The House voted 342-85 Wednesday evening to pass a stopgap spending bill that would fund the operations of the federal government through Dec. 9 and prevent a government shutdown on Oct. 1, The Hill newspaper reported Wednesday.Sarah Ferris and Cristina Marcos write the Senate initially rejected the proposed legislation Tuesday but approved it Wednesday after House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California) struck an agreement to pass a bipartisan amendment to a House water resources bill that would authorize $170 million in funds to address lead contamination in Flint, Michigan.
Mike DeBonis also reports for The Washington Post that the stopgap funding bill would allocate $1.1 billion to stop the spread of the Zika virus and $500 million to fund emergency flood relief efforts in Louisiana and other states.
Veterans programs would also receive a full year of funding under the proposed measure, DeBonis writes.
The report said the House deal could help pave the way for the inclusion of the Flint aid package in the final water projects bill as both chambers of Congress work to reach a compromise on both versions of the proposed measure.
