March 30, 2012

On March 29, by a vote of 228 to 191, the House approved a budget resolution for fiscal year 2013, after defeating a series of substitute amendments offered by both Democrats and Republicans.  The budget resolution was approved with support from 228 Republicans.    

The House-passed budget resolution is largely identical to the proposal that House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) announced early last week.  It calls for $205 billion in Medicare savings and $770 billion in Medicaid and other health savings over ten years.  A Medicare premium support system and Medicaid block grants are included among the policies that would be advanced under this budget resolution.  The budget resolution also instructs six House committees to develop recommendations – no later than April 27, 2012 – for a budget reconciliation bill that is intended to achieve budget savings that would serve as an alternative to the across-the-board sequestration cuts that are scheduled to begin in January 2013.  House committees with jurisdiction over Medicare and Medicaid are included among the committees receiving reconciliation instructions. 

The following amendments were rejected during the House floor debate:  

• Democratic Substitute:  By a vote of 262 to 163, the House defeated a substitute amendment that Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) offered on behalf of the House Democratic Caucus.  This amendment included policy statements expressing opposition to a premium support system for Medicare and block grants for Medicaid. 

• Republican Study Committee:  By a vote of 285 to 136, the House defeated a substitute amendment that Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) offered on behalf of the Republican Study Committee, a coalition of social and economic conservatives.  This amendment proposed balancing the budget by 2017, gradually increasing the eligibility age for both Medicare and Social Security, converting Medicaid to a block grant program, and reforming Medicare based on the Ryan budget plan.    

• Congressional Black Caucus:  By a vote of 314 to 107, the House defeated a substitute amendment that Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) offered on behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus.  This amendment proposed tighter caps on defense spending, an extension of unemployment benefits, and increased taxes for high income households. 
  
• Congressional Progressive Caucus:  By a vote of 346 to 78, the House defeated a substitute amendment that Rep. Michael Honda (D-CA) offered on behalf of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.  This amendment proposed adding a public option to the health reform law, higher tax brackets for millionaires, and a surcharge on assets exceeding $10 million. 

• Fiscal Commission:  By a vote of 382 to 38, the House defeated a substitute amendment by Reps. Jim Cooper (D-TN) and Steven LaTourette (R-OH) that was based on the recommendations that were considered in 2010 by the Simpson-Bowles National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. 

• Republican Offering of President’s Budget:  By a vote of 414 to 0, the House defeated a substitute amendment by Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) that was based on the President’s budget for fiscal year 2013. 

The Senate Budget Committee will not consider a budget resolution this year.  Instead, Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) has filed a deeming resolution that sets fiscal year 2013 discretionary spending levels (i.e., funding for the annual appropriations bills) at the amounts established by the Budget Control Act of 2011.  A statement released by Chairman Conrad last week states that the Budget Control Act of 2011 “achieved all of the essential elements of a traditional budget resolution.”