Appropriations is Top Priority this Spring (2/22/2008)

Congress is set to begin work on fiscal year 2009 (FY09) appropriations as soon as it returns to Washington next week. Both the Appropriations and Budget committees are preparing to flesh out their proposals for the next fiscal year’s funding levels. A number of the Administration’s Cabinet Members have already testified before Congress regarding White House budget proposals, and House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-WI) is planning another hearing for next Tuesday.

Rep. Obey, also the chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education, is having Secretary Margaret Spellings testify before his subcommittee regarding the President’s budget requests for education. One issue that is sure to get the subcommittee’s attention is the President’s request to return Reading First funding back to the FY2007 levels. Rep. Obey cut the program considerably for fiscal year 2008, citing mismanagement and conflicts of interest with those responsible for administering the program. Spellings will also have to justify the 47 education programs that are targeted for elimination, a move that has not been popular with either party in Congress.

Meanwhile, the House and Senate Budget committees are set to begin their work on drafting the FY09 budget resolution (BR), which will set the spending caps under which appropriators are directed to operate when deciding funding for the various programs. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) and House Budget Chairman John Spratt (D-SC) have already stated that this year’s resolution will look much like last year’s BR, ignoring the President’s requested levels. Despite this apparent defiance, Congress is not in any better position than it was last year, when the President forced the majority to bring its total level of spending closer to his lower, requested levels.

The President continues to have enough support in the House to sustain a veto, giving him an edge over the Democratic majority, especially when he does not have to worry about reelection, unlike members of Congress. Leaders in Congress may not want to risk the backlash from failing to pass appropriations bill before the elections in November. In the past, the blame for government shutdowns has fallen squarely on Congress’s shoulders.

Author: SAS