Airport Alert: House Appropriations Committee Unveils FY 2021 DHS Spending Bill

July 6, 2020

In advance of consideration tomorrow by the House DHS/TSA/CBP funding subcommittee, the House Appropriations Committee today released a Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 spending bill that proposes a total of $50.72 billion in discretionary appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and an additional $5.1 billion in funding for disaster relief. The House bill restores funding for numerous key programs to airports, including TSA law enforcement officer (LEO) reimbursement grants and staffing for exit lanes, as well as funding for new Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers. Additionally, the bill prohibits funding for the border wall, rejects the budget request for additional Border Patrol Agents and border barriers, and significantly reduces funding for immigration enforcement measures.

For more information, attached is the draft bill text and press release.

Transportation Security Administration (TSA)

The House bill proposes a total of $8.1 billion for TSA, which is $479 million (or 6 percent) above the administration's request. Within this total, the draft bill provides:

• $46.4 million to sustain LEO reimbursement grants, rejecting the administration's proposal to once again shift these funding responsibilities to airports;
• $90.1 million to continue funding TSA staffing of exit lanes;
• $62.7 million to sustain TSA's Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response teams, rejecting the administration's proposal to eliminate these teams;
• $75 million for computed tomography screening equipment, an increase of $46.1 million above the request;
• $55 million credential authentication and standoff detection technology, and
• $20 million for reimbursement to airports for legacy purchases of in-line explosive.

In addition, the bill includes statutory language that extends a reimbursable service agreement pilot program for screening outside of an existing primary passenger terminals through 2023. This pilot, first authorized in 2019, was set to expire in 2021.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

The bill provides $14.6 billion in discretionary appropriations for CBP, which is $1.15 billion (7 percent) below the administration's request. Of note, the bill provides $171 million for 1,150 new positions, including 850 new CBP officers. The administration did not request any new officers for FY 2021. In addition, the bill retains the overtime cap at $45,000 but continues to permit the Secretary to waive this cap on an individual basis in the case of immigration emergencies.

What's Next?

The House Appropriations Subcommittee for the Department of Homeland Security is scheduled to mark up the legislation tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. The full committee is expected to consider the measure next week.

The Senate Appropriations Committee has yet to schedule its FY 2021 DHS/TSA/CBP spending bill.