CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS – APPROPRIATIONS
Nov. 3, 2011 – 9:23 p.m.
Conferees on ‘Minibus’ Trying to Finish Bill Before House Returns Nov. 14
By Kerry Young and Anne L. Kim, CQ Staff
Appropriators are still struggling to get the first of the fiscal 2012 spending bills across the finish line as the expiration of the current stopgap spending measure approaches and hopes dim for quick completion of a three-bill “minibus.”
House and Senate conferees on that package (
House Appropriations Chairman
The government is operating on funds provided by a continuing resolution (PL 112-36) that expires Nov. 18. The conference report on the minibus package is expected to include a new stopgap spending measure that would run through mid-December.
“That’s an ambitious schedule, but I am looking at a lot of ambitious people,” Rogers told his fellow appropriators at Thursday’s meeting, the first conference held on a spending bill since 2009.
The House panel’s top-ranking Democrat,
The key areas of disagreement involve deep cuts planned for domestic programs under an initial House GOP budget cap of $1.019 trillion in discretionary spending. But Republicans agreed in August to a ceiling of $1.043 trillion as part of the debt limit compromise (PL 112-25), and the Senate Appropriations Committee moved its bills under allocations based on that total.
Closer to Senate Numbers
As expected, conferees are working with target numbers closer to the Senate’s figures, with $19.6 billion potentially slated for the Agriculture bill, $52.7 billion for the Commerce-Justice-Science bill and $55.6 billion for the Transportation-HUD measure, according to a House aide. These figures could change during deliberations.
The House initially proposed $17.25 billion for the Agriculture bill, $50.2 billion for the Commerce-Justice-Science bill and $47.7 billion for Transportation-HUD.
The House’s allocation for the Transportation-HUD bill was increased to $55.2 billion after the August decision to raise the spending cap. With the extra money, House Republicans are expected to agree to cut less from programs such as the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program. That would help the conferees reach agreement and gain support for the conference report among Democrats.
With some conservative House Republicans still opposed to the higher spending cap, the chamber’s GOP leadership will likely need the minority’s help to clear the spending bills.
The Senate is expected to begin work next week on a second appropriations package (
Conferees on ‘Minibus’ Trying to Finish Bill Before House Returns Nov. 14
The second package is expected to lead the Senate into debates over issues including the IRS role in carrying out the 2010 health care overhaul (PL 111-148, PL 111-152) and a United Nations agency’s recognition of Palestine.
With all 12 fiscal 2012 spending bills yet to be cleared, Senate Majority Leader
A large number of the bills may still end in one final package in December, but Democratic and Republican appropriators have been confident about the prospects for the second minibus despite its potential for controversies.
The appropriators may be tempted to try to speed up their work by adding one or two more bills to the package now in conference.
Dicks said the Homeland Security (
Time constraints may lead Reid and House Speaker
Frances Symes contributed to this story.