Summary of Amendments Submitted to the Rules Committee on H.Con.Res. 83,
Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2002
(in alphabetical order)
March 27, 2001 (10:00 p.m.)
16. Allen Increases funding in Function 500 (Education, Training, Employment & Social Services) in order to provide full funding of special education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and makes corresponding reductions in tax cuts for upper income brackets.
4. Capuano Increases the energy funding in Function 270 by $700 million in 2002, which will allow for doubling of the weatherization assistance program and for a 10% increase in solar, renewables, and conservation programs. Increases Function 600 by $1.7 billion in 2002, which will allow for an increase in the Low Income Heating and Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).
5. Capuano Increases Function 500 by $300 million in FY 2002 to allow the Department of Labor to maintain the employment and retraining programs as authorized under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), including training and employment services, adult training grants to states, WIA youth training, WIA dislocated worker assistance, WIA job corps, WIA youth opportunity grants, and other federally administered programs.
6. Capuano Preserves existing affordable housing, creates new affordable housing, and increases down payment assistance in order to assist low-to-moderate income Americans to own homes.
20. Castle Amends the Budget Resolution's reconciliation instructions to the House Ways and Means Committee to require income tax rate reduction legislation to include a trigger mechanism that links implementation of the different phases of the rate reduction to either a specified debt reduction or on-budget surplus target. The trigger can only be applied prospectively and cannot repeal or cancel any previously implemented portion of the tax cut. LATE
12. Clayton Increases agriculture funding in the budget resolution by $9 billion in 2002 (the average amount of emergency funding that Congress has provided to farmers in the last 3 years), and increases agriculture funding by $4 billion per year from 2003-2011.
7. DeFazio/Kucinich Progressive Caucus Substitute. Balances the competing demands of the American public for tax relief, debt reduction, and adequate investment in critical programs. Makes much larger investments in education, including new school construction grants and full funding for Head Start; provides for Medicare prescription drug benefit; provides funding for election reform; and provides funding for affordable housing construction. Provides for a 20% reduction in the Pentagon budget. Eliminates the deductibility of excessive CEO compensation and of tobacco advertising and marketing. Reduces OPIC and the Advanced Technology Program. Divides projected non-Social Security and non-Medicare surpluses into thirds: one-third for additional debt reduction, one-third for tax relief, and one-third for needed investments. If current projections hold, this framework will provide around $900 billion (including increased interest costs) for each of these areas.
17. Flake Republican Study Committee Substitute. Provides $2.2 trillion in tax relief between 2002 and 2011 and an additional $93 billion in tax relief for the current fiscal year. Sets defense spending at $350 billion in FY 2002, $25 billion more than the Committee Budget. Provides an additional $290 billion for defense. Total discretionary spending for FY 2002 is 2.9% higher than last year. Spends $6.7 billion less in FY 2002 on discretionary programs than proposed by the Committee. Spends $150 billion less over 10 years than the Committee Budget for discretionary programs. Funds Agriculture, Veterans, and Social Security at the Committee recommended levels. Locks away 100% of the Social Security and Medicare surpluses and achieves the maximum level of public debt reduction. Requires that any prescription drug benefit be a part of an overall Medicare reform package that does not weaken the long-term solvency of the system by increasing baseline spending. Provides specific protection for Social Security reform legislation provided that the reforms include private individual accounts. Includes special provisions to ensure that the impact of a proposed tax measure on the economy and federal revenues is taken into account and to ensure that "triggers" are not added to any tax measure. Adds an additional provision to ensure that the House and Senate Appropriations Committees coordinate their 302(b) allocations. Includes Sense of House / Congress language regarding unauthorized programs, achievement of clean financial audits by departments and agencies, adoption of legislation prohibiting the investment of surplus funds in private securities, and offsetting any FY '01 supplemental spending.
14. Holt/Bentsen/Davis (FL)/Clement/Moran(VA)/Hooley/McCarthy(NY)/Price(NC)/Honda Increases Function 250 (General Science & Technology) funding by $1 billion in FY 2002 and by amounts in FY 2003 through 2011 sufficient to adjust that $1 billion for inflation.
15. Holt/Bentsen/Hooley/McCarthy(NY)/Honda Increases Function 300 (Natural Resources & Environment) by $260 million in budget authority in FY 2002, by $160 million per year in FY 2003 through 2006, and by amounts in FY 2007 through 2011 sufficient to adjust the FY 2006 level for expected inflation.
13. Hooley Increases funding to assume the federal commitment to special education will rise by 40% by 2007, and that thereafter the funding shall not fall below that level.
1. Kirk: Amends House rules to permit the chairman of the Committee on the Budget, in consultation with the ranking minority member, to request more accurate estimates from the CBO to use as a decision making tool for future budget resolutions, similar to the ones used by the Joint Committee on Taxation.
2. McCarthy (NY)/Capuano/Weiner Increases funding for the Administration of Justice function by approximately $1 billion in 2001 to ensure continued funding for the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program and provides an additional $11.5 billion for fiscal years 2002 through 2011.
11. Moore Adds to the special rules in the reconciliation directive instructions (Sec. 4) to require that the Ways and Means Committee recommend changes to revenue reducing laws that are fully phased-in over 10 years.
9. Moran (VA)/Davis(FL)/Tauscher Addresses the use of a trigger mechanism to link long-term Federal budget surplus reductions with actual budgetary outcomes over the next 10 years.
8. Obey Increases funding for Function 500 (Education and Training) by $281.9 billion in budget authority and $231.8 billion in outlays for fiscal years 2002-2011 for additional federal investments to improve teacher quality through increased teacher compensation and training, reduces class sizes in grades one through twelve to a maximum of 18 students, and eliminates the backlog of school renovation and construction needs. Assumes that the revenue to pay for these education investments is available by eliminating the reduction proposed by President Bush in the top two tax brackets whereby the 36% and 39.6% tax brackets would be reduced to 33%.
21. Spratt Democrat Substitute. Extends the solvency of both the Medicare and Social Security programs and calls for giving the Medicare HI surplus the same off-budget status as the Social Security surplus and provides that Social Security and Medicare funds shall be used exclusively to fund benefits promised in current law. The substitute also divides the non-Social Security, non-Medicare surplus into thirds with one-third for tax relief costing $910 billion, one-third for priority investments including a prescription drug plan, and one-third for more debt reduction and new resources for Medicare and Social Security. LATE
17. Stenholm/Moore Blue Dog Substitute. Reserves half of the on-budget surplus over the next 5 years ($370 billion) for debt reduction and strengthening Social Security and Medicare. Devotes one-quarter of the on-budget surplus to tax cuts retroactive to 2001, for a net tax cut of $180 billion from 2001-2006. Saves 100% of the Social Security and Medicare trust fund surpluses for future retirees and prohibits those surpluses from being used for any other purpose. Provides for an immediate tax cut of $23 billion in FY 2001 (one-quarter of the FY 2001 surplus). Allocates 25% of the on-budget surplus over the next five years for investments in priorities identified by the President with bipartisan support in Congress. Enforces discretionary spending levels by establishing realistic spending caps for the next 5 years that allow discretionary spending to increase by 5.4% in FY 2002 and an average of 3.0% a year from 2003-2006, for an average rate of growth of 3.5% over the entire five year period. Provides $92 billion over five years for meaningful prescription drug coverage through a Medicare defined benefit that is available to all seniors consistent with the plan being developed by the Blue Dog health care task force, which has a 10-year cost of $320 billion. Provides a total of $57.1 billion more for agriculture mandatory spending. Increases spending by $20 billion in budget authority and $25 billion in outlays from FY 2002-2006. Increases funding for education programs by $23.5 billion above inflation over the next 5 years, $19 billion more than the Republican resolution.
10. Tauscher Increases the Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) by $300 million each year for the next 10 years. To be eligible for funding, States would be required to spend existing CCDBG funds before utilizing these new dollars, provide a 20% State match, and allocate 70% of the new funds to non-welfare, low-income families.
19. Tauscher Increases the Department of Energy Nuclear Nonproliferation Programs by $500 million each year for the next 10 years. LATE
3. Traficant Sense of Congress providing that the Department of Defense cannot waive the Buy American Act of 1933 when it comes to purchasing goods in the interest of national security or defense.
* Summaries derived from information submitted by the amendment sponsors.
