House Republicans have released a draft of their six-month continuing resolution (CR) that contains few policy riders and would increase spending slightly for most federal agencies by just over half a percent for the first half of FY2013. The House plans to vote on the CR (HJ Res 117) this Thursday, and would run through March 27, 2013 and its spending reflects the $1.047 trillion cap set for discretionary spending set in the 2011 Budget Control Act (PL 112-25). The increased spending would be divided up as a roughly 0.6 percent across-the-board increase for nearly all federal agencies. Some exceptions would carve out additional dollars for covering the costs of the presidential inauguration, while the current pay freeze for federal employees would remain intact. The CR also would provide increased dollars for fighting wildfires and addressing a backlog of disability claims at the Veterans Affairs Department, along with allowing the launch of new weather satellites to move forward.
Category: Federal Agency Developments
Economic Outlook for 2013
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) yesterday released its updated “Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2012 to 2022.” According to CBO:
“For fiscal year 2012 (which ends on September 30), the federal budget deficit will total $1.1 trillion, CBO estimates, marking the fourth year in a row with a deficit of more than $1 trillion. That projection is down slightly from the $1.2 trillion deficit that CBO projected in March. At 7.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), this year’s deficit will be three-quarters as large as the deficit in 2009 when measured relative to the size of the economy. Federal debt held by the public will reach 73 percent of GDP by the end of this fiscal year—the highest level since 1950 and about twice the share that it measured at the end of 2007, before the financial crisis and recent recession.”
In addition, CBO projects that the nation will enter into a deep recession in 2013 if Congress fails to address the sequester and the expiring Bush tax cuts. CBO also suggests that going over the “fiscal cliff” would disrupt economic progress, reduce real GDP by 0.5 percent, and push unemployment over 9.1 percent.
The outlook is darker than the forecast the agency released in January, when CBO predicted that the fiscal cliff would trigger a modest recession in the first half of 2013, followed by a quick recovery. The expiring “extenders” package for unemployment benefits and payroll tax holiday, coupled with a weaker economy has made the 2013 outlook more dire. Reactions and analyses of CBO’s report are available from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, and the Bipartisan Policy Center.
Sequestration Transparency Act Signed Into Law
On August 7th, President Obama signed into law HR 5872, the Sequestration Transparency Act (PL 112-155). As previously reported on this site, in July, Congress overwhelmingly cleared the bill which requires the Administration to report, within 30 days, the effects of the automatic budget sequester at the “program, project and activity level.” The Administration will have to clarify the reductions that will result from the looming across-the-board cuts of sequestration. This information will be made public shortly after Labor Day, and should help UW and others plan for the impacts of sequestration.
NSF Accepting RAPID Proposals
The NSF Directorates for Biological Sciences (BIO), Geosciences (GEO), Engineering (ENG), Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS), and Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE) and the Office of Cyberinfrastructure (OCI) are accepting proposals to conduct research on the potential threat to the North American west coast from debris fields associated with the March 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami. Proposals must conform to the guidelines for preparation of Rapid Response Research (RAPID) proposals as specified in the NSF Grant Proposal Guide (GPG) available at: http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=gpg.
OMB Issues Sequester Memo
In a memo to federal agencies dated July 31, 2012, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) indicated that military personnel would be spared in automatic budget cuts due early next year and that agencies should continue normal spending and operations even with the potential reductions just five months away. OMB Acting Director Jeff Zients said in the memorandum that OMB officials will meet with departments to discuss how the cuts under sequester work and what programs could be exempt. Up to now, administration officials have indicated that they believe Congress will find a way to avoid the sequester, and the White House still believes a budget agreement to replace the sequester is possible. In the meantime, Zients suggested agencies not adjust their rate of spending at the October 1st start of the fiscal year but “continue normal spending and operations since more than five months remain for Congress to act.”
Read the OMB memo.