Appropriations

Feb 8, 2016

Top 400 Taxpayers See Tax Rates Rise, But There’s More to the Story

As Americans were gathering party supplies to greet the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service released their annual report of cumulative tax data reported on the 400 tax r...

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Feb 4, 2016

Chlorine Bleach Plants Needlessly Endanger 63 Million Americans

Chlorine bleach plants across the U.S. put millions of Americans in danger of a chlorine gas release, a substance so toxic it has been used as a chemical weapon. Greenpeace’s new repo...

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Jan 25, 2016

U.S. Industrial Facilities Reported Fewer Toxic Releases in 2014

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data for 2014 is now available. The good news: total toxic releases by reporting facilities decreased by nearly six percent from 2013 levels. Howe...

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Jan 22, 2016

Methane Causes Climate Change. Here's How the President Plans to Cut Emissions by 40-45 Percent.

UPDATE (Jan. 22, 2016): Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its proposed rule to reduce methane emissions...

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Stimulus Part Deux: Coming to Congress Near You

Jul 15, 2008 by Craig Jennings

A second stimulus package may be in the works. Yesterday, CQ Politics reported that Senate Appropriations Chair Robert Byrd (D-WV) may announce on Thursday that his committee will markup another stimulus package. Today, CQ Politics is reporting that House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) is also considering such a package.

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State Budget Problems Cause Economic Hardship

Jul 11, 2008 by Craig Jennings

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has once again released an analysis of state government budget health, and the news continues to deteriorate. In their lastest analysis, they rank all 50 states according to changes in three main economic indicators - employment, poverty, and housing foreclosures. The report finds:

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Competiting Claims on Our Fiscal Future

Jul 11, 2008 by Adam Hughes*

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has released a report from leading economists and budget experts criticing a recent paper from the Brookings Institute and the Heritage Foundation called "Taking Back Our Fiscal Future." From the CBPP

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Future of FY 2009 Appropriations Bills in Doubt

Jul 10, 2008 by Adam Hughes*

Things just keep getting worse and worse for the FY 2009 appropriations bills. First, House Appropriations Committee members get all hot and bothered with each other and refuse to continue to work on appropriations bills. Then, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) casts doubt that any appropriations bills will be passed by the House this year. And now, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has speculated he believes Congress won't enact any bills until long after President Bush starts working on his presidential library. The Hill reported today that Reid

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Politics as Usual

Jul 9, 2008 by Adam Hughes*

The Hill reports today about some border-line shady behavior from Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) related to his earmark requests in the 2005 transportation bill. Turns out the earmark request Kanjorski submitted to build a parking garage at, of all places, the Kanjorski Cetner (pictured above) did not meet federal guidelines.

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Approps Update: Senate Back to Work

Jul 8, 2008 by Craig Jennings

The Senate Energy-Water Appropriations Subcommittee has approved its version of the FY 2009 Energy-Water funding bill. The $33.2 billion measure would provide $1.9 billion more than President Bush's request to the Department of Energy, Bureau of Reclamation, and the Army Corps of Engineers.

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OMB Releases FY 2008 Earmarks Data

Jul 8, 2008 by Craig Jennings

OMB has released additional data on federal earmarks contained in the FY 2008 appropriations bills yesterday. The data is available at www.earmarks.gov. I have to continue to applaud OMB for publishing information online about federal spending in this earmark database. They have continued to improve the interface of the earmarks database and list earmark by agency, by state, and they now provide a summary of earmarks totaled up by appropriations subcommittee - a great addition. You can also do a keyword search across all the data they post.

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Monthly Budget Review: June, 2008

Jul 8, 2008 by Craig Jennings

CBO has released its Monthly Budget Review for June. It finds that while the stimulus payments accounted for a $21 billion decline in monthly revenue (compared to last June), June's surplus would still have been lower than last year's when the rebates are accounted for. Details below.

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Congress to End White House Forest Conservation Program

Jul 8, 2008 by Craig Jennings

CQ reports ($) that Congress intends to reverse OMB's decision to stop issuing printed budgets to various government offices. The committee report accompanying the fiscal 2009 Financial Services appropriations bill, which includes funds for White House operations, instructs OMB to send paper copies of the budget to Capitol Hill next year. "Committees and Members' offices frequently rely on the printed budget as one of many tools to analyze the president's proposals," the report reads.

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Bush Signs War Supplemental, Cements Fiscal Legacy

Contrary to his assertion that he would "not accept a supplemental over $108 billion," President Bush signed a $257 billion war supplemental spending package on June 30. The bill will fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for the remainder of the fiscal year (ending Sept. 30) and through the first several months of the next president's term.

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