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The Week Ahead: Appropriations
Season Reaches Full Swing
Sunday, June 21, 2009
8:00 PM
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Appropriations season will
reach full swing this week as House and Senate Democrats push forward
with their goal of moving all twelve fiscal year (FY)
2010
spending measures to President Obama's desk before the end of FY
2009 (Sept. 30, 2009). The last time Congress completed work on all
of its regular appropriations bills individually was the FY 1995
season. (All of the regular FY 1997 appropriations bills were enacted
before the start of the fiscal year, but five were consolidated into
one bill -- also called an "omnibus" -- which became law on September
30.)
"It is an ambitious
schedule," House Appropriations Chairman
Dave
Obey (D-WI) said earlier this month, "but it is workable
if we all work together and if other crucial considerations do
not intervene."
Total discretionary spending within annual appropriations
bills account for roughly one-third of total federal spending
for a given fiscal year. For FY 2010, House and Senate
appropriators have $1.1 trillion in overall new "budget
authority" to work with, or 30.5 percent of the $3.6 trillion
in projected spending for next year.
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After clearing the
Commerce-Justice-Science spending bill last week, the full
House is set to take up the Homeland Security and Interior & Environment spending bills later this week.
In addition, the FY 2010 Defense authorization legislation
(H.R. 2647) could hit the House floor as early as Wednesday.
On the committee level, the House Financial Services and Energy & Water Appropriations
Subcommittees will mark up their respective spending bills on
Thursday. The full committee is slated to consider the State &
Foreign Operations measure on Tuesday. |
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Senate appropriators last week kicked off their work on FY
2010 spending bills, clearing the Homeland Security and
Legislative Branch measures for floor consideration. The
appropriations outlook in the Senate for this week was unclear
at presstime.
[Stay current with House and Senate appropriations action by
bookmarking our
appropriations scorecard page.] |
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House lawmakers have
wasted no time shelving President Obama's
proposed
program terminations totaling $8.2 billion. Thus far, the full
House has rejected the president's request to terminate two of more
than 50 federal programs, including the restoration of $400 million
for the Department of Justice's
State Criminal Alien Assistance
Program (SCAAP). House appropriators also agreed to match or increase
funding for three Department of Homeland Security programs currently
on the White House chopping block:
Emergency Operations Centers Grant Program - The House DHS
appropriations bill contains $40 million for the program, $5 million
above the FY 2009 level.
Intercity Bus Security Grant Program - The House DHS appropriations
bill matches this year's funding level at $12 million.
LORAN-C
- House appropriators approved $36 million for the Coast Guard's Long
Range Aids to Navigation Program, a $1 million boost from FY 2009.
Citing the uncertainty over whether new GPS satellites will be
launched into orbit in time to maintain uninterrupted service,
lawmakers argued that the LORAN-C infrastructure was the logical
support system for eLORAN (upgraded version of LORAN-C) to serve as a
backup for GPS navigation.
Obama has scored one
victory, albeit a small one. The House Appropriations Committee
zeroed-out funding for the Homeland Security Department's trucking
security program, noting that only $2.2 million of the $8 million
appropriated for this fiscal year has been awarded "due to the lack
of worthy applications." The program aims to assist in the training
of personnel to identify and report security threats. According to
the administration, the program "lacks a risk-based methodology in
the allocation of grant awards."
[Stay current with
Congressional action on the president's requested program terminations by
bookmarking our
itemized
breakdown.] |
© Copyright
Capitol Hill Reports, Inc. (2009). No claim to original government
works.
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