Congress Ends Shutdown, Creates New Budget Conference Committee

From Friends Committee on National Legislation
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Late Wednesday, October 16, Congress passed a bill to end the government shutdown and prevent a federal default. The deal was crafted in the Senate, where it passed 81-18, then moved to the House, where it passed 285 to 144. President Obama signed H.R. 2775, the “Continuing Appropriations Act, 2014,” into law just after midnight.

The bill does a variety of things, but the heart of the bill is that it puts the government back in working order. Specifically, the Continuing Appropriations Act:

• Immediately reopens the government and funds it through January 15, 2014 at 2013, post-sequestration levels, or $987 billion.
• Raises the debt ceiling through February 7 and allows the Treasury to keep borrowing for a few weeks by using special accounting measures.
• Provides back pay to all federal workers furloughed during the 16-day shutdown.

These essential actions are paired with funding for a number of infrastructure projects and relief from natural disasters, such as $450 to rebuild flood damage in Colorado. Along with these spending directions, the bill makes one small change to the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, and includes an explicit opportunity for Congress to negotiate a budget deal before the next moment of crisis. The Continuing Appropriations Act:

• Requires additional measures, “income verification,” to ensure people who receive subsidies to buy health insurance under theAffordable Care Act are accurately reporting their income. Under this provision, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius must submit a report to Congress by January 1 detailing how the health insurance exchanges are verifying participants’ income. The Inspector General will report on the verification programs’ efficacy by July 1.
• Sets up a budget conference committee to come up with a longer-term budget plan by December 13.

The conference committee would be led by Representative Paul Ryan (WI-1), the House Budget Committee chair, and Senator Patty Murray (WA), the Senate Budget Committee chair. Back in March, each chamber passed a budget resolution drafted by their respective chairs.

The differences between the House and Senate budget plans are large. For instance, the Senate budget includes $1 trillion in new taxes over ten years, replaces sequestration in its entirety and cuts the Pentagon budget by $240 billion over a decade. The House budget protects the Pentagon from sequester cuts while drastically cutting vital human needs programs and does not include new revenues.

This group of legislators would not have the power to rewrite tax and spending laws, but rather would set overall goals for tax and spending policy. The committee would then direct the appropriate House and Senate committees to pass legislation that meets those goals.

What this conference does have the power to do is craft a plan to replace the sequester. If committee members can reach a broad budget deal on spending and tax priorities, the conference could replace sequestration for one year, or for the remaining nine.