The House is getting ready to adjourn for the month of the August and guess how many regular appropriations bills they have passed (not including the supplemental)? TWO! Yes, they have only managed to take up Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development.
Here's a snapshot of what both bills would do (as illustrated in our released Vote Alerts):
H.R. 5822, the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, "contains a total of $75.9 billion in non-emergency discretionary spending, which is 3 percent below the FY 2010 level. From NTU's standpoint, this $2 billion decrease is obviously preferable to the typical, massive spending hikes in most appropriations bills, but it remains insignificant. Furthermore, the baseline for appropriations bills has been grossly overinflated in recent years, producing a false perception of major cost savings." We urged Representatives to vote for the Flake Amendment to prohibit funding for military construction earmarks and the Gingrey Amendment to rein in eminent domain; the Flake Amendment was withdrawn, but Representative Gingrey's amendment passed. The underlying bill also passed by a vote of 411-6.
H.R. 5850, the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Act, “contains a total of $67.4 billion in discretionary spending, which is 0.7 percent below last year’s level. While any display of prudent budgeting in a time of trillion-dollar deficits is welcome, this slight cut in appropriations will hardly restore the kind of genuine fiscal responsibility taxpayers seek. H.R. 5850 essentially locks in FY 2010 funding levels, which in themselves are unsustainable when our nation is faced with a $13 trillion debt.” Furthermore, the allotment of $1.76 billion for Amtrak is disturbing since the program continues to exhibit questionable governance and little competitive motivation. We endorsed Representative Jim Jordan’s amendment to reduce spending by $18,579,000,000 in order to reflect FY 2008 levels, but that vote failed 159-265. H.R. 5850 passed 251-167 last evening.
Representatives now head back home to their districts for a month of campaigning before they return to address the nation's fiscal crisis in mid-September. The Senate is in for one more week.