Update from Washington, D.C. 04/15/2011
On Thursday, April 14, Congress approved a historic
appropriations package that will shave almost $40 billion in
fiscal year 2011 budget authority through a combination of cuts
to both mandatory and discretionary spending programs. According
to some estimates, the bill could produce long-term savings of
$315 billion over the next decade, though the Congressional
Budget Office (CBO) released a report mid week indicating that
the legislation (HR 1473) will only cut current-year spending
(outlays) by $352 million.
With the CBO analysis showing that the bill will produce far less
savings in fiscal year 2011 than initially advertised, there was
considerable question whether conservative House Republicans
would ultimately embrace the budget agreement. Even prior to the
release of the CBO report, a number of GOP members of Congress
had expressed dissatisfaction with the budget deal for falling
short of the roughly $61 billion in cuts that were included in an
earlier fiscal year 2011 spending bill (HR 1). That legislation,
which was approved in February on a near party-line vote in the
House, was subsequently rejected by the Senate.
In the end, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) needed the help of
Democrats to marshal the final budget deal through the House as
59 Republicans broke rank with their party’s leadership. The
tally of yesterday’s vote was 260 to 167, with eighty-one
Democrats joining 179 of their GOP colleagues in voting to
approve the measure.
Shortly after the House cleared the spending legislation, the
Senate approved the package by a vote of 81-19. President Obama
is expected to sign the measure today before the current stopgap
spending bill expires at midnight.
It should be noted that the final budget does not include a
series of controversial policy riders such as the elimination of
funding for Planned Parenthood and curbing certain environmental
regulations. Given that these provisions were unable to gain any
traction in the Democratic-controlled Senate, House Republican
leaders agreed to remove them in exchange for the nearly $40
billion cuts in federal spending, as well as assurances of
separate votes on the policy proposals in the Senate.
As noted above, the final budget deal will trim nearly $40
billion in budget authority this fiscal year through cuts in
mandatory and discretionary programs; the bill also includes a
0.2 percent across-the-board reduction to non-defense accounts.
The budgetary savings come from a combination of reductions
included in HR 1473 and the three previous continuing resolutions
(CR). Because the final spending bill is a long-term CR, there
are no explanatory statements or accompanying funding tables that
provide a funding framework for individual programs. Therefore,
in certain instances, federal agencies will have discretion over
allocation amounts. In other cases, however, the legislation
specifies programmatic funding levels and/or provides for
specific spending cuts.
Below are some of the funding details of the final fiscal year
budget bill.
The CR includes $53.4 billion for programs under the purview of
the departments of Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS), which is $7
billion below President Obama’s request for the current year and
$755 million above the funding level included in HR 1. The bill
provides the following funding levels for Justice-related
initiatives:
- $1.12 billion for state and local law enforcement assistance, which includes such programs as the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) and Byrne grants – a $415 million reduction. Overall, state and local law enforcement assistance programs would be cut by 27 percent compared to fiscal 2010 levels (the cuts translate into a 17 percent programmatic reduction excluding the bill’s elimination of over $185 million in discretionary grant funding).
- $276 million for Juvenile Justice Programs, which is a 35 percent cut from fiscal 2010 funding levels.
- $496 million for COPS programs, which is a 37 percent cut from fiscal 2010 funding levels.
The budget agreement provides $165.6 billion for programs under the Labor-Health and Human Services (HHS) title of the bill, which is $17 billion above HR 1, but $5.7 billion less than fiscal 2010 funding levels. Entitlement programs such as Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program were not cut in the final bill. Most discretionary health programs, including the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program and the Public Health Prevention Fund, were frozen at fiscal 2010 levels. Among other items, the measure includes the following:
- $2.8 billion for job training state grants for Adult, Youth and Dislocated Worker assistance. HR 1 would have eliminated all funding for these programs.
- $6.3 billion in discretionary spending for the Health Resources and Services Administration, which includes funding for the Community Health Care Centers program – $1.2 billion below the enacted fiscal 2010 amount and $900 million above HR 1.
- $4.7 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, a $390 million cut from fiscal 2010.
- $680 million for the Community Services Block Grant, a $20 million cut from fiscal 2010.
- $2.2 billion for Child Care and Development Block Grant funding, $100 million more than fiscal 2010 and $139 million more than provided under HR 1.
With regard to the departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the agreement provides $68 billion in transportation funding, of which $13.8 billion is discretionary spending, and $41.2 billion for HUD programs. The High Speed Rail program received no funding for the remainder of fiscal year 2011, which translates into a $2.9 billion cut. The following funding levels are included in the Transportation-HUD title of the bill:
- $41.1 billion for the Federal Highway Administration, which is the same amount allocated in fiscal 2010 and in HR 1. However, the bill eliminates $293 million in highway earmark funding and $650 million in road/bridge investments that were awarded in fiscal 2010.
- $3.3 billion for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, which is a 16 percent decrease in funding; the cut is far less than the 62 percent reduction included in HR 1.
- $1.6 billion for the HOME Investment Partnerships program, which is $215 million less than fiscal 2010 funding.
Other notable funding allocations include:
- $2.46 billion for wildland fire management programs, including $997.5 million for fire suppression programs and $291 million for the FLAME wildfire suppression reserve fund. Overall, wildland fire management and suppression programs are reduced by 18 percent.
- $1.525 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and $965 million for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, for a total of nearly $2.5 billion for water and sewer infrastructure activities. The funding translates into a combined $997 million cut, or a roughly 29 percent reduction in program funding.
- $1.8 billion for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy programs, which is $368 million above the amount included in HR 1, and $408 million below fiscal 2010; the budget rescinds $292 million in earmarks.
- $2.2 billion for FEMA state and local first responder grants, which is a roughly 26 percent overall cut to first responder programs.
- $182 million for FEMA’s Flood Map Modernization Fund – a 17 percent cut from fiscal year 2010 funding.
- $50 million for FEMA’s Predisaster Mitigation Fund – a 50 percent reduction in spending.
The Fiscal 2012 Budget
With Congress finalizing this year’s budget, lawmakers will now
begin the more difficult task of cobbling together a funding plan
for fiscal 2012, which begins October 1. To that end, House
Republicans released earlier this month a controversial budget
blueprint that aims to restructure Medicare for those under age
55, provide block grants for Medicaid, and reduce spending for
other domestic programs. Drafted by the chairman of the House
Budget Committee, Paul Ryan (R-WI), the proposal is expected to
pass the House late April 15, but has received a chilly reception
by Senate Democrats and the Obama administration.
For his part, President Obama unveiled April 13 a plan to tackle
the nation’s ballooning budget deficit. The proposal, which was
somewhat scant on details, is a response to Chairman Ryan’s
ambitious spending blueprint. The president proposed to reduce
the nation’s budget deficit by $4 trillion over the next 12
years. Additionally, he proposed to boost taxes for wealthier
Americans, curb the growth of entitlement spending, and close tax
loopholes.
Responding to Chairman Ryan’s plan to change Medicare to a
voucher program, President Obama will offer far-reaching reforms
that he maintains will save billions of dollars over the next 12
years and more than $1 trillion in the following decade. The
president also flatly rejected the GOP proposal to block grant
the Medicaid program.
Among the president’s proposals that are likely to create
controversy is a “debt failsafe” trigger that would force
Congress to take strong action if the budget deficit has not been
reduced by 2014. Specifically, the proposal would impose
across-the-board cuts on most government programs.
If and when Congress approves a budget resolution, which is not
signed by the president, the House and Senate Appropriations
committees will provide the various subcommittees with their
allocations for fiscal 2012. Although the budget resolution is
not legally binding on Congress, it serves as a spending guide
for House and Senate appropriators.
Tribal Issues
On April 8, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) introduced
legislation designed to limit the establishment of
off-reservation Indian casinos. The Tribal Gaming Eligibility Act
(S 771), which is cosponsored by Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ), seeks to
end the practice known as “reservation shopping” whereby tribes
seek to build casinos on lands that are hundreds or even
thousands of miles away from their homelands.
Under S 771, tribes could only open casinos on trust land
acquired after the passage of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of
1988 (IGRA) if the tribe could demonstrate a substantial modern
connection to the land and a substantial aboriginal or ancestral
connection to the land or by going through IGRA’s “two-part
determination” test. Under the two-part determination, the
secretary of Interior can take land into trust for a tribe for
purposes of gaming if it can be demonstrated that the casino
would be in the best interest of the tribe and is not detrimental
to the surrounding community; the determination requires the
concurrence of the governor.
It should be noted that introduction of Senator Feinstein’s bill
comes on the heels of the Senate Indian Affairs (IA) Committee’s
April 7 approval of legislation that would restore the Secretary
of Interior’s authority to take land into trust for all Indian
tribes. The measure (S 676), which is sponsored by IA Committee
Chairman Daniel Akaka (D-HI), would overturn the U.S. Supreme
Court’s Carcieri v. Salazar decision. In Carcieri, the Court held
that the Secretary of Interior lacks authority to take land into
trust for Indian tribes that were not under federal jurisdiction
at the time of the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA)
of 1934.
During the committee’s consideration of the Akaka bill, which is
colloquially known as Carcieri “fix legislation, the panel
adopted an amendment by Vice Chairman John Barrasso (R-WY) that
would direct that secretary of Interior to conduct a study on the
effects of the Carcieri v. Salazar decision on Indian tribes. The
amendment, which specifies that the study include a list of
affected tribes and lands, would need to be published not later
than one year after the bill’s enactment.
The IA Committee action is only the opening salvo in what will
become a multifaceted and deliberative process surrounding
efforts to move a Carcieri “fix.” Prior to any Senate floor
consideration, there will be considerable discussion among a
number of key senators regarding the makeup of S 676. For her
part, Senator Feinstein will insist that her off-reservation
gaming legislation be included as part of any Carcieri bill