Budget Deal Moves to the Senate

Posted on December 16, 2013

Today the Senate will resume consideration of pending nominations and then turn to the budget deal on Tuesday with a vote likely by mid-week. Top appropriators are beginning negotiations on an omnibus FY2014 spending package in anticipation of the Senate clearing the $85 billion budget deal this week that would boost overall spending levels. Congress will need to approve that omnibus before January 15th to avoid another government shutdown.

But appropriators face challenges in advancing some domestic spending proposals. Appropriators are assembling a $1.012 trillion omnibus spending package that will continue fresh FY2014 dollars for most but not all federal agencies. It is possible that the most contentious measures, like Labor-HHS-Education and Interior-Environment, may be carried forward through continuing resolutions rather than be included in the omnibus in order to avoid bitter partisan debate on those topics. Defense and security spending measures including Homeland Security, Military Construction-Veterans Affairs, and Defense enjoy the broadest levels of support in the two chambers and are all but certain to be included in an omnibus.

The House is not in session. They will return after the New Year.

House Approves Two-Year Budget Framework

Posted on December 12, 2013

The House passed a budget agreement today by a vote of 332-94. The two-year budget deal, crafted by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), will bring back “regular order” to the annual appropriations process that has eluded Congress for the past couple of years. Lawmakers voted 332-94 on the deal that sets a $1.012 trillion discretionary spending level for FY2014 (current fiscal year) — halfway between the $967 billion sequester level and the far-higher number Democrats were seeking. It also sets a $1.014 trillion for FY2015. It finds savings through recalculating federal workforce pensions and requiring government employees to contribute more toward retirement. With this action, the House is now in recess until after the New Year. The Senate is expected to take up the budget measure next week where is should garner plenty of support for passage.

Budget Deal Announced

Posted on December 10, 2013

Earlier this evening, Budget Conference Chairs Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) announced a two-year budget agreement that would replace $63 billion of sequester cuts over FY2014 and FY2015. For FY2014, the discretionary top line budget would be set at $1.012 trillion, offering an additional $45 billion over FY2013 numbers, and will be evenly split between non-defense and defense spending. The numbers agreed to for FY2014 and FY2015 are below the levels established by the Budget Control Act and the sequester remains in place for FY2016 and beyond.

The sequester relief is fully offset by savings elsewhere in the budget. The agreement includes dozens of specific deficit-reduction provisions, with mandatory savings and non-tax revenue totaling approximately $85 billion. The agreement would reduce the deficit by between $20 and $23 billion. The House is expected to take up a bill on Friday, followed by the Senate next week. If this bill is signed into law, the appropriations committees will then be able to work on spending bills at an agreed-upon level in advance of the January 15th deadline (when the current CR expires).

While House Appropriations Chair Hal Rogers (R-KY) praised the deal, there is expected to be some opposition from both sides of the aisle. The White House has indicated support for the proposal.

Budget Update

Posted on December 9, 2013

The Budget Conference Committee is quickly approaching its December 13th deadline for coming to an agreement on an overall budget framework that will shape the remainder of FY2014, and possibly FY2015, as well as provide some sequester relief. There are rumors swirling that the two lead negotiators – House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Senate Budget Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-WA) – may be close to producing a compromise that could set top-line spending levels for FY2014-2015.

House GOP leaders have already set aside time to move a budget conference deal this week in the event the budget negotiators do produce a compromise. The emerging framework would increase spending a modest amount over the rest of this fiscal year in exchange for an array of deficit reduction steps in other areas. One possible scenario would involve rewriting part of the Budget Control Act enacting the sequester cuts and raising the $967 billion overall discretionary spending level by $34 billion to $1.001 trillion in the fiscal year that began October 1st.

Budget Conference Negotiations Continue

Posted on December 2, 2013

The House is in session this week and is scheduled to work on a bill that would renew a 25-year-old ban on the production of plastic guns that expires on December 9th and to possibly overhaul patent litigation. The House also wants to advance a pediatric medical research bill before the Christmas recess but is facing resistance from conservative members who want to use the money for deficit reduction. The Senate is on recess until December 9th.

Conference committees will continue negotiations on the farm bill and water resources legislation in the hopes of reaching deals before the end of the year. No public meetings are currently scheduled for the budget conference committee this week, but informal talks continue as the panel seeks to come up with an accord on FY2014 spending by December 13th.

House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Senate Budget Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-WA) continue to talk about the FY2014 budget. Because of their differences, they may ultimately agree to put forward a limited fiscal agreement that would meet the most minimal of goals but would most likely be the only deal that could clear a divided Congress. The deal would provide appropriators with top-line figures for discretionary spending for the current fiscal year and the next, and partially alleviate the spending sequester that threatens automatic cuts if budget caps under the Budget Control Act aren’t met. It would utilize a combination of non-tax revenue such as user fees and modest cuts to mandatory spending programs to produce savings to offset any reduction in the sequester, among other proposals. This type of deal would likely prevent another government shutdown when the current continuing resolution expires on January 15th.