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Category: Budget

The Week Ahead

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Both the House and Senate are out of session today. The Senate returns to work at 2:00pm Monday and will vote on a series of amendments to the Violence Against Women Act (S 47). A vote on final passage could come as early as Monday night. The House returns to work on Tuesday.

President Obama will deliver his State of the Union address on Tuesday evening. It is widely expected that he will focus on fiscal issues, including the deficit and taxes, and will call for Congress to come together to avoid the next fiscal cliff. It is also expected that he will address energy and climate issues, as well as gun control and immigration. All of these priorities will likely be reflected in his budget request, which will be released to Congress in early March.

On Tuesday morning the Senate Budget Committee, chaired by Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), will hold a hearing on the budget and economic outlook prepared by the Congressional Budget Office, and then on Wednesday that same committee will hold a hearing on the impact of budget decisions on families and communities. The House Budget Committee will hold also hold a hearing on the economic outlook on Wednesday.

Also on Wednesday, the House Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing titled “Impacts of a Continuing Resolution and Sequestration on Defense.” Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA) is the ranking member on this committee.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold hearings on comprehensive immigration revision Wednesday morning, this first of many hearings on this topic.

On Thursday (Valentine’s Day), the House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing on the itemized deduction for charitable contributions and on previous proposals to modify the deduction and its value. Congressmen Jim McDermott (D-WA) and Dave Reichert (R-WA) are both members of this committee.

Also on Thursday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing titled “Sustainable Growth Rate: Data, Measures and Models; Building a Future Medicare Physician Payment System.”

Bill Introduced to Protect NIH from Sequestration

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Today, Congressman Jim McDermott (D-WA) joined his colleagues to introduce a bill to stop the across-the-board budget cuts scheduled for March 1st with a balance of increased revenue and sensible investments. The Balancing Act will halt impending automatic federal budget cuts, known as “sequester,” which would threaten important national investments like those in medical research—a staple of Washington State’s economy.  Read more here.

 

Obama Calls for Balanced Approach to Deficit Reduction

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Today President Obama called on lawmakers to quickly pass a package of limited spending cuts and tax changes that can head off the automatic, across-the-board reductions — or sequester — that are set to take effect on March 1st. Obama will acknowledge that a broader budget agreement is unlikely to be reached by next month’s deadline when the cuts to domestic and military programs will go into effect, so is now urging Congress to avoid cuts in spending through a balanced approach that raises new tax revenue by closing loopholes on wealthy Americans and the oil and gas industries. The push by the President to avoid the sequester is also an admission that efforts to reach a bigger deal with Congressional Republicans to cut spending and raise revenues is not likely to be reached in the coming months.

Also happening today, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects the 2013 federal deficit to be $845 billion, the first time the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has forecast a deficit below $1 trillion under the current Administration. The reduction in the budget deficit is due to the actions Congress took on New Year’s Day to avoid the fiscal cliff by approving higher tax rates on households with annual income above $450,000. But the long-term forecast from CBO shows the fiscal cliff deal that prevented higher tax rates on most households did little to help the nation’s long-term budgetary outlook. CBO sees the deficit falling to $430 billion by 2015 before slowly rising again. By 2023, CBO projects the nation will be nearing the $1 trillion mark with a $978 billion budget deficit as the aging population and rising health costs explode entitlement spending.

What’s Up in Congress

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Today

The House is in at 2:00pm with votes expected at 6:30pm on the Children’s Hospital GME Support Reauthorization Act (HR 297), the Veteran Emergency Medical Technician Support Act (HR 235), and the National Pediatric Research Network Act (HR 225). The Senate is also back at 2:00pm and at 5:30pm will hold a key procedural vote to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (S 47).

Last week

Congress approved legislation last week to delay a debate on raising the debt limit by allowing the Treasury Department to borrow whatever it needs from now through May 18th without regard to the statutory $16.39 trillion debt ceiling. The measure also would impose “no budget, no pay” rules, deferring payment of congressional salaries after April 15th until approval of a budget resolution in both the House and Senate chambers. The bill now awaits the President’s signature.

This Week

  • The Congressional Budget Office is due to release its annual Budget and Economic Outlook on Tuesday.
  • The House Budget Committee holds a hearing on the CBO’s Budget and Economic Outlook with agency chief Douglas W. Elmendorf on Wednesday.
  • The House considers legislation (HR 444) this week that would require the President to submit an alternative budget if his fiscal 2014 proposal is not a balanced budget.
  • The House Science, Space and Technology Committee will hold a hearing Wednesday at 9:30am titled “American Competitiveness: The Role of Research and Development.”

“No Budget, No Pay” Bill Proceeds in the Senate

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Today the Senate is expected to proceed on HR 325, the House-passed “No Budget, No Pay Act of 2013” that would raise the debt ceiling through May while also making the payout of congressional salary contingent upon approval of a budget resolution in each chamber.  The measure that passed the House earlier this month would suspend enforcement of the federal borrowing limit until May 18th and then raise the debt limit the following day to the debt accumulated to that point.  The bill the House approved did not include cuts in exchange for the extension as House GOP members had previously demanded.  The Senate is expected to approve the measure, although it may be amended and sent back to the House for approval.