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News from Rep. Stephanie Herseth
For Immediate Release
Contact: Russ Levsen, 202-226-4449
Chip Weiskotten, 202-226-8553

HOUSE PASSES CONTINUING RESOLUTION TO FUND VITAL GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS, GET COUNTRY BACK ON TRACK TO FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

Herseth: Broken Budget Process Leads to Tough But Necessary Resolution

January 31, 2007 – U.S. Rep. Stephanie Herseth voted today to pass a Continuing Resolution that will fund the government through the current fiscal year. The resolution funds government programs for fiscal year 2007, which began four months ago. Today’s bill was made necessary because last year’s governing majority in the House refused to make tough decisions, abandoning their constitutionally mandated requirement to pass these bills and leaving a fiscal mess for the incoming Congress.

Herseth said, “This bill is tough medicine to take, but it is necessary because leaders in the last Congress refused to make tough choices. The new leadership understands the need for fiscal discipline and the importance of Congress fulfilling its most basic and most important duties. While many vital and efficient programs will be underfunded or unfunded, this resolution allows us to move on to setting new priorities for the next fiscal year.”

Herseth added that the bill must be enacted now to ensure that federal departments and agencies, as well as state and local governments, have the resources and funding they need to function over the next 8 months. She said, “With the President’s budget outline due on Monday, February 5th, the Congress must finally put this year’s budget to rest and get started on fiscal year 2008.”

The Continuing Resolution is a lean bill that holds most programs at their FY 2006 funding levels and strips all “earmarks” from the spending bills that were passed by one or both chambers of Congress. Funding for some of South Dakota’s most important programs, such as the Lewis & Clark Water System, Indian Health Services, and the recently authorized Cellulosic Ethanol Loan Guarantee Program will continue into the next fiscal year.

Some of the highlights of the Continuing Resolution:

• Veterans’ health care. Coverage for veterans will increase by $3.6 billion over the fiscal year 2006 level to provide service for an anticipated increase of at least 325,000 patients and to meet rising health care costs.
• Indian Health Service (IHS). IHS will receive an increase in funding of $125 million over the fiscal year 2006 level, which will fund patient care and prevent reductions in clinical services.
• Lewis & Clark and Mni Wiconi. Overall water project funding for the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), which has jurisdiction over water projects such as Lewis & Clark and Mni Wiconi, will remain at last year’s level. Rep. Herseth has already reached out to BOR officials to ensure they understand the importance of these projects and to ensure they adequately fund them as the summer construction season approaches.
• Head Start, Pell grants, and special education. The resolution’s education provisions includes an increase of $103 million to help prevent a drop in Head Start enrollment; an increase of $615 million to help over 5.3 million college students pay rising tuition costs; and an increase of $200 million to help school districts serve 6.9 million children with disabilities and special needs.
• National Children’s Study (NCS). The resolution includes $69 million in funds to begin enrolling patients as part of the NCS. Rep. Herseth has been an effective advocate for the National Children’s Study, which will include research at South Dakota State University, one of seven national NCS Vanguard Centers.
• Cellulosic ethanol loan guarantees. The resolution directs the Department of Energy to begin a $4 billion Cellulosic Ethanol Loan Guarantee Program that may enable South Dakota companies to build large-scale cellulosic ethanol plants in our state.

Herseth is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of moderate Democrats committed to fiscal discipline and strong national security, and is co-chair of the Rural Working Group, which is dedicated to raise the profile of issues important to rural America. She also serves on three committees vital to South Dakota’s interest: Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs and Resources.

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