NTU urges all Representatives to vote “NO” on H.R. 4502, the seven-bill minibus for fiscal year (FY) 2022 appropriations. This legislation would increase spending on seven of the 12 regular appropriations bills by $108.42 billion, or 16.39 percent, above FY 2021 levels. Given lawmakers approved $450.88 billion in supplemental appropriations for the agencies covered under these seven bills in the CARES Act and the December COVID relief bill alone, increases to the topline funding for any of the seven appropriations measures are completely unnecessary. Lawmakers should instead work to reduce discretionary spending, or at least reduce the growth in discretionary spending, in this legislation and in additional appropriations legislation in the months ahead.
As House Appropriations Democrats have noted, the seven bills in this minibus package include significant spending increases relative to FY 2021 levels. The largest increases are devoted to the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education bill ($55.2 billion spending increase) and the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs bill ($28.1 billion spending increase), but all seven bills would receive an increase in discretionary appropriations. In total, House Democrats propose spending $108.42 billion more on these seven bills than lawmakers approved for FY 2021, or a 16.39-percent increase. At a time when lawmakers should be seeking discretionary spending cuts, on both the non-defense and defense sides of discretionary appropriations, the proposed increases in these bills are an affront to taxpayers -- already saddled with tens of trillions of dollars in debt.
Lawmakers should also consider these proposed spending increases in the context of supplemental spending approved for the relevant agencies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Across the March 2020 CARES Act and the December 2020 COVID relief bill, lawmakers approved $450.88 billion in supplemental appropriations under the seven bills being considered by lawmakers in this minibus package. That $450 billion is equal to 68.14 percent of all FY 2021 regular appropriations under these seven bills. Put another way, lawmakers approved over $1.1 trillion in regular and supplemental appropriations under these seven bills in FY 2021. Notwithstanding the COVID-19 public health and economic emergency that Americans are hopefully emerging from in the coming months, it is difficult for lawmakers to justify these proposed increases given the extraordinary amount of extra cash devoted to these agencies in the past year.
We encourage lawmakers to support amendments that would cut the proposed spending in each appropriations bill, and we further encourage Congress to work in earnest on debt and deficit reduction throughout the year.
Roll call votes on H.R. 4502 will be significantly weighted in NTU’s annual Rating of Congress and a “NO” vote will be considered the pro-taxpayer position. A forthcoming alert will include key votes for amendments to H.R. 4502.
If you have any questions, please contact NTU Director of Federal Policy Andrew Lautz at alautz@ntu.org.