WS 10-27-2009 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Lockridge Grindal Nauen PLLP Federal Relations October 20, 2009 Federal Representation Update, Action Items, and Recommendations Members must decide which requests they will submit — rarely will they submit every request they receive — and turn those into the Appropriations Committee by their deadline which is usually in April. The Senate Members must submit to the appropriate Subcommittee by their deadlines which are staggered and usually run from early April to the middle of May. Behind the scenes, the bills are being prepared and Congressionally -Directed spending items are scrutinized and either included or excluded based on a number of factors including the availability of dollars for projects and the individual merits of a particular project. The House Appropriations Subcommittees will usually begin hearings on each measure under their jurisdiction in May and begin voting on amendments to the bills prior to voting on whether to move the bill to the full committee. If Congressionally -Directed spending items are included in the appropriations measure they traditionally become available to the general public at the beginning of or upon completion of the Subcommittee process. The full committee will then take up the measure prior to voting on whether to move the bill to the House floor for debate and votes. The Senate follows a similar procedure on their side but begin the process after the House. If a bill makes it to the floor in the House and is passed, the House then must await final action on a similar appropriations measure in the Senate (or vice versa depending on who passes the measure first). If a different appropriations bill is passed in both chambers (which is traditionally the case), a Conference Committee must be appointed to take the two different versions and negotiate one bill. The negotiated bill, or conference report, then goes back to the respective chambers for another vote. If the report is passed by both Chambers, it is sent to the President for his signature or veto. Under regular order, this process will be completed for each of the 13 appropriations measures; however, if they are not all completed and signed into law, Continuing Resolutions must be considered to avoid the stoppage of government programs. Fiscal Year 2010 Appropriations Requests: As you may recall, the federal fiscal year expired at the end of September but Congress passed a Continuing Resolution to extend the previous year's budget until the end of October. It is likely Congress will pass another short-term Continuing Resolution as they have a few appropriations measures left to pass. As you may recall, Members of Congress in the House and Senate have the ability to submit individual projects (Congressionally Directed Spending items) to their respective appropriations committees for possible inclusion in federal funding measures. Essentially, requests that are included in appropriations measures, passed by both the House and the Senate, and signed into law by the President are then transferred to named entities for expenditure on the named projects. Earlier this year, the City of New Brighton contacted Congresswoman Betty McCollum seeking her support and submission of the east side road, east side soil, and refinery cleanup projects to the appropriations committee for inclusion in the corresponding House funding bill. Unfortunately, Congresswoman McCollum did not submit an appropriations request to the Committee on behalf of the City of New Brighton as it appears that she submitted a limited number of projects in her district. 0