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.
Category: Legislation
House to Consider Budget Deal and Farm Bill Extension today
As Congress begins is last minute push to wrap up loose ends before the holidays, the House is expected to consider the Budget agreement and begin consideration on a 30 day Farm Bill extension today. After the House passes these measures, the legislation will then go to the Senate for consideration.
There is a possibility that a Continuing Resolution to fund the government for the remainder of FY14 will also be considered this week as well as the FY14 National Defense Authorization Act, but it is unclear if those pieces of legislation will actually get considered.
Budget Conference Negotiations Continue
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.
COMPETES Funding
AAAS has created a new graph showing America COMPETES funding as intended, as actually funded, and the Democrat’s proposal. A larger version of the chart can be found here.
Senate Commerce Committee announces COMPETES Hearing
Senator Rockefeller, Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, announced a hearing on America COMPETES today.
The hearing will be November 6th at 2:30 pm EST. Those interested can watch the hearing live.