Possible Senate Votes on FY12 Budget Tonight
May 25, 2011
While it is necessary to control Congressional spending, Volunteers of America is advocating for a prudent and even-handed approach. Currently, a disproportionate share of the proposed budget cuts are focused on low-income individuals and those greatly dependent on government-funded services. In addition, we and other like-minded organizations are very concerned about the impact that a block grant system would have on Medicaid and are working to oppose that form of funding. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has stated that turning Medicaid into a block grant will greatly reduce the number of people who can be served by the program and will cause some services that are currently mandatory to be reduced or eliminated due to budgetary shortfalls.
FY12 Budget Congressional Actions
Senate expected to vote on House budget resolution POSSIBLY TONIGHT!
The Senate is potentially expected to vote on the House-passed FY 2012 budget resolution this evening. The vote on this measure (H. Con. Res. 34) is aimed at putting Republicans on record on the proposal’s controversial ideas for transforming Medicare.
In response, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has said he will demand a side-by-side vote on President Obama’s fiscal 2012 budget proposal, which critics claim falls short in addressing the deficit.
Neither proposal has much chance of garnering the votes needed for passage. The planned votes come as the Senate Budget Committee struggles to produce a budget resolution for FY 2012. Source: Congress Daily, Independent Sector, Congressional Quarterly, The Hill
Senate Budget Committee Update
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) said yesterday that his committee will delay consideration of a FY 2012 budget resolution pending the outcome of bipartisan deficit talks being led by Vice President Biden.
“Democrats on the Budget Committee are very close to an agreement. We will have a budget. But, after broad consultation, we have decided to defer a budget mark-up because of the high-level bipartisan leadership negotiations that are currently under way," Conrad said, adding, “The results of those negotiations may need to be included in a budget resolution that would be offered in the weeks ahead.”
Delaying the mark-up of a budget resolution will likely push the Senate appropriations process closer to the end of the fiscal year in September as the Biden negotiations could last until late July. Despite the delay, Conrad expects to release details of his budget blueprint in the near future. Source: Congress Daily, Independent Sector, The Hill, Tax Analysts
Vice President Biden's Budget Negotiations
Senator Coburn’s departure from the Senate’s “Gang of Six” puts the debt reduction spotlight squarely on negotiations brokered by Vice President Biden which appear designed to produce a short-term deal. Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT), a member of the Biden-led working group, said the talks have the right mix of executive and legislative participants to produce a viable plan.
Deficit reduction negotiators are searching for trillions of dollars in budget cuts that can attract bipartisan support beyond the roughly $150 billion the group has so far identified during Blair House talks.
The leadership-level talks led by Vice President Biden will resume May 24, when participants pick up their effort to agree to a deficit reduction package the Senate and House can pass along with an increase in the nation’s $14.3 trillion debt limit. The goal is to do that by the Aug. 2 deadline set by Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner to ensure that the nation does not default on its debt obligations.
The Biden group found some $150 billion in reductions that both sides are likely to support. It has been stated that tougher decisions involving changes in entitlement programs may be necessary for the group to reach multitrillion-dollar savings.
Senator Kyl of Arizona said the group identified fairly easily about $100 billion in savings that “overlap” budget proposals offered by House Republicans and President Obama and then found $50 billion or so beyond that.
With the House in recess this week, staff-level negotiations are continuing until the group’s next meeting. The group consists of Biden, Kyl, Senate Appropriations Chairman Daniel K. Inouye (D-HI), Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT), House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), ranking House Budget member Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and House Democrats’ Assistant Leader James Clyburn of South Carolina.
“We remain optimistic about the progress that those talks have made so far, and we look forward to greater progress being made when they resume,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said May 17.
Source: The Hill, Congressional Quarterly
Gang of Six Status
Senator Tom Coburn's exit from the “Gang of Six” deficit negotiations dims the group’s prospects and shows how hard it will be to reach a debt reduction compromise.
With lawmakers facing an August deadline to raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, members of both parties want to put deficit reduction measures in place before they vote on raising the cap. The Gang of Six had been working to find a solution, but those negotiations have run aground, at least for now, over entitlement spending.
Many Republicans say huge mandatory programs — including Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid — must be pared to balance the nation’s books. Democrats have pushed back, saying such cuts would hurt the elderly and the poor. They want GOP lawmakers to agree to some tax increases to help reduce the deficit.
The implicit bargain being considered by the group would have forced Republicans to swallow tax increases while requiring Democrats to accept entitlement changes.
Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican, wanted the gang’s proposal to incorporate entitlement spending reductions, including immediate cuts for current Medicare beneficiaries, according to one source.
Georgia Republican Saxby Chambliss, a member of the Gang of Six, said Coburn’s withdrawal will delay any possible agreement, and he said unless Coburn rejoins the group it will not produce legislation.
Source: Congressional Quarterly and Roll Call
Volunteers of America Action Steps
As there are a number of moving parts and many levels of decision–makers, it is important that we continue to reach out to all of our Members of Congress and the Obama administration. We must let them know that while we fully support and understand the need to make difficult cuts to the federal budget, these cuts cannot disproportionately target low-income individuals and those in greatest need. Cuts to these populations have a devastating impact that echoes throughout our communities across the country.
Please go to http://support.volunteersofamerica.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&id=169 and send a message now. It is very simple to do; just a few clicks and your message goes directly to your elected officials.
Feel free to distribute this alert to other like-minded groups who may wish to show their support as well.
