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Category: Appropriations

House Passes CR But Debt Ceiling Remains Uncertain

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As expected, the House passed yesterday by a vote of 220 – 211 the continuing resolution package that would keep the government funded through December 3 while also lifting the debt ceiling through mid-December, 2022.  Like most of their Senate counterparts, House Republicans voiced strong opposition to the lifting of the debt ceiling and voted against the measure.

In the Senate, where there is a 50 – 50 split between the parties, it remains to be seen how Democrats will address the debt ceiling issue.

Read more about the situation here and here.

Continuing Resolution Introduced

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With FY2022 scheduled to start October 1 and no funding bills yet signed into law, a continuing resolution (CR) that would keep the government funded through December 3 has been unveiled.  It also includes a host of “anomalies,” minor changes and corrections that are needed to ensure that no major changes in federal programs are created while the government functions under a CR.

In addition to keeping the government’s doors open through the first two months of FY2022, the CR would provide emergency funds to address the damage caused by recent floods and wildfires and to fund the costs associated with Afghan refugees.

The most partisan provision of the CR is the proposed lifting of the debt limit to December, 2022.  Congressional Republicans have publicly stated that while they will vote to support other parts of the legislative, they will not support the lifting of the debt limit, creating a level of uncertainty.

The text of the CR is available here and a corresponding summary is available  here.

We will provide updates.

Senate Passes Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill

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The Senate voted 69-30 to pass a $1 trillion, bipartisan, infrastructure bill. The legislation includes numerous provisions for rail, roads, water pipes, ports, combatting pollution, and electric vehicle charging stations among other things. Read more here. The bill now heads to the House, which is in recess until the end of the month.

And coming up- Democrats are expected to use the reconciliation process to pass their “human infrastructure” agenda. Many House progressives say they will not send the bipartisan infrastructure bill to the President’s desk without the human infrastructure component. This is slated to include more education-related provisions, childcare, and a path to citizenship for DREAMERS, as well as a deficit reduction. However, the rules of reconciliation are very narrow, so it’s very possible not everything will make it through.

Nine Down, Three to Go, in the House

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After passing the Legislative Branch and State-Foreign Operations spending bills on Wednesday, the House approved mostly along party lines a seven-bill appropriations package for FY2022 on Thursday.  This means that the chamber has cleared nine of the 12 annual appropriations measures.

Included in Thursday’s package were:  Agriculture; Energy and Water Development; Financial Services; Interior and Environment; Labor-HHS-Education; Military Construction-Veterans Affairs; and Transportation-HUD.

The chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Patrick Leahy (D-VT), confirmed earlier today that the first three bills in that chamber– Agriculture, Energy and Water, and Mil Con-VA– will move next week, with the measures expected to go through the respective subcommittees on Monday and heading to the full committee on Wednesday.

 

 

House Appropriations Process Continues to Move Forward

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The House appropriations process continues to plow ahead, with the committee approving earlier today the FY2022 Energy and Water Development bill by a vote of 33 – 24.  The bill is expected to be part of the larger package of bills brought to the floor during the week of July 26.

The bill summary is available here and the report for the bill is available here.

The bill funds a number of offices and programs of interest to UW, such as the following:

  • Office of Science– an overall level of $7.32 billion, an increase of $294 million
    • Within Office of Science, the legislation calls for the following amounts–
      • Fusion Energy– $698 million ($26-million increase)
      • Basic Energy Science– $2.29 billion ($48-million increase)
      • Nuclear physics– $665 million ($30-million increase)
      • High Energy Physics– $1.08 billion ($49-million increase)
      • Advanced Scientific Computing– $1.023 billion ($10-million increase)
  • Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy– $3.77 billion, an increase of $906 million
  • ARPA-E– $600 million, an increase of $175 million