Budget Deadline Closing In

Posted on November 18, 2013

Both the House and Senate will be busy this week as they attempt to wrap up a number of issues before they take a two-week break for Thanksgiving. The Senate will try to finish work on the annual Defense Authorization bill that the House completed back in June. This could be one of the few substantial pieces of annual legislation that Congress acts on this year.

But the big news is what’s not happening. With the deadline less than a month away, budget conference committee negotiators say there has been almost no progress in their attempt to address the $91 billion chasm that continues to separate the House and Senate FY 2014 budget plans. The December 13th deadline is fast approaching, with a two-week break in there for Thanksgiving. While Congress set the arbitrary December 13thdeadline, there are no consequences for missing it. In fact, the next deadline that does have consequences is January 15th when the current continuing resolution (CR) runs out. The hope is that negotiators can reach an agreement on an outline that could provide an overall budget number for FY2014 and possibly FY2015 as well as some relief from sequestration before the next round of sequestration take effect in January.

Budget Conference Committee Meets Today

Posted on October 30, 2013

Formal budget negotiations begin today with Democrats pushing for a multibillion-dollar job creation package aimed at speeding up economic growth. That will be in contrast with Republicans who want to maintain spending cuts under sequestration that will keep government operations running at reduced levels through the rest of FY2014. One thing that leaders in both parties already agree to: no grand bargain. The conference has until December 13th to recommend a plan under an agreement linked to spending and debt limit legislation that was passed October 16th (PL 113-46).

The goal for most of the budget conference committee members is to find a way to replace sequestration and agree on an overall FY2014 spending limit. While the House and Senate budget plans introduced earlier this year are far apart on tax and spending policy, they are somewhat closer on the more immediate issue of FY2014 discretionary spending. The House proposes an overall discretionary cap of $967 billion, $91 billion less than the Senate’s limit of $1.058 trillion. Absent an agreement on FY2014 funding, automatic spending cuts under the sequester would reduce spending by about $20 billion from current levels, to $498 billion for defense and $469 billion for domestic programs.

The House and Senate are both scheduled to recess next week through Veteran’s Day, and then will return to DC to continue negotiations. They will work for two weeks in November, and then take a two-week recess for Thanksgiving (November 25-December 6). That will leave just one week in December to complete work on the budget negotiations before the December 13th deadline. Again, most of the real negotiations will take place behind the scenes so the truncated work schedule should not affect the outcome that much. If a deal is not reached by the December deadline, Congressional leaders may need to consider another continuing resolution to keep government funded beyond January 15th.

House Science Chair: Science vs. Entitlements

Posted on October 28, 2013

House Science Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-TX, published an op-ed in Politico today. In it, he asserts that federal budget is so taken up with entitlements that the nation’s investment in science is suffering and will continue to suffer as a result. Further, Chairman Smith argues that entitlement reform means more funding for basic science and R&D.

Read the full op-ed here.

Budget Discussions Begin (Again) this Week

Posted on October 28, 2013

Both the House and Senate are in session this week. The Senate is expected to consider energy efficiency and pharmacy compounding legislation, as well as a labor board nominee. The House will consider a resolution disapproving of the debt ceiling increase as well as financial services measures.

But the big show begins on Wednesday as the House and Senate kick off their conference on the FY2014 budget resolutions at 10:00am. Both parties are downplaying their hopes for a broad deal in budget talks that begin on Wednesday, suggesting they would settle for a more narrow accord on FY2014 spending that averts automatic spending cuts due early next year (sequestration). Only $19 billion separates the $986 billion discretionary spending level for FY2013, which has been extended until January 15th, and the $967 billion FY2014 limit set under the sequester rules enacted in the 2011 Budget Control Act. Democrats on the conference committee are unlikely to settle for any top-line discretionary figure lower than $986 billion, while Republicans insist any agreement to raise spending above the post-sequester $967 billion level must offset at least some of the increase with longer-term spending cuts.

It is still to early to predict what might come of this latest round of budget negotiations, but familiar themes related to taxes and entitlements will certainly come back up as they attempt to reach some sort of deal. And a year-long CR is not out of the question as appropriators cannot continue work on FY2014 bills until they have some clarity on top-line budget numbers.

Shutdown Over but Fiscal Issues Remain

Posted on October 18, 2013

The most recent fiscal crisis has been resolved, government is reopened, and the nation’s debt limit has been raised sufficiently to cover our bills. But that doesn’t mean that the broader fiscal issues aren’t still front and center. The next budget fights and political battles are beginning to take shape as all sides are now focusing on a “balanced” year-end budget deal – or grand bargain. Lawmakers are preparing for the first budget conference committee in four years with our own US Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) leading the charge for the Senate. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) will take the lead for the House. The big question for that conference committee is whether they can even agree on how to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate budget measures – a difference of $91 billion. Neither side has yet agreed to using reconciliation.

The reconciliation process allows for adding instructions to a budget resolution that direct conference committees to submit legislation changing existing law, including tax and budget laws, with specified savings and spending targets. It also allows for that legislation to bypass Senate filibusters.

Regardless, the recent history of budget negotiations suggest it will be difficult to overcome the obstacles that have held back budget agreements for the past four years.