Voting along party lines - 12-10 -, the Senate Budget Committee has approved its FY 2009 budget resolution. The $3.1 billion resolution includes a one-year, non-offset $62 billion AMT patch. And at $472 billion, its non-defense, domestic top line is 2.2% more than Bush's $462 billion proposal.

The House budget resolution, legislation and statements

• Legislation

• Chairman's Mark
• Chairman's Mark Summary
• Budget resolution funding levels by function

• Statements

• House Budget Committee Chairman Spratt
• House Minority Leader Boehner
• Blue Dog Coalition

The Senate budget resolution, legislation and statements

• Legislation

• Chairman's Mark
• Chairman's Mark Summary

• Statements

Senate Budget Resolution: No reconciliation instructions included. House Budget Resolution: Instructs the House Ways & Means Committee to...

• produce a paid-for AMT fix -- at a $70.3 billion cost in FY09 by July 15, a date designed to avoid the delays in processing tax refunds threatened in last year's debate
• delay a scheduled 10 percent cut in Medicare physician payments scheduled to go into effect July 1, perhaps by cutting subsidies to private insurers under the Medicare Advantage program

The federal regulator of meat, poultry, and egg products, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), faces resource limitations that make it more difficult for the agency to ensure the safety of the food supply. Although the agency's budget has risen since it was created, staffing levels have dropped steadily, according to a new article by OMB Watch. Widespread vacancies in the agency have spread FSIS's inspection force too thin. Meanwhile, the number of meat, poultry, and egg product recalls has risen, and a recent recall of 143 million pounds of beef is the largest in the nation's history.