On Friday, the United States Congress passed a $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill, which will fund the entire federal government until September. Omnibus bills often have sweeteners littered throughout—this has the effect of winning over fence-sitters—and this year many in the baseball community were surprised that their favorite sport was specifically included.
The “Save America’s Pastime Act” was introduced by Reps. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) and Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) in June of 2016, largely reacting to lawsuits from minor league players over minimum wage violations. Bustos dropped her support after criticism, but it was still included in the omnibus, for reasons unknown.