Legislation and Guidance
Legislation and Guidance
Conflicts Delay Supplemental Bill
Disagreements between Republicans, Blue Dog Democrats, and their Congressional leaders are causing delays in the drafting of the emergency supplemental appropriations bill. The three sides cannot come to an agreement in the House on the $183.8 billion spending bill, with disputes over both offsets and domestic spending. Senate Appropriations Chairman Robert Byrd (D-WV) pushed back Thursday’s scheduled markup of their $193 billion supplemental until May 15. Congressional leaders still hope to have the bill passed before the Memorial Day recess starts on May 26.
House leaders were poised to bring the supplemental appropriations bill to the floor for a vote this week before they decided to add a number of new domestic spending provisions to the bill. Republicans in the House oppose adding any domestic spending to the bill intended to fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Both the House and Senate are planning to add domestic spending, but the Republicans in the House seem to have more support for their opposition.
In the Senate, appropriators are offering a larger bill, which includes a number of domestic initiatives, such as funding for the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act. The program, currently under a one year-extension, expires on June 30. Senate appropriators are hoping to add $400 million for another one-year extension as part of their supplemental package. The House bill does not contain the rural school funding, adding yet another point of contention for the eventual conference between the two versions. Appropriators are also considering adding the Medicaid moratorium and school facilities funding to the legislation.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) hopes to debate their bill on the floor as early as next week. He has asked Senator Byrd to hold off on their markup until the House is finished, but the Senate plans to move forward on May 15, with or without the House-passed version as a template. The President continues to voice his opposition to a supplemental infused with domestic spending, but is waiting to issue a veto threat until he sees actual legislative language.
Resources
Frank Wolfe, “Appropriators Ponder $400M Influx to Avert Layoffs,” Education Daily, May 9, 2008.
Liriel Higa and Josh Rogin, “House Seeks Offsets for War Supplemental,” CQ Today, May 8, 2008.
Budget Deal May Be Close
House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt (D-SC) hopes to name conferees to the budget resolution conference early next week. Congress only has until next Thursday before appropriators traditionally begin setting their own spending caps for fiscal year 2009 (FY09). Both House and Senate budget leaders hoped to be ready to go this week, but were distracted by negotiations on the supplemental bill, as well as the Farm Bill conference agreement. Once the conferees agree on a joint budget resolution, both chambers must approve the amended package. If either chamber makes additional changes, the resolution will go back to the other body for another round of votes. That is a lot of ground to cover in less than a week.
Traditionally, if Congress has not agreed to a joint budget resolution by May 15, then appropriators begin their work without a Congressionally approved roadmap. The budget resolution’s main purpose is to set spending caps for each appropriations subcommittee. Without it, the subcommittee in each chamber will set, or deem, its own limits, based on their chamber’s own budget resolution. This creates a problem for the fall, when appropriators from the House and Senate meet to reconcile their approved appropriations bills. If each chamber passed a Labor-HHS-Education bill based on two different spending caps, then conferees on the bill have to reach a compromise that will be acceptable under both sets of caps. Considering how difficult it is for each chamber to agree on appropriations already, this is an unnecessary complication.
The two sides started the process at more than $3 billion apart. Originally, the House budget resolution set discretionary levels at $1.014 trillion, while the Senate plan sought $1.010 trillion. President Bush's budget requested $992 billion in discretionary spending. Although no definite numbers have been released, negotiators now appear to be within $1.8 billion of one another in regards to discretionary spending. If budget leaders appear close to a deal by next week, appropriators may hold off on deeming their own caps, giving conferees time to finish their work. However, if no deal is in place by the Memorial Day recess, appropriators will likely move forward without the guidance the budget resolution provides.
Resource
Vicki Needham, “Spratt: House Could Name Conferees Next Week on Budget Resolution,” Congress Now, May 8, 2008.
Farm Bill Finally Moves Forward
Legislators finally came to an agreement on the Farm Bill this week, announcing a compromise at a Thursday press conference. The actual conference report will not be released until Monday morning, but House and Senate conferees posted summary sheets this week, showing general funding levels for various programs. Lawmakers hope to pass the bill through each chamber next week, with a final deadline set before the Memorial Day recess. The President continues to threaten a veto on the nearly $300 billion bill, so Congressional leaders are hoping for veto-proof majorities in both the House and Senate.
The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee posted a summary sheet on their Web site, outlining the basics of the new compromise. According to the summary, “the bill includes a tremendous expansion of the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, which provides free fresh fruits and vegetables to low-income children in schools. Over the next ten years, $1 billion is invested in this initiative, which will allow it to serve as many as 3 million low-income children.” There is no mention of the House’s proposed 5% set aside for administration purposes.
The Farm Bill is expected to pass easily through both chambers, but there remains a question of overriding the expected veto. The Senate, which passed their Farm Bill with 79 votes last year, expects to have more than enough support for a veto override, but once again, Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats may prove to be problem in the House. If the bill is vetoed, and an override fails, then the President is likely to call for a year-long extension of the current Farm Bill, pushing the issue off to the next resident in the White House.
Resources
Geof Koss, “Farm Bill Unveiled, but Tough Fight Lies Ahead,” Congress Now, May 8, 2008.
Catharine Richert, “New Farm Deal Draws Veto Threat,” CQ Today, May 8, 2008.
