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Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Senate Vote on Budget Resolution Imminent
Sometime around noon today, the U.S. Senate is expected to vote on the FY09 budget resolution that has been in the works for nearly four months. If approved, it would be the first time a budget will have passed in an election year since 2000. The budget, which includes a five-year horizon, would achieve a surplus of $22 billion in FY12 and $10 billion in FY13.
But almost every GOP member of the Senate -- save Maine's Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe -- is expected to oppose the resolution because they have some notion that it contains a really big tax increase necessary to achieve surplus. Budget policy experts and legislative counsel have, to this point, been unable to pinpoint where this provision is embedded in the resolution text.
But it isn't all cloak-and-dagger hide-and-seek. So, one GOP Senator will extend a noteworthy courtesy to Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), who is recovering from surgery and will not be able to vote. Per Government Executive:
"Another senator will pair with him," said [Senate Budget Committee chair Kent] Conrad, who declined to say who that would be. "Sen. Kennedy isn't here to vote, so under the Senate pairing rule, another senator would withhold his vote. He would be on the opposite side [of the legislation.] It is really a very respectful thing to do so that Sen. Kennedy's absence will not affect the outcome."
OMB Watch will be watching the vote. We've endorsed the resolution and look forward to its swift passage in the Senate today and the House tomorrow.
Posted by Dana Chasin
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