Even as Republicans were pushing ahead with a budget plan from Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) to balance the budget in ten years, the real work on government spending starts Thursday, as lawmakers on a key committee begin action on the dozen appropriations bills that fund operations of Uncle Sam.
The first bills deal with spending for Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and for Congress and the Legislative Branch; funding for the Legislative Branch would remain the same as this year, while funding would be cut $1.8 billion for the $71.5 billion MilCon/Veterans bill.
While the plan is a real cut of $1.8 billion, that savings comes from fewer military construction projects, as funding for veterans programs would actually go up by $1.5 billion.
"At the same time, we’ve made responsible decisions to reduce funding where it is no longer needed, to be more efficient with the people’s money and to save tax dollars where we can," said Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY), the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
The operations of the U.S. House would be funded at $1.2 billion, the same level as in 2014; the plan includes a provision which blocks any pay raise for members in 2015. Lawmakers have not received any kind of pay raise since 2010.
"The House will continue to lead by example and hold the line on spending," Rogers added in a release.
You can see highlights of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill and of the MilCon/VA bill.
Congress takes aim at Capitol Hill "scrims'
As always, there are a few things not in the committee press releases that you can find when you actually read the spending bills, and that's true again this year.
For example - scrims. That's not a typo. Scrims.
Section 1001 of the Legislative Branch bill bans the funding of "scrims" - what's a scrim you ask? A scrim is a giant covering for a building that is being renovated, which can have a photo of the facade of that building, obscuring the ongoing construction work.
Why would the Congress want to ban federal money going to scrims on Capitol Hill? Maybe it was the scrim that was recently used to cover the front of the U.S. Supreme Court when renovation work went on there in recent years.
I couldn't find a cost estimate on how much that Supreme Court Scrim cost taxpayers - but maybe it stuck in the craw of someone on the House Appropriations Committee:
"None of the funds made available by this Act may be used for scrims containing photographs of building facades during restoration or construction projects performed by the Architect of the Capitol."
The 'scrim' provision was one of eight in the Legislative Branch bill where the Congress instructs that "none of the funds" spent in this measure can be used for certain things - like delivering copies of bills or the Congressional Record to the offices of House members.
Inside the section on the Government Accountability Office, this measure instructs the GAO to create a "Center for Audit Excellence" - intended to "promote good government" by providing training on audits, not only to other federal agencies, but also state and local governments.
The measure allows the GAO to 'establish, charge, and collect fees' for that purpose as well.
How much money will be spent on this new Center for Audit Excellence? That is not specified, as the Congress gives it the "such sums as may be necessary" funding line.
The House bill also spends $3.4 million on the "Open World Leadership Center Trust Fund" and $430,000 on the John C. Stennis Center for Public Service Training and Development.
Over in the MilCon/VA bill, there are two dozen examples of "none of the funds" restrictions; one would block any federal contractor from getting a new construction project if they had an earlier project which was finished more than two years late.
Section 301 of the bill would allow for the relocation of a 'federally owned water main at Arlington National Cemetery, making additional land available for ground burials.'
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