Capitol Hill Reports - Obey Releases Tentative Appropriations Schedule

Capitol Hill Reports

Staff & Contact Info

Order Capitol Hill Reports

Subscriber Log In

Obey Releases Tentative Appropriations Schedule
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
7:00 PM

House Appropriations Chairman Dave Obey (D-WI) today distributed to committee members a tentative schedule for moving all twelve fiscal year (FY) 2010 appropriations bills to the Senate by the August recess.

"It is an ambitious schedule," Obey said, "but it is workable if we all work together and if other crucial considerations do not intervene." The chairman acknowledged that other "high priority" legislation could interfere with the August recess goal, a likely allusion to health care and energy reform legislation.

On Friday, the full committee is scheduled to mark up the Homeland Security and Legislative Branch spending bills, followed next week by subcommittee action on the Military Construction & VA and State & Foreign Operations bills along with full committee action on the Agriculture and Interior bills. The Financial Services legislation is scheduled for subcommittee consideration the last week of June, while the Defense, Labor-HHS, Transportation-HUD, and Energy & Water appropriations measures will round out the agenda in July.

Sign Up for News Alerts

News Archive

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) announced his support for Obey's draft schedule today, saying that he will work with Obey "to achieve this goal while providing for other important legislation to move forward to the floor without delay."

The House Appropriations Committee today cleared its first FY 2010 spending bill, a $64.4 billion package funding operations for the Department of Commerce, Department of Justice and science agencies for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1, 2009. The legislation represents a $6.7 billion increase compared to the FY 2009 level and $200 million below President Obama's budget request.

The president's effort to secure $8.2 billion in savings by terminating more than 50 discretionary programs has already experienced a setback, as House appropriators green-lighted $300 million for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) within the Commerce-Justice-Science spending bill as currently drafted. The program, which received $400 million for the current fiscal year, provides federal reimbursement to states and localities for incarcerating undocumented criminal aliens under specific circumstances. The administration has proposed to terminate SCAAP, arguing that the program's funding "can be better used to enhance Federal enforcement efforts."

Republican appropriators today continued their criticism of Democrats' proposed FY 2010 spending levels in light of projected record deficits. In an effort to slow the growth of discretionary spending during the next fiscal year, House Appropriations Ranking Member Jerry Lewis (R-CA) offered a motion to hold non-security domestic spending to a two-percent increase compared to current-year levels, provide the Pentagon and Veterans Affairs Department with a six-percent increase, and Homeland Security Department with a four-percent hike. Lewis asserted that his plan "would leave $32.2 billion on the table in order to reduce the national deficit." The Appropriations Committee rejected Lewis' proposal to amend the panel's subcommittee allocations -- a.k.a. 302(b)s -- on a 21 to 31 vote prior to the markup on the Commerce-Justice-Science spending bill.

Speaking on the Lewis' proposal, Chairman Obey argued that the House's overall discretionary spending for FY 2010 is $10 billion below President Obama's request, and that the full House decided the matter during the budget resolution debate.