Fiscal Year 2007 Appropriations
It was only a few short months
ago that Congress concluded its work on the
Fiscal Year 2006 Appropriations Process. By
February 6, the work on Fiscal Year 2007 had
begun in earnest with the submission of
President Bush’s Budget (and a proposed freeze
is all three Senior Corps line item accounts.
The prospect of election year spending increases
of any significant amount seem dim, particularly
as majority party lawmakers are at loggerheads
between fiscal conservatives who are demanding
cutbacks and eliminations in more domestic
programs and moderates, particularly those in
hotly contested elections pushing for more
wiggle room.
The fiscal year 2006 Labor,
Health and Human Services, Education and Related
Agencies Appropriations Bill (H.R. 3010) was
signed into law on Friday, December 30, 2005,
just hours before another short term Continuing
Resolution was set to expire.
Earlier the House of
Representatives had passed the Conference Report
on the measure by a vote of 212-206, with many
members balking at significantly limited funding
for many domestic programs, including the
elimination of dozens of education and human
resource line items, and the absence of any
Member Projects (i.e., “earmarks”) for the first
time in recent history. The Senate, unable to
pass the measure as a freestanding bill,
brokered a deal to get funding passed for the
Department of Defense, Katrina Hurricane Relief
for the Gulf States, and an extension of the
Patriot Act, along with Spending Reduction
Reconciliation legislation.
While the Labor/HHS measure
included funding increases for the Senior Corps
programs consistent with President Bush’s
February 2005 Budget proposals, the final
Defense Appropriations measure, at the
insistence of fiscal conservatives, carried with
it a one percent (1%) across-the-board cut in
all discretionary appropriations (defense and
non-defense). Final enactment of the Defense
Appropriations measure applied that cut to all
programs including the Senior Corps and every
education, health, and human service program in
all 12 appropriations measures already
enacted.
Leadership Changes
The vacancy created in the post
of Majority Leader as a result of Texas
Republican Ton DeLay’s stepping down from the
post was filled in February by Ohio Republican
John Boehner, in a surprise vote where he
defeated Acting Majority Leader (and current
Majority Whip) Roy Blunt (R-MO). In assuming
the Leadership post, Congressman Boehner had to
give up his Chairmanship of the House Committee
on Education and the Workforce. That position
was filled several weeks ago by California
Republican Howard “Buck” McKeon. Chairman
McKeon’s goal: streamlining government,
eliminating unnecessary and duplicative
programs, and making better sense of how tax
dollars are spent. Mr. McKeon’s position as
Chairman of the Subcommittee on 21st
Century Competitiveness (overseeing
postsecondary education, student aid and welfare
reform) was filled by Florida Republican Ric
Keller.
