Although it was passed by both houses of Congress last weekend, the FY2005 spending bill will remain on hold and will not go to the President for a signature just yet. Problems arose last week when Senate staffers discovered that the omnibus spending bill included a tax-return provision that shouldn't have been in there. The provision, if passed, would have given appropriators and their "agents" unprecedented access U.S. taxpayers' returns.

Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers supported removing this provision from the omnibus spending bill, however a correcting resolution won't be passed until the House and Senate reconvene on December 6th and 7th, respectively, to fix the controversial rider. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) made it clear that Democrats would not give unanimous consent to make the change on a voice vote, so the omnibus is pending until lawmakers return for a second lame-duck session. Pelosi argued that this extra time will give lawmakers a chance to read the bill, so that they know exactly what they are passing. Congress passed a continuing resolution to fund the government while the omnibus pends; it expires December 8th.

It is clear that flaws in the budget process are responsible for this mess. Not only are nine of the thirteen appropriations bills being passed almost two months after the end of the fiscal year, but a highly detrimental provision almost slipped throught the cracks of a bill that is thousands and thousands of pages long. When lawmakers and their aides are given the opportunity to slip these types of riders and provisions into massive, must-pass legislation, it is not surprising that situations such as this arise. For more information on this issue click here and here.