,400 per year, but the Omnibus would allow donors to also contribute $97,200 per year to each campaign committee\u2019s building fund and another $97,200 per year for recount and legal funds.\nIf the change moves forward, a donor would be able to donate a total of $324,000 each year to the DNC or RNC, $226,800 to a party\u2019s Senate campaign committee, and another $226,000 to a party\u2019s House campaign committee. Thus, the total amount an individual could donate would increase to $1,553,200 per two-year election cycle ($3,106,400 per couple) up from $97,200 ($194,400 per couple).\nSyrian opposition forces provision:   \n\tThe agreement includes $3.4 billion for Department of Defense operations targeting ISIL, as well as funds to train and equip Iraqi security forces and the Syrian opposition. Maloney has previously opposed funding to train the Syrian opposition. \u00a0\nPension cutback provision:  \n\tThe multiemployer pension provision allows certain pension plans to cut benefits of retirees, including some current retirees. In some cases the cuts could exceed 60 percent of a participant\u2019s benefit. There currently are more than 1,400 multiemployer plans covering about 10 million, mostly working class, people. Among the most common industries using these pensions are: mining, trucking, retail trade and service industries and entertainment (film, television and theater).", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://maloney.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/maloney-votes-against-omnibus-spending-bill"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3716800604015589, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}