May 23, 2007

Democrats Abandon Iraq Withdrawal Deadline
House to Vote Thursday on Revised Supp

House Appropriators Move Quickly on '08 Bills

BUDGET PROCESS STEP-BY-STEP™

May 18: House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee approved a $36.3 billion FY 2008 appropriations bill.

May 22: House Appropriations Mil Con/VA Subcommittee approved a $109.2 billion FY 2008 appropriations bill.

May 23: House Appropriations Energy and Water Development Subcommittee approved a $31.6 billion FY 2008 appropriations bill.

House Appropriations Interior and Environment Subcommittee approved a $27.6 billion FY 2008 appropriations bill.

May 24: House action on the revised FY '07 War Supplemental. Senate could begin consideration of the War Supplemental.

May 25: Senate to complete action on the revised FY '07 War Supplemental.

WAR SUPPLEMENTAL
Democrats Abandon Withdrawal Deadline; Votes begin Thursday

The House will vote Thursday, and the Senate Thursday or Friday, on a revised FY 2007 war supplemental that abandons earlier provisions on a withdrawal timeline. The bill will instead include benchmarks with a requirement that the President report in July and September on Iraqi progress in meeting the benchmarks. If benchmarks are not being met, reconstruction aid could, at the President's option, be withheld.

The revised bill also reportedly drops earlier provisions sponsored by House Defense Appropriations Chairman John Murtha (D-PA) requiring the President to meet troop readiness standards or explain why the standards are being waived.

Most of the non-war spending, as well as the minimum wage/small business tax relief package, will reportedly remain in the bill.

The House will have two votes on Thursday: the first on war funding; and the second on non-war items in the earlier vetoed bill, including agriculture disaster relief, children's health insurance, hurricane recovery, minimum wage/tax relief and other items.

WBR will publish a side-by-side comparison of the revised bill, the President's request and the earlier vetoed bill as soon as details are available.

FY 2008 APPROPRIATIONS ACTION

The FY 2008 Congressional Budget Resolution adopted last week calls for $454 billion in non-defense discretionary funding, $22 billion more than the President's request. (Subscribers-see our Budget Resolution Side-by-Side on the WBR website).

As reported by WBR, this prompted a statement by OMB Director Portman, that "in order to ensure fiscal discipline I will recommend the President veto appropriations bills that exceed our request for discretionary spending."
WBR will keep close tabs throughout the appropriations season on how the developing appropriations bills compare to the President's requests.

Portman Statement

Homeland Security Appropriations: On May 18 the House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee approved a $36.3 billion spending bill, $2 billion higher than the President's request, and $2.5 billion higher than FY'07 appropriations.

Highlights:

• Aviation explosive detection: $849 million, $324 million more than 2007.
• Air cargo security: $73 million, $18 million more than 2007.
• The bill calls for a doubling of TSA screening of cargo loaded onto passenger aircraft.
• Transit security: $400 million, $225 million more than 2007.
• Port security: $400 million, $190 million more than 2007.
• Coast Guard SAFE Ports (Security and Accountability for Every Port) program: $40 million.
• Emergency management performance: $300 million, $100 million more than 2007.
• Metropolitan medical response system: $50 million, $17 million more than 2007.
• State homeland security and law enforcement terrorism prevention: $950 million, $50 million more than 2007.
• Urban area security grants: $800 million, $30 million more than 2007.
• REAL ID (national standards for driver's licenses, etc.) and interoperable communication grants: $100 million.
• Fire grants: $800 million, $138 million more than 2007.
• FEMA management: $685 million, $150 million more than 2007.
• Secure Border Initiative: $1 billion.

Chairman Price's Opening Statement

Military Construction-VA Appropriations: On Tuesday, the House Appropriations Military Construction and VA Subcommittee approved an FY 2008 appropriations bill, totaling $109.2 billion, a $4 billion increase over President Bush's request and $18 billion over FY 2007. Increased spending over Bush's request is almost entirely directed towards the VA. Key '08 funding issues for the subcommittee include veterans' medical care and Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) funding.

Highlights of the subcommittee bill:

• VA: $6.7 billion increase over 2007.
• VA medical accounts exceed Independent Budget produced by veterans' organizations.
• Adds 1,000 new claims processors.
• Military Construction, Family Housing and BRAC: $21.4 billion, $8.2 billion increase over 2007.

Chet Edwards (D-TX) Press Release
The Independent Budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs

Energy and Water Development Appropriations: The House Appropriations Energy and Water Development Subcommittee approved a $31.6 billion FY 2008 appropriations bill today. This exceeds the President's request by $1.1 billion and FY '07 levels by $1.3 billion.

According to CRS, key budgetary issues for '08 include:

• The distribution of Army Corps of Engineers appropriations across the agency's authorized construction and maintenance activities (Title I).
• Support of major ecosystem restoration initiatives, such as Florida Everglades (Title I) and California "Bay-Delta" (CALFED) (Title II).
• Funding for the proposed national nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, and proposals to store nuclear spent fuel temporarily (Title III: Nuclear Waste Disposal).
• The Administration's proposed Global Nuclear Energy Partnership to supply plutonium-based fuel to other nations (Title III: Nuclear Energy).

The subcommittee bill:

• Seeks to address gas prices, dependence on foreign oil, and the energy crisis by increasing science-related spending by $719 million, and efficiency and alternative energy R&D by $767 million.
• Addresses counter nuclear proliferation with an $878 million increase in non-proliferation activities.
• Increases Army Corps of Engineers funding by $713 million.

Visclosky Statement

Interior, Environment Appropriations: Click the link below for a summary of the Chairman's Mark approved this afternoon. The mark calls for $27.6 billion in funding, which is $1.9 billion higher than the President's request.

Summary of Chairman's Mark

FY 2008 Appropriations Summary and Comparison with the President's Request

As the 2008 Appropriations process unfolds each WBR report will include the following chart highlighting total numbers and comparing them to the President's Request (important in light of the veto threat discussed above).