LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITY

House Will Take Up FY 2015 Budget Resolution

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) is expected to release his FY 2015 Budget Resolution this week, with a tentative committee markup planned for Wednesday.

Chairman Ryan is expected to outline an even more conservative fiscal approach than he did for FY 2014, including an additional $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction necessary to balance the budget over the next 10 years. He will likely again propose the partial privatization of Medicare; a conversion of Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) into block grants; a repeal of the healthcare law; and deep discretionary spending cuts beyond FY 2015. We anticipate Chairman Ryan will adhere to the $1.014 trillion discretionary spending cap established in the Bipartisan Budget Act (P.L. 113-67), and, despite increasing pressure to increase defense spending, will maintain the separate caps set for defense ($521 billion) and non-defense ($492 billion) programs. While the topline spending cap will make it difficult to earn the support of many of the 62 Republicans who voted against the budget agreement, the Chairman is hopeful the conservative fiscal approach going forward will sway some of those votes in order to secure the 217 required for passage.

With the discretionary cap for FY 2015 established in the budget agreement, the House budget resolution will primarily serve as a statement of the Republican framework for the upcoming elections. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) is planning for a floor vote on the resolution next week.

Anticipated Appropriations Markups and Floor Time

The House Military Construction-Veterans Affairs and Legislative Branch Appropriations Subcommittees are expected to mark up their spending bills this week. Full committee consideration will follow shortly thereafter during a meeting in which Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) is also expected to announce the 302(b) allocations, or topline numbers, for each of the appropriations bills.

Following Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) statement that he plans to set aside two weeks of floor time in June and two weeks in July for appropriations bills, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) announced she is planning an aggressive hearing schedule. She intends to conduct a full committee markup of the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs bill on May 22, in order to bring it to the floor after the Memorial Day recess.

While the bills first up for consideration are typically the least controversial spending bills, we expect the FY 2015 appropriations markups to highlight party differences that had been tempered by the congeniality of the December budget agreement and FY 2014 omnibus. Denied the opportunity in the omnibus, Members will push for policy priorities during the FY 2015 process, a strategy already evidenced by the pointed and sometimes contentious questioning – by Democrats and Republicans – of Administration officials during the budget hearings.

The Appropriations Committees will continue FY 2015 Budget hearings this week.

This Week’s Hearings

Senate Appropriations Committee FY 2015 Budget Hearings

  • Wednesday, April 2: The Defense Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Budget Request for the Air Force.
  • Wednesday, April 2: The Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Budget Request for the National Institutes of Health.
  • Wednesday, April 2: The Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Budget Request for the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
  • Wednesday, April 2: The Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Budget Request for the Department of Treasury’s Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.
  • Wednesday, April 2: The Energy and Water Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Budget Request for the Army Corps of Engineers and Department of Interior.
  • Wednesday, April 2: The Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Budget Request for the Department of Defense and the Army.
  • Thursday, April 3: The Agriculture Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Budget Request for the Food and Drug Administration.

House Appropriations Committee FY 2015 Budget Hearings

  • Tuesday, April 1: The Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Budget Request for the Securities and Exchange Commission.
  • Wednesday, April 2: The Interior Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Budget Request for the United States Forest Service.
  • Wednesday, April 2: The Agriculture Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Budget Request for U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Marketing and Regulatory Programs.
  • Wednesday, April 2: The Commerce, Justice, Science Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Budget Request for the Drug Enforcement Administration and State of Research on Drug Abuse in America.
  • Wednesday, April 2: The Energy and Water Development Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Budget Request for the Department of Energy.
  • Wednesday, April 2: The Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Budget Request for the Department of the Treasury.
  • Wednesday, April 2: The Homeland Security Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Budget Request for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
  • Wednesday April 2: The Labor, HHS and Education Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Budget Request for the Department of Labor.
  • Wednesday, April 2: The State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Budget Request for the United Nations and International Organizations.
  • Wednesday, April 2: The Defense Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Budget Request for the Defense Health Program.
  • Thursday, April 3: The Interior and Environment Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Budget Request for the National Park Service.
  • Thursday, April 3: The Agriculture Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Budget Request for USDA Food Safety.
  • Thursday, April 3: The Defense Subcommittee will hold a CLOSED hearing on the Budget Request for the Missile Defense Agency.
  • Thursday, April 3: The Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Budget Request for the Small Business Administration.
  • Thursday, April 3: Energy and Water Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Budget Request for the Department of Energy (National Nuclear Security Administration).
  • Thursday, April 3: The Defense Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Budget Request for the National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve.
  • Thursday, April 3: The Interior Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Budget Request for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
  • Friday, April 4: The Commerce, Justice, Science Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Budget Request for the Department of Justice.
  • Friday, April 4: The Interior Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Budget Request for the Bureau of Land Management.
  • Friday, April 4: The Agriculture Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Budget Request for USDA Rural Development.
  • Friday, April 4: The Interior Subcommittee will hold a hearing on the Budget Request for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.