Decoding the 2012 Federal Budget Talks
December 6, 2011
Once again, Congress is heading into December without having passed spending bills for each Federal agency for FY 2012. Last year, a logjam on Capitol Hill kept a budget deal from happening until last April, with a continuing resolution sustaining the government through the fiscal year. Now, already two months into the new fiscal year, most federal spending remains sustained through another continuing resolution, with few select appropriations bills passed. Congress has not put together a complete budget since FY 2010.
This year, although a budget has not yet been completed, there are a few things to keep an eye on as we watch Congress attempt to finish its work. The current continuing resolution will expire on December 16, 2011. This means Congress must extend this date or finalize all of its spending legislation before it expires. Find out more on the Grant Center's upcoming webinar, 2012 Year Ahead: What the Federal Budget Talks Mean for Public Media on Wednesday, December 14, 2011, at 2:00 p.m. EST.
Some of the budget specifics in play:
The Super Committee: The resolution to the debt ceiling debate this summer (the Budget Control Act) established new discretionary spending caps from 2012 through 2021 aimed at saving $900 billion and created a bipartisan committee of Representatives and Senators (called the Super Committee) charged with producing legislation by November 23, 2011, that would make at least $1.2 trillion in additional spending reductions during that same period. That deadline came and went, and the Super Committee failed to propose this legislation.
An alternate mechanism called sequestration is scheduled to begin in January 2013, to produce the $1.2 trillion in savings. This will not affect FY 2012 funding levels, but, as currently required by law, it will take effect in 2013 and cause mandatory cuts of up to nine percent across all federal agencies. It is currently unclear what this would mean for the grants that public media relies on or CPB funding.
The Minibuses: Three spending bills have been signed into law by the President, as part of Congress' plan to pass the budget as a series of smaller packages called minibuses. The first minibus included the appropriations bills for Commerce, Justice and Science; Transportation and Housing and Urban Development; and Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration. Although these are not very controversial bills, it could demonstrate some momentum for moving other minibuses. This Congress has already made more progress this year than last. There has been some speculation that the Labor, Health, and Human Services and Education appropriations bill will be placed in a minibus with the Defense appropriations bill, as a mechanism to help it move and protect funding levels.
What This Means for Public Media: Right now, it is unclear what the specific appropriations for public media programs will look like, although across-the-board cuts that would affect all programs seem likely in both the near and distant future. House and Senate versions of all appropriations bills exist (at different stages of the legislative process), but there will be several opportunities for these provisions to change as the bills move through the House, Senate and conference.
Ready To Learn: Ready To Learn funding is typically specifed in the Committee Report, which will not exist until later in the process. Because the pressure is on to make cuts and because the Obama Administration is committed to consolidating smaller education programs, Ready To Learn may have detractors on both sides of the aisle. Its resilience over the past few years shows that it does have champions committed to keeping it on the books.
CPB Appropriation: The House's version of the Labor, Health, and Human Services and Education bill maintains level funding for CPB, although it specifies that funding cannot be used to support NPR. The House's version also eliminates CPB's advance appropriation. The Senate bill maintains funding for CPB at its current level without any restrictions on NPR or advance appropriations.
