FY2007 Budget Resolution Heads to House Floor

On March 29, the House Budget Committee approved, 22-17, the FY2007 budget resolution (as-yet-unnumbered). The Senate approved its version of the resolution (S. Con. Res. 83) on March 16 (see The Source, 3/17/06). As requested by the administration, both resolutions would provide $873 billion for discretionary spending in FY2007.

The resolution proposes to extend several tax provisions in the 2003 tax law (P.L. 108-27) that are set to expire in 2007 and 2008, but no specific instructions were provided for the authorizing committees. In total, the resolution would assume $226 billion in tax cuts over five years.

The resolution also directs the House Agriculture, Armed Services, Education and the Workforce, Financial Services, International Affairs, Judiciary, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Ways and Means Committees to find $6.75 billion in mandatory spending cuts.

In FY2007, the resolution would provide $33.8 billion for international affairs; $75 billion for education, training, employment and social services; and $53 billion for health care programs.

To address the ongoing cost of the war in Iraq, the resolution would include a $50 billion reserve for supplemental appropriations.

During consideration of the bill, the committee rejected the following amendments:

• an amendment by Rep. Dennis Moore (D-KS) that would have reinstated the pay-as-you-go rule requiring that any spending increases be offset with spending cuts, 15-21;
• an amendment by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) that would have provided an additional $7 billion for education, health, community services and job training by advancing appropriations from FY2008, 14-22;
• an amendment by Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA) that would have authorized the Department of Health and Human Services to use the purchasing power of Medicare beneficiaries to negotiate prices for prescription drugs, 14-22;
• an amendment by Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL) that would have provided an additional $1.7 billion for the Community Development Block Grant, child care programs, and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. The amendment would have been offset by eliminating corporate tax breaks, 14-18;
• an amendment by Rep. Tom Allen (D-ME) that would have extended the enrollment period for the Medicare prescription drug program and made additional modifications to the program, 17-21;
• an amendment by Rep. Chet Edwards (D-TX) that would have provided an additional $59 million in FY2008, $1.4 billion for FY2009, $3.1 billion for FY2010, and $4 billion for FY2011 for veterans’ health care. The amendment would have been offset by eliminating corporate tax breaks, 16-22;
• an amendment by Rep. DeLauro that would have provided an additional $145 million in FY2007 and $129 million in FY2008 to allow families affected by Hurricane Katrina to receive a tax refund from the child tax credit in 2006 and 2007. The amendment would have been offset by closing tax loopholes, 14-22; and
• an amendment by Rep. Allen that would have provided an additional $99.5 million in FY2007 for business loans and assistance programs at the Small Business Administration. The amendment would have been offset by eliminating funding for the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, 17-21.The House is expected to consider the FY2007 budget resolution next week.