Skip to content
News and updates

Category: Congressional To Do

Hiccup with a CR

Posted on

Writing a stopgap spending measure, known as a Continuing Resolution (CR), to avoid a government shutdown on October 1st, just got a bit harder than lawmakers anticipated.

Typically, CRs extend current funding levels into the new fiscal year for a short duration. Unfortunately, there’s a hitch this time. If current FY2016 funding is simply extended, it would exceed the FY 2017 discretionary spending caps as set by Sequestration in 2011. How much will it exceed? According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a straight extension will exceed the caps by $10 billion.As scored by CBO for the purposes of a stopgap, FY 2016 base discretionary spending comes in at $1.080 trillion, $10 billion above the $1.070 trillion, FY 2017 limit.

The CBO explained that most of the excess spending comes from the scheduled expiration of some spending cuts in fiscal 2017, as previously passed in prior fiscal years.

So some of the same budget maneuvers that allowed Congress to spend billions more dollars in FY 2016 are now complicating the crafting of a stopgap funding measure to keep the government operating when the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30. The maneuvers that were used in FY 2016 include changes in mandatory programs, or so-called CHIMPs, that inflated nondefense spending in FY 2016. CHIMPs refer to provisions in appropriations bills that reduce or constrain mandatory spending, providing an offset for higher discretionary spending.

In preparing for a stopgap spending measure, the CBO’s score must eliminate any savings that do not automatically continue into the next year, including changes in mandatory programs that appropriators often make to free up extra money for discretionary projects. Changes in mandatory programs, mostly from an expiring cut to the Children’s Health Insurance Fund,  account for $5.6 billion of the lost savings. Further, the CBO score assumes that a CR extends the entirety of the subsequent fiscal year, not a short duration — a prudent move since it is currently unclear how long the CR will last. The date being cited most often now is December 9th. 

It is not yet clear whether the overage problem can be fixed through some simple technical corrections, or whether it could mean trimming any popular programs. 

Meanwhile, the House Republican Caucus remains deeply divided on how to proceed. Despite the Constitution clearly stating that the power of the purse originates in the House, the Senate will go first in trying to pass a short-term CR next week to keep the federal government functioning through the November election.

Stay tuned.

They’re BACK!!!!

Posted on

After seven weeks of recess, the House and Senate are back to work today.  Congressional lawmakers now have approximately 17 legislative days to figure out how to avoid a government shutdown before the new fiscal year (FY 2017) begins on October 1. As we saw last year (a non-election year), coming to an agreement on how to allocate federal fiscal resources is already and tough job. Now, with re-election campaigns now in high gear, political tensions have only grown worse since Congress adjourned in mid-July, further complicating the difficult dealmaking to come.

Adding another layer of complications and vitriol, at least on the House side, the House Freedom caucus, a vocal group of about 40 hard-core conservatives, are blaming GOP leadership for the defeat of one of the caucus’s most active members, Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS), in a party primary in August.

Much of this week will likely be spent drawing battle lines over the expected stopgap measure, known as a continuing resolution (CR), that would extend current FY 2016 funding levels into the new fiscal year (FY 2017) for a short length of time. While a typical CR simply extends all current funding levels for a specified amount of time, pressure is building to add money to combat the Zika virus. A $1.1 billion Zika package collapsed in July in a partisan standoff, although efforts could be made to revive it with modifications. The Senate is feeling pressure to include Zika funding from Senators like Floridian Marco Rubio, who’s state has been particularly impacted. Flood relief for Louisiana is as expected to be discussed.

The length of the CR is also in question. Fiscal hawks of the House Freedom Caucus have long been arguing for a CR into March of 2017 to wait until the new President is in office. Many others in Congress, namely the Democrats, want to clear the decks for the new President and pass an omnibus measure in December — something the staunch conservatives in Congress have vowed to fight in the lame duck session. In fact, Senate Democrats have been very vocal on this issue, and without the support of the Senate Democrats on any CR measure, the Senate Republicans cannot overcome the 60-vote threshold to defeat cloture. 

Look for much posturing to come!

Off to Convention

Posted on

Congress has left town for its seven-week summer recess, having made progress on considering FY 2017 appropriations measures, but both chambers left town without a clear path forward. For the first time in many years (since FY 2010), the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have approved all 12 of their respective FY17 appropriations bills, although none has received final congressional approval.

Despite this progress, there appears to be growing support among House Conservative Republicans for enactment of a six-month continuing resolution (CR), which would last through March 2017, rather than a short-term CR through December that keeps the government funded through the election while an omnibus appropriations package is negotiated. Of note, Congress typically does kick the can on passing a full fiscal year funding in presidential election years,or has since 2002. The lame duck Congress typically leaves the fiscal completion up to the new Administration and not complete full appropriations during a lame duck session, the notable exceptions were 2004 and 2014. 

Among other issues, a long-term CR would place at risk funding increases approved by both appropriations committees for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the possibility of restoring the year-round Pell Grant, as approved by the Senate committee (see next item below).

The House Appropriations Committee needed two days to finish work on its FY 2017 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill, which it did the morning of July 14. The vote was 31 to 19. This was the first House Labor-HHS-Education bill brought to a full committee vote since 2006.

The bill’s $161.6 billion in discretionary spending is about $257 million below the Senate committee-approved level, $569 million below the FY16 enacted level, and $2.8 billion below the Administration’s FY17 request.

The measure would raise funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to $33.3 billion, an increase of $1.25 billion above the FY16 level. On a party-line vote of 19-29, the committee rejected an amendment to raise NIH funding by an additional $750 million to the Senate committee-approved level of $2 billion. The increase would have been offset by declaring certain other health-related funding in the bill as emergency spending. Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) reiterated the statement he made in the subcommittee markup that he viewed the committee’s NIH funding level as a floor, not a ceiling.

The committee also voted down an amendment that would have restored the year-round Pell Grant. The amendment failed by a vote of 19-27, with two Republicans joining all Democrats in support of the amendment. Chairman Cole said he would welcome restoration of year-round Pell, suggesting the Senate position might prevail in the House-Senate conference on the bill.

The panel also rejected amendments to eliminate four provisions in the bill intended to block Obama administration regulatory actions. Left standing were the provisions to prohibit the Department of Labor from implementing its new overtime rule and to prohibit the Department of Education from moving ahead on regulations on teacher preparation, defining “gainful employment” and “credit hour,” and how states license institutions of higher education.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding includes $165 million for the National Children’s Study, $511.5 million for Clinical and Translational Sciences Awards, and $333.3 million for Institutional Development Awards (IDeA) programs. Other details include:

  • $1.26 billion, a $350 million increase, for the Alzheimer’s disease research initiative;
  • $195 million, a $45 million increase, for the Brain Research through Application of Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) initiative; and
  • $300 million for the Precision Medicine Initiative.

The bill would maintain the salary cap on external NIH grants at Executive Level II of the Federal Executive pay scale.

For higher education, the bill would raise the Pell Grant maximum award to $5,935 through a combination of discretionary and mandatory funds (which is the same as the Administration’s request and the Senate bill).

The circulated report language provided the following funding levels for key higher education programs.

Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants, Federal Work-Study, and Title VI/Fulbright-Hays were flat funded at their FY16 levels of $733 million, $989.7 million, and $72.2 million, respectively. The bill would increase funding for TRIO to $960 million, an increase of $60 million above the FY16 level, and increase funding for GEAR UP to $344 million, an increase of $22 million above the FY16 level.

In contrast, the measure would reduce funding for the Institute for Education Sciences to $536 million, a cut of $81.9 million from the FY16 level. The bill also would zero out funding for the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) program-the only graduate education-specific aid program left in the Department of Education-on the basis that GAANN duplicates grant funding available through other agencies. The report also encourages using the $100 million that the Administration proposed to use in restoring the Fund for the Improvement and Support of Education (FIPSE) in FY17 to fund the First in the World program.

Meanwhile, it turns out the 10-year forecast it made just six months ago, in President Barack Obama’s fiscal 2017 budget, was way off. A revised forecast, issued Friday by the Office of Management and Budget, identified an extra $881 billion in savings over the next decade, if Obama’s budget were to become law.

House and Senate Pass Approps and then Done Until September

Posted on

After three days of amendments, the House passed yesterday the FY2017 Interior Appropriations Bill (H.R. 5538) by a vote of 231 to 196. The $32.1 billion spending bill passed the House for the first time since 2009.

The measure that takes aim at the Obama’s environment and climate change agenda would cut by $64 million the budget for the EPA, the Interior Department and other similar agencies. Funding under the bill is also $1 billion below the Administration’s request. The White House had already promised to veto the measure.

Earlier in the week, the Senate voted to clear the final version of legislation to combat prescription opioid and heroin abuse, sending the conference report to President Barack Obama, who is likely to sign it. The measure passed by a vote of 92-2. The vote followed a similarly lopsided 90-2 vote earlier Wednesday to end debate on the measure.

The measure would authorize new grant programs at the Department of Justice and Department of Health and Human Services. However, it does not include appropriations for the programs. Democrats fear funding will be short-changed when the annual spending bills are finalized later this year.

With the passage of both bills, the House and Senate, respectively, recessed until after Labor Day. Next week is the Republican National Convention and the following week the Democrats hold their convention.

 

Last Week!!!

Posted on

With only five days left before a seven-week summer recess, Congress will at least try to keep up appearances. The House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to complete work on the final two of the 12 annual spending bills needed to fund the government for FY 2017. Meanwhile, the full House is set to vote on its FY 2017 Interior-Environment spending bill, which would be the fifth bill to pass the House this year.

By the time Congress reconvenes in September, there simply will not be enough time left to complete work on all of the regular spending bills before the new fiscal year begins on Oct. 1. To avoid a politically deadly government shutdown one month before the elections, some kind of stopgap spending measure, known as a Continuing Resolution (CR), will need to be approved. House Conservatives have expressed concerns about a short-term CR. 

On the Senate side of the Hill, the upper body’s rejection of a procedural vote on the FY 2017 Defense spending bill last Thursday may signify the final nail in the coffin for the regular FY 2017 appropriations process, as Democrats rebel and talk increasingly turns to staving off a government shutdown with a stopgap measure.  Regardless, he Defense spending bill is up, but the chamber could also pivot to take action on the FAA bill or the final version of a bill to fight opioid addiction. The House approved the opioid conference report on Friday.