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.
News and updates
Today in Congress
The House is in recess this week. The Senate is in at 10:00am and will recess from 12:30pm to 2:15pm for weekly party caucus lunches. The full Senate is expected to consider the nomination of Senator John Kerry to be Secretary of State, following the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s vote on the nomination at 10:00am this morning.
At 2:35pm ET, President Obama will deliver remarks on “the need to fix the broken immigration system so that it is fairer for and helps grow the middle class by ensuring everyone plays by the same rules” at Del Sol High School in Las Vegas, NV.
Sequestration Now Seems Likely
With just a month to go before sequestration is schedule to take effect, many on Capitol Hill now seem to accept that sequestration is likely to happen on March 1st. This may be in part because Congress is also facing the expiration of the current continuing resolution (CR) just a few weeks after (March 27th), which they believe will provide an opportunity to address federal spending and maybe mitigating some of the impacts of sequestration. And there are others who believe the sequester will not be as bad as first thought since the original cuts that were to take effect on January 2nd were modified by the fiscal-cliff deal. The cuts overall would be $24 billion less than in the original sequester, and the percentage by which domestic spending would be cut falls markedly. The original sequestration required under the August 2011 Budget Control Act (PL 112-25) would have cut spending by $109 billion beginning January 2nd. Now, as modified by the fiscal cliff law, the sequestration would cut spending by $85 billion starting March 1st. This translates to a 5.1% cut to non-defense discretionary spending for FY2013 as opposed to the 8.2% cut mandated by the original sequestration.
That 3-week window between the sequestration deadline and expiration of the CR gives Congress and the White House time to reach agreement to fund the government for the rest of FY2013 as well as deal with the automatic cuts, perhaps by replacing them in part or in full with other deficit reduction efforts.
This Week in Congress
A roundup of bills introduced this week that may be of interest to the higher education community:
S.1: A bill to reform America’s broken immigration system. The priority number of this bill indicates that it will likely be used for some sort of immigration reform in this congress – it will also change several times before we see the final legislation.
Sponsor: Harry Reid (D-NV) Introduced: 1/22/13 Last Major Action: Referred to Senate Committee on Judiciary. Cosponsors: 15
S. 41: A bill to provide a permanent deduction for state and local general sales taxes.
Sponsor: Maria Cantwell (D-WA) Introduced: 1/22/13 Last Major Action: Referred to Senate Committee on Finance. Cosponsors: 3
H.R. 357: A bill to amend Title 38 of the United States Code, to require courses of education provided by public institutions of higher education that are approved for purposes of the educational assistance programs administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to charge veterans tuition and fees at the in-state rate.
Sponsor: Jeff Miller (R-FL) Introduced: 1/23/13 Last Major Action: Referred to House Committee on Veterans Affairs. Cosponsors: 1
S. 113: A bill to amend the Truth in Lending Act and the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require certain creditors to obtain certifications from Institutions of Higher Education.
Sponsor: Richard Durbin (D-Ill) Introduced: 1/23/13 Last Major Action: Referred to Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. Cosponsors: 2
The full text of these bills can be found by searching for their respective bill number at thomas.loc.gov
House Temporary Debt Deal May Force Larger Deal on Spending Cuts
Update: The House this afternoon passed their bill that would suspend the debt ceiling until the middle of May. The vote was 285-144. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said Wednesday that the Senate will pass the House’s bill; the White House has indicated it will not block the measure.
The House will consider legislation today would provide for a short-term suspension of the nation’s borrowing limit, which likely removes the threat of a government default for at least four months. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has promised his members that he will work with House Budget Chair Paul Ryan (R-WI) to advance a budget that will balance the federal budget in 10 years and said the automatic spending cuts due to hit March 2nd (sequestration) will remain in place unless other reductions are made. Democrats appear to be mildly supporting the House GOP’s efforts. The White House issued a Statement of Administration Policy on Tuesday saying President Obama “would not oppose a short-term solution to the debt limit.” The House is expected to pass the bill today.
The Senate has acknowledged that the four-month suspension could buy Congress time to work out a broader bipartisan budget deal. But, as always, the devil will be in the details. It does seem all but certain that large budget cuts are coming for FY2013 – even though this fiscal year is nearly half over.
The big questions remain: will cuts come through sequestration or a more targeted approach directed by Congress, will cuts be evenly applied to defense and non-defense discretionary programs, and will cuts to discretionary spending be tempered by savings found through entitlement reform?