WASHINGTON — Billowing smoke from wildfires… blocked out mountain views in the western United States and prompted health warnings for vulnerable people to stay indoors. But it was the drift of the worsening air as far east as New York and Washington D.C. that may have been the spark lawmakers needed to advance major spending packages now moving on Capitol Hill that aim to address the threat, said U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet. …Beyond paid leave and healthcare, House Democrats’ $1.75 trillion social spending package moving through Congress includes about $27 billion for forestry programs, with an eye on curbing the climate-fueled blazes ravaging the western U.S. The funding is down from $40 billion in an earlier version. …More than half of the $27 billion in forestry funding included in the $1.75 trillion social spending bill would go toward “hazardous fuels reduction projects”.