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Thursday, January 18, 2007
Dems Struggling to Clean Up Approps Mess
The newly-empowered Democrats are now reaping a grim reward for winning the November election. They have to clean up the Republican's appropriations mess, and reports show that so far, they're having a rough time doing it.
Regular readers might recall that the Republican Congress did not pass nine of the eleven required appropriations bills that provide funding for discretionary programs. Instead, the last Congress passed a draconian "continuing resolution" (CR) that the Democrats have little choice but to extend for the entire year. Congress Daily ($) reports on the Democrats' plans for the extension:
Drafting a bill to cover nine unfinished spending bills for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 is proving no easy task, as demands for additional spending pile up while Democrats try to live within the tight budget constraints still in place on the new Congress. "There is absolutely no way to meet all the needs of the country. But we're going to do our absolute best to meet the priority needs," said a spokesman for Senate Appropriations Chairman Byrd.
Making matters more urgent, funding shortfalls in the CR are cutting operations at some agencies. For instance, the Small Business Administration's disaster relief program, which assists Katrina victims, is about to run out of money. And the CR is underfunding the Justice Department, forcing the FBI, DEA, and ATF to furlough staffing and cut back on recruitment efforts.
These agencies could just be the tip of the iceberg. The CR covers nearly half of all discretionary programs. It should provide roughly $500 billion in funding- about a fifth of the entire federal budget. More news about underfunded agencies is pretty likely.
The upshot is that this bare-bones budget does not meet public needs. The new Congress has a chance to define itself by crafting a FY '08 budget that properly invests in our priorities. And to avoid an embarrassing mess like this, they need to put in enough work to pass it on time.
Posted by Matt Lewis
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