Bloomberg: U.S. Congress passes spending bill to end oil export ban

Congress passed a $1.1 trillion spending measure that averts a U.S. government shutdown and ends a 40-year-old ban on crude oil exports, a plan that ensures fiscal peace in Congress through most of 2016, according to Bloomberg.

The Senate passed the bill 65-33 on Friday, shortly after a 316-113 House vote. The legislation, which will finance the government through September 2016, goes to President Barack Obama, who plans to sign it, Bloomberg wrote.

The end of the 40-year ban on most U.S. crude oil exports is a "big win," according to House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, and it's a top priority for Republicans. Democrats call it a giveaway to oil companies, and in exchange they negotiated extensions of environmental measures including solar and wind energy tax credits.

The two measures, combined in H.R. 2029, include about $680 billion in revived tax breaks over the next 10 years. A number of them would be made permanent, including those for business research and development, small business expenses, individual deductions for state and local sales taxes, and financing rules for multinational corporations.