Grassroots
call: A Path for Post-Shutdown Advocacy
Presented
by the Interreligious Working Group on Domestic Human Needs
Oct.
25, 2013
Legislative
Update Remarks, as prepared:
Hi Everyone. My name
is Leslie Woods and I serve in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Office of
Public Witness.
I'm going to quickly speak about the budget deal Congress
passed last week to open up the government and prevent default on the national
debt.
Last week,
after 16 days of a government shutdown and one day before potential U.S.
default, Congress passed H.R. 2775, which reopened the government and raised
the debt ceiling. The Senate passed the bill
81-18,
and the House passed it
285-144.
All of the House Democrats and 87 Republicans voted for the bill.
It was a bipartisan vote in both chambers.
So first,
it's worth noting what was not
in the deal. The deal did not defund
the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. The deal did not delay the Affordable Care Act. The deal
did not have any spending cuts included
as a condition for raising the debt ceiling. These were mostly clean extensions
of government spending and a debt ceiling increase. That said, preventing a
Congressionally created economic catastrophe is not exactly all that worthy of
celebration; but it is important.
So, what was in the deal? The deal mostly
sets up a new set of deadlines for Congress to reach the next deal. The
legislation passed last week funds the government at current levels through
January 15, 2014, and raises the debt ceiling through February 7, 2014, but
Congress won't have to raise the debt ceiling again until March or even later
because the Treasury can use extraordinary measures, as it did in this most
recent situation, to buy more time. The bill also included language on income
verification for subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.
And while
not written into the legislation, the deal also created a budget conference
committee to negotiate a budget for the remainder of the 2014 fiscal year and
to address sequestration, which is Washington-speak for the across-the-board
spending cuts we’ve been living with this year. This Committee must
report back to Congress with a budget framework by December 13.
The
committee includes the following members in the House: Paul Ryan (R-WI-1), Tom
Cole (R-OK-4), Tom Price (R-GA-6), Diane Black (R-TN-6), James Clyburn
(D-SC-6), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD-8), and Nita Lowey (D-NY-17).
The Senate
appointees are the entire budget committee: Murray (D-WA), Wyden (D-OR), Nelson
(D-FL), Stabenow (D-MI), Sanders (I-VT), Whitehouse (D-RI), Warner (D-VA),
Merkley (D-OR), Coons (D-DE), Baldwin (D-WI), Kaine (D-VA), King (I-ME),
Sessions (R-AL), Grassley (R-IA), Enzi (R-WY), Crapo (R-ID), Graham (R-SC),
Portman (R-OH), Toomey (R-PA), Johnson (R-WI), Ayotte (R-NH), and Wicker
(R-MS).
This round
of budget talks could play out in one of three ways.
First, the
committee could emerge with a big, multi-trillion dollar, decade-long budget
deal and succeed where all previous bipartisan commissions, groups, and
committees have failed. If you think this sounds optimistic, you’re instincts
are good. This would be a very heavy lift and probably the least likely
outcome.
In the
second scenario, the committee could come up with a smaller deal that resolves
the overall funding level for fiscal year 2014 and replaces some or all of the
sequester for one, or even two, years. If this happens, there are two issues to
keep an eye on: the overall funding level and the makeup of any package that
replaces sequestration. The overall size of the budget they agree on will
determine the amount of funding available for international poverty-focused
development and humanitarian assistance programs, WIC, Head Start, and all the
other anti-hunger and poverty discretionary programs. If the committee comes up
with a plan to replace sequestration, we will be watching to see if it is a
balanced fix that includes new revenues and protects important anti-poverty
programs, such as SNAP and Medicaid.
Finally,
the committee could emerge with no
deal. At that point, Congress will have until Jan. 15 to prevent another
shutdown and potentially address sequestration.
We must
continue to urge members of Congress to pass a faithful budget that adequately
funds programs that combat hunger and poverty, and replace sequestration with a
balanced plan. Your work on this and faithfulness in creating a drumbeat
demanding just and compassionate budget solutions is extremely important,
especially in the next few weeks.
Thanks. That's all I have, so I'll pass it back to Amelia.
