Federal Budget Policy

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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DAILY FISCAL POLICY REVIEW -- 02-28-08

Feb 28, 2008 by Dana Chasin

Economy -- Bernanke Signals Further Rate Cuts: Fed Chair Ben Bernanke said yesterday in congressional testimony that in light of continuing "downside risks" from the housing slump, the Fed is prepared to make further rate cuts. Bernanke's testimony. Budget Reconciliation -- Vehicle for Stimulus 2.0?: Senate Budget chief Kent Conrad said yesterday that he may include a $35 billion stimulus package including a UI extension, boost to food stamps and LIHEAP, perhaps added funding road or water infrastructure projects, but not additional Medicaid money, as the NGA requested this week.

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Another Stimulus Package May Be Included in Budget Resolution

Feb 28, 2008 by Craig Jennings

...and designated "emergency" CongressDaily is reporting ($) that Senate Budget Committee Chair Kent Conrad (D-ND) may include another round of stimulus spending in the budget resolution. The budget resolution will include a separate $35 billion economic-stimulus bill that will be made up of an unemployment insurance extension, a temporary increase in food stamps and low-income heating assistance. Conrad said the stimulus bill will not be offset. The budget resolution will designate the stimulus bill as emergency spending.

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DAILY FISCAL POLICY REPORT -- 02-27-08

Feb 27, 2008 by Adam Hughes*

Budget Resolution (BR) -- Weapons of Instruction: Senate Budget Committee Chair Kent Conrad hasn't yet decided whether to separate the tax and spending reconciliation bills or include reconciliation instructions in the FY09 BR his committee is to mark up next week. (FY09 Instruction, see p. 44) Among the instruction items under consideration:

extending renewable energy tax credits
money for state infrastructure
delaying a June 30 Medicare physicians pay cut
Medicare Advantage funding cuts
education legislation
a one-year offset AMT patch

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A Second Look at Budget Process Reform

Feb 26, 2008 by Dana Chasin

Every year, the Bush administration's annual budget volume includes a section entitled Budget Process Reforms -- which sets out a series of initiatives similar one year to the next, generally self-serving to the executive branch, and not seriously pursued with the legislative branch (see, e.g., Budget Reform Proposals-in-Wonderland").

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DAILY FISCAL POLICY REPORT -- 02-26-08

Feb 26, 2008 by Dana Chasin

Economy -- Wholesale Prices Highest Since 1981: The Labor Department said yesterday that wholesale prices rose 1 percent in January, a 7.4 percent jump from January 2007... The last time wholesale inflation over 12 months was higher than 7.4 percent: October 1981. Story.

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Recent CRS Report Details War Spending

Feb 26, 2008 by Craig Jennings

A Congressional Research Service (CRS) report published on Feb. 8 indicates:

Enacted war spending, including supplemental requests and regular appropriations, to date totals $699.9 billion
Enactment of the president's full FY 2008 $196 billion ($105.2 billion is pending) request and $70 billion FY 2009 request would push total war spending up to $875 billion
Currently enacted spending legislation will fund war operations in Iraq and Afghanistan until Aug. 2008.

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State Budgets Getting Worse and Worse and Worse...

Feb 25, 2008 by Craig Jennings

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities continues to churn out updates to their analysis first released in January detailing the increasingly poor state of state budgets around the country, and things are not getting better. The most recent update adds one more state (Oklahoma) to the list of states facing a budget crunch in 2009. Now there are 21 states that are projecting budget gaps in 2009. The updated summary stats from CBPP: More than half of states anticipate budget problems, according to this updated analysis of state fiscal conditions.

21 states now project budget gaps for 2009. Oklahoma joins this list.
The combined budget shortfall for these 21 states is now at least $36 billion due to changes in the estimates for California and Illinois, and the addition of an estimate for Oklahoma.
4 states say they will have 2009 deficits, but have released no further information. Oklahoma leaves this list because it has now released an estimate.
3 other states project budget gaps for 2010 and beyond.

CBPP: 21 STATES FACE TOTAL BUDGET SHORTFALL OF AT LEAST $36 BILLION IN 2009

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What's in a Word?

Feb 25, 2008 by Dana Chasin

Save 'Stimulus' for When We Really Need It Word is Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) may 'fast-track' S. 2636, the Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008 (text) to the Senate floor this week.

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DAILY FISCAL POLICY REVIEW -- 02-25-08

Feb 25, 2008 by Dana Chasin

Ahead This Week Tax/Energy Bill -- PAYGO in Play: This week, the House will take up a package of tax incentives for alternative energy and energy conservation programs omitted from last December's energy bill... The House tax bill would cost about $18.1 billion over 11 years and would comply with PAYGO by denying or reducing tax benefits for big oil and gas companies. Stimulus 2.0 -- Housing Sector: Meanwhile in the Senate, time permitting, the Democratic leadership will seek this week to bring a housing stimulus package of direct aid, tax breaks, and other initiatives to the floor.

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Coal Mine Safety Shortchanged by Years of Budget Cuts

Feb 25, 2008 by Craig Jennings

Congress created the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) in 1977, placing a new federal focus on miner safety and health. In the past two years, a spike in coal mine fatalities and high-profile coal mine disasters have prompted many Americans and Congress to look to MSHA to improve miner safety, but years of budget cuts and the loss of qualified employees have left the agency struggling to fulfill its mission. A new article by OMB Watch, the latest in our Bankrupting Government series, tracks the history of budget and staffing cuts at the agency with a particular focus on MSHA's coal mine safety and health program.

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