Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Japan's House of Representatives passed a record $840 billion budget that will boost defense and childcare spending with the full support of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Liberal Democratic Party on Tuesday.
Despite dissent from many of the opposition parties, the bill is expected to take effect at the start of Japan's fiscal year start of April 1 because of the Liberal Party's legislative dominance. The bill still faces a vote in the upper House of Councilors.
The general-account expenditures set a record for the 11th straight year with social security accounting for 30% of the increase because of Japan's increase of older residents.
The new budget will require the government to use non-tax revenue to fund defense spending, which also set a record.
Japan's opposition parties have expressed concern over Japan's rapidly rising defense spending since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. That increase includes the purchase of 400 Tomahawk cruise missiles from the United States to boost "counterstrike capabilities."
Japan's defense budget increase appears to be in line with its increasing military presence since December when Kishida led the government to enshrine military changes in three security documents.
Those changes included a controversial counterstrike capability that opponents argued was unconstitutional. Kishida said he needed the changes to allow the Japanese military to hit enemy bases and command-and-control nodes with longer-range standoff missiles.