The big fights over this week’s omnibus spending and tax bills aren’t just about money, they’re about all the policy Congress is packing into the two massive laws: whether to accept Syrian refugees, let Puerto Rico use normal bankruptcy law, and end America’s ban on crude-oil exports.

And way outside those headlines, deep inside the bills’ 2,242 pages, are scores of small yet meaningful changes to American policy that have received little attention so far. They aren’t necessarily ideological, and don’t necessarily cost a lot of money—but they’re going to change things for everyone from Broadway theater groups to people who are wrongfully convicted.

Some of the changes will benefit the most disadvantaged groups of society. Others will shift money toward big businesses. Some will even please Russia, China and Brazil. And, amazingly, Congress apparently has a strong opinion on preserving the $1 bill just the way it is. Here are five under-the-radar but important policy moves tucked into the two bills—and why they’re going to matter to America.

1. Help for the long-term unemployed. While the unemployment rate has fallen, there are still more than two million Americans have been out of work for more than six months. These are the long-term unemployed, and they have a bigger problem than other people: research shows being out of work that long hurts their well-being, and it also causes employers to ignore their job applications.

The tax bill adds an incentive for companies to hire them. An existing program called the Work Opportunity Tax Credit allows employers to claim a credit of up to $2,400 for hiring people with certain social disadvantages, like ex-felons or food-stamp recipients. Now a company can also claim the credit for hiring a person who's been unemployed for more than 26 weeks. It won’t solve long-term unemployment overnight or even in the next year. But it does give the long-term unemployed a small, much-needed advantage over other job applicants.

2. Support for syringe exchange programs. Many states and local governments run programs that let drug addicts trade dirty needles for clean ones to stop the spread of HIV and other diseases. Critics say they're tacitly encouraging drug use so in last year's omnibus bill, Congress blocked funding for any program that provided needles for illegal drugs. The funding prohibition made it more difficult for states and local governments to cover their costs.

This year, the bill omnibus makes a small change to that prohibition that could have major ramifications for drug addicts across the country. Now, the prohibition only applies to funds used to purchase syringes or needles. Federal dollars can now be used to pay for for other parts of the same programs, such as outreach efforts, purchasing other supplies like bottles of water and administrative expenses.

Ultimately, the decisions will come down to state and local governments over how they use federal dollars, said William McColl, the director of health public policy at the AIDs United Public Policy Committee. But his group is pleased with the changes. “While we frankly think that not funding the syringes isn’t necessary,” he said, “it’s also the case that this will be very useful.”

3. Bringing in more immigrant workers, through a side door. Businesses have been eager for years to expand the H2-B visa program allowing companies to hire unskilled guest workers. Currently, the program is capped at 66,000 visas per year. The omnibus does not increase that number—but it expands the program in a roundabout manner by allowing workers who entered the U.S. on an H2-B visa to leave the U.S., return, and work another year without counting towards the cap. And they can do this for three years in a row.

Here’s how this could work in practice: A company could hire five workers on H2-B visas in one year and the next year hire an additional five such workers while bringing back the original five. Under the old system, all 10 would count against the 66,000 visa cap. But under the new system, only five of them would count against the cap. The company could do the same the next year and the year after that. By the fourth year, in this example, it would employ 20 workers on five H2-B visa slots. (In the following the year, the workers hired in the first year would again count against the cap.)

Expanded across the entire economy, this change has the potential to quadruple the H2-B visa program. That won’t happen, since not all guest workers will return. But it still represents a significant expansion of the visa program. Businesses have applauded the change, saying it will help fill jobs that Americans won’t take. But the H2-B program is also controversial, and has come under increased scrutiny after BuzzFeed published an in-depth investigation this month documenting the ways employers exploit these visas to hire cheaper foreign employees instead of giving the jobs to Americans.

4. Approval of reforms to the International Monetary Fund. This hasn’t exactly been big news in America, but the international community has been frustrated at Congress for years dragging its heels in approving some big reforms to the IMF. The world’s preeminent international monetary institution agreed to some big changes in 2010, giving developing countries greater influence in the institution and letting the Fund allocate money differently so that it has more flexibility to respond to crises around the globe. But the U.S. has enough voting power to hold an effective veto within the IMF, and Congress has never said yes to the reforms.

As U.S. allies have became more and more frustrated with Congress, some have begun looking for ways around the IMF; many, including Germany, France, Italy and Britain, have joined China’s Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), infuriating the Obama administration. It’s not clear whether there is a direct causal link between Congress’ dawdling over the IMF reforms and U.S. allies’ joining the AIIB. But there’s no doubt that blocking the reforms has undermined U.S. credibility on the world stage.

“It’s certainly symbolic of US withdrawal from the rest of the world, and the rest of the world is noticing,” Ted Truman, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and former Treasury official, told me in June. “The symbolism counts for this stuff.”

Now, in the omnibus, Congress is set to approve the IMF reforms, although with some additional restrictions to give Congress greater oversight over the Fund.

5. No redesigning the $1 bill. For fans of old-fashioned money, there's a holiday treat buried in here: the omnibus prohibits the Treasury Department from redesigning the $1 bill. All other bills are fair game.

With other American currency undergoing design and security changes, some of them major, why the protective fence around the $1? National Journal’s Sarah Mimms found the answer last year, when the restriction surfaced in the previous omnibus: It has nothing to do with the $1 bill itself. It has to do with vending machines. The vending lobby doesn't want to spend money having to update its machines to recognize a redesigned $1 bill. Since few people try to counterfeit the $1 bill—the reason that Treasury normally redesigns currency—the lobby argues there’s no good reason for a redesign. Congress evidently agrees: Division E, Title I, Section 117 makes sure it won't happen this year.

There’s lots more in the bill. Let us know what else you find at [email protected]!

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