April 30, 2009

House and Senate pass FY 2010 Budget Resolution

Congress passed its FY 2010 budget yesterday, which allows for $1.086 trillion in new, non-defense discretionary spending. The resolution also includes reconciliation instructions for health reform, where congressional committees with jurisdiction over health care would have until Oct. 15 to pass legislation. If no measure is passed, health care overhaul legislation could be passed using reconciliation without the threat of a Senate filibuster-and therefore with a simple majority.

In addition to setting congressional spending and budgetary limits for FY 2010, the resolution serves as a blueprint for moving the President's top domestic policy priorities in FY 2010 and beyond; it does not require the president's signature.

With debate on the congressional budget resolution complete, attention now shifts to the president's multi-volume budget request, which will include recommended spending levels for all federal agencies-including those that support HSR and health data. The budget is expected to be released next week.

The conference report is available at: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_reports&docid=f:hr089.pdf