Agudath Israel of America is welcoming the inclusion of security funding and other community priorities in the $1.7 trillion omnibus bill signed last week by President Biden.

The bill included $305 million for the federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program (a top priority for Agudah discussed in more detail here) and funds many other programs of interest to Jewish families and institutions. Unfortunately, despite a push by the Agudah to extend the enhanced child tax credit benefit and provide incentives for increased charitable giving, those measures were not included in the final bill.

The bill increases funding for various programs that help day school and yeshiva students including Title I remedial education program ($850 million increase), and special education programs ($934 million increase) while the maximum Pell Grant for low-income yeshiva and college students increases by $500 per student, raising the total a student can receive per year to $7,395.

As part of a nearly $3 billion increase in early learning and childcare, the bill includes a $254 million increase in the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) program which subsidizes child care for low-income families. Almost thirty years ago, Agudath Israel, working with the late Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), played a central role in ensuring that the program would allow parents to use the funding to send their children to the child care provider of their choice – including religious providers.

The omnibus package also provides an increase of $1.66 billion in funding for child nutrition programs. This includes $30 million in kitchen equipment grants and making permanent the summer EBT cards distributed to children receiving free or reduced meals through the National School Lunch Program. Beginning in 2024, the EBT cards will provide $40 per child in grocery benefits for each month that schools are closed during the summer. It also permits “grab-and-go” free summer meals to be distributed in rural communities as part of the nationwide Summer Food Service Program.

The bill doubles the funding for programs that were supported by the Agudah to fight hate crimes. This will enhance how law enforcement tracks and combats hate crimes against the Jewish and other communities.

The package also provides $3.3 billion in security assistance to Israel, $500 million for missile defense programs like Iron Dome, and creates a new program which will increase air defense cooperation between the US, Israel, and Arab nations against the Iranian threat of attack.

“Agudath Israel has been involved in the legislation, regulation, and implementation of many of these programs for decades and welcomes these increases,” said Rabbi Abba Cohen, Agudath Israel’s Vice President for Government Affairs and Washington Director. “While we were hoping for a higher funding level for the security grant program and the inclusion of other priorities, we will continue to mobilize our constituents and work with the next Congress on these and other priorities.”