House
On October 5, the House approved, 219-206, H. Con Res. 71, the FY2018 budget resolution. The Budget Committee passed the legislation on July 19 (see The Source, 7/21/17). The budget resolution provides a blueprint for federal spending for the fiscal year.
According to the committee report, the bill would allocate $1.22 trillion in overall budget authority for FY2018. This amount includes $629.565 billion in defense funding, which would exceed the cap set by the Budget Control Act (P.L. 115-25). In addition, the bill would allocate $510.749 billion for non-defense spending and $86.591 billion for overseas contingency operations.
The resolution would allocate $491.789 billion in overall budget authority for Income Security, $176.704 billion for Veterans Benefits and Services, $51.367 billion for the Administration of Justice, $41.521 billion for International Affairs, $24.223 billion for Agriculture, and $69.920 billion for Education, Training, Employment, and Social Services. Health programs would be allocated $579.328 billion under the resolution.
The measure includes reconciliation instructions for specified House committees to decrease the deficit by a total of $203 billion. It is anticipated that much of the savings would be put toward tax reform proposals.
Among other provisions, the resolution would attempt to reduce the cost of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by implementing work requirements for individuals who receive assistance, and recommends the elimination of the Legal Services Corporation.
Senate
On October 5, the Senate Budget Committee approved, 12-11, its version of the FY2018 budget resolution (as-yet-unnumbered).
According to the committee charts, the resolution would allocate $549 billion for defense spending and $516 billion for non-defense spending in FY2018; $72 billion would be allocated for overseas contingency operations.
Like H. Con. Res. 71, the Senate resolution also includes reconciliation instructions, which would reduce the deficit by $1.6 trillion over ten years.
Additional details will be made available once the committee releases its report.
