With Focus On Health Care, Congress Facing A Busy December
By Corey Boles, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- Congress will likely have to approve catch-all
funding legislation before the end of the year as they wrap up much of their
unfinished work into a single large bill.
Democratic lawmakers had hoped to avoid such a move given their large
majorities in the House and Senate and control of the White House. With the
amount of work yet to be completed, however, they appear to have no choice as
the year winds down.
The ongoing attempts at a complete overhaul of the U.S. health-care system
have left little time to accomplish many of the less glamorous but essential
duties lawmakers must complete each year.
The Senate began a floor debate on health care on Monday, with most
congressional aides expecting it to continue for the remainder of 2009.
There are 12 must-pass spending bills that allocate the budgets for the
various arms of the federal government each year. These appropriations bills
were supposed to have been done by the start of the new fiscal year on Oct. 1.
That deadline passed, and many arms of the federal government are using last
year's budgetary numbers.
In addition to the must-pass spending bills, there are a number of other
initiatives which either need to be passed or which cause lawmakers to come
under considerable pressure to approve them before 2009 ends.
Lawmakers must vote to increase the limit on the amount the federal government
can borrow, or else the U.S. could face the unenviable prospect of defaulting on
its $12 trillion debt.
Also, unless a program allocating federal subsidies to state governments to
pay for road and bridge repairs is extended, these projects could ground to a
halt across the country.
There are also a range of tax measures that are set to expire at the end of
the year, including a popular credit aimed at spurring corporate spending on
research and development.
House lawmakers have begun talking about further job creation measures in the
face of the continued deterioration of the employment picture. A number of ideas
are being considered, including another extension of federal jobless benefits
assistance and a tax credit for employers that hire new workers.
Given the limited congressional time frame, some of these measures could be
added to a large must-pass spending bill.
Five of the individual spending bills are complete. Another four are in their
final stages of negotiations between House and Senate lawmakers. Three more have
yet to be considered by the Senate.
Two of the unfinished pieces of legislation are of considerable importance to
the financial markets.
One details spending for the Treasury and related agencies, such as the
Internal Revenue Service. It could potentially include measures placing strict
limitations on the Obama administration's efforts to use taxpayer money to
provide stability to the financial sector.
The second sets the budget for the departments of Labor and of Health and
Human Services, and includes money for job retraining, grants for college
students, and funding to ensure the federal government is adequately prepared to
deal with the ongoing H1N1 flu epidemic.
So a single large spending bill could include as many as seven individual
appropriations bills, but more likely it will cover five or six. This could
still run to hundreds of billions of dollars and more if the tax and spending
measures to spur growth in the economy are added.
-By Corey Boles, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6601; corey.boles@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
11-30-091751ET
Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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