Senators will spend all of this week debating and voting upon amendments to the budget resolution (S.Con.Res. 13). It’s always a lengthy process because of the unusual rules that govern the resolution.
Members will start off with up to 50 hours of general debate which is granted by budget consideration rules. The resolution also provides for a fairly open amendment-offering process which means Senate Republicans will be able to offer alternative ideas, funding cuts, and even unrelated issues of controversy to force some tough votes on their Democratic counterparts.
With your excitement already building for this week’s budget festivities, here are some interesting items to ponder after a perusal of various articles on the subject today.
The Washington Post notes that “House and Senate budget leaders have made significant changes to Obama’s budget request, slicing as much as $15 billion from non-defense programs for next year, significantly scaling back the president’s tax-cutting agenda, and dropping all details related to controversial proposals to expand health coverage and fight global warming.”
They also provide a few other key points to remember during this week’s debate:
- There will likely be a conference committee to work out differences between the House & Senate bills, namely the use of budget reconciliation to push forward controversial pieces of legislation such as health care reform and climate change proposals with only 51 votes needed for passage. The House is pushing for the tactic but some Senate Democrats, namely Max Baucus (D-MT) and Kent Conrad (D-ND) oppose it. One thing is for sure: it’s definitely still on the table for at least one key issue.
- Very important to remember that the budget resolution passed by Congress “is a nonbinding document that does not require the president’s signature and does not have the force of law.” It merely “sets guidelines for lawmakers as they craft spending bills and legislation to address broader policies.”
- Budget leaders in both bodies “have deleted all details of Obama’s top domestic priorities.” They now simply contain “vague language establishing ‘reserve funds’ that permit the committees of jurisdiction to craft legislation to implement those initiatives so long as they do not increase the deficit.”
- Despite some pushback from moderate Democrats about deficit spending and the potential use of budget reconciliation, both the House and Senate are “expected to approve the resolutions this week.” After that, barring some unforeseen maneuvering by centrist members, the resolution “will receive final approval shortly after lawmakers return from their Easter break.”
Meanwhile, The Hill reports that Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad “signaled Sunday he’s open to imposing new energy taxes to pay for healthcare reform.”
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee said energy taxes is an “option” for funding healthcare reform. He also suggested the money could be found from other sources in an interview on CNN.
Conrad stressed that he and House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt (D-S.C.) have put forth budgets that address the Democrats’ top agenda items of healthcare, energy independence, education and deficit reduction but also leave room for other lawmakers to fill in the details later.
“We’ve given maximum opportunity for the committees of jurisdiction, maximum flexibility to write major healthcare reform and to pay for it,” Conrad said.
A separate article by The Hill pegs the overall cost of the Senate version at around $3.55 trillion.
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