Congress returned in January after a hectic few final months as the House and Senate rushed to complete its work on must-pass legislation, including the federal fiscal year 2016 spending bill, or Omnibus Bill, legislation to extend tax provisions, and resolutions expressing support for Israel and concern about anti-Semitism.

Just days before the deadline to avoid a government shutdown, Congress passed a $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill to fund the federal government through the remainder of FY 2016 (September 30, 2016). The President signed the bill into law that same day. The Federation secured a few big wins including: a $7 million increase to a total of $20 million for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program; $120 million for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program; $3.1 billion in security assistance for Israel under the 2007 U.S.-Israel Memorandum of Understanding; and continued funding for joint U.S.-Israel Defense Programs-Iron dome, short range ballistic missile defense, the Arrow System, and Israel’s overall missile defense infrastructure.

“With the active involvement of JUF’s Washington, D.C. office, 2015 saw several significant victories for the Federation,” said David Golder, JUF Government Affairs Committee Chair. “At a time when Congress was looking for ways to curb spending, a number of programs our affiliated agencies rely on not only survived, but in some cases, saw increases and were further strengthened.”

The Omnibus Bill also included provisions to extend a number of tax incentives that are important to the Federation. The excise tax, known as the “Cadillac” tax, on high cost employer-sponsored health coverage that was mandated as part of the Affordable Care Act in 2010 and scheduled to be implemented in 2018, is delayed for two years. In addition, the IRA charitable rollover provision was made permanent, thus making contributions by individuals for 2015 and succeeding years effective without needing annual congressional action.

Both the House of Representatives and Senate introduced bipartisan concurrent resolutions expressing support for the right of states to maintain economic sanctions against Iran for its sponsorship of terrorism, human rights violations, and other illicit activities. The House of Representatives also passed two resolutions aimed at combating anti-Israel incitement within the Palestinian Authority and curbing anti-Semitic attacks in Europe.

Lisa Shuger Hublitz is the director of the Jewish Federation’s Washington D.C. Office.