–House Republican Leaders Adjust Bill To Gain More GOP Support
–House Bill Faces Strong Opposition From Senate Democrats
–Hill Session Next Week Is Likely To Resolve FY’12 Funding

By John Shaw

WASHINGTON (MNI) – House Republican leadership slightly revised
their fiscal year 2012 stop-gap spending bill and passed it through the
House early Friday morning on a nearly party-line vote.

The House passed the bill on a 219-to-203 vote, sending it to the
Senate where it faces a hostile Democratic majority that vows to alter
it.

The underlying FY’12 stop-gap spending bill is relatively
non-controversial. It keeps the federal government running until Nov.
18 as work continues on the regular spending bills for the 2012 fiscal
year. The new fiscal year starts Oct. 1.

The overall funding level for discretionary programs in FY’12 was
agreed to earlier this year by the White House and Congress. That level
is $1.043 trillion for discretionary programs in FY’12.

However, there is a continuing dispute over disaster funding which
is attached to the stop-gap bill. The House GOP leadership backs a
package of $3.65 billion in emergency relief while Senate Democrats
support a $6.9 billion package.

Additionally, the House bill includes a partial offset to the
disaster package by cutting $1.5 billion from an energy efficiency
program. In a new twist, House Republican leaders also added a provision
to rescind $100 million in unobligated funds from an alternative energy
loan fund that helped finance Solyndra, a controversial solar panel
manufacturing firm that has declared bankruptcy.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday night that the
House bill is unacceptable and must be adjusted again.

Reid said Congress’s scheduled recess next week for the Jewish
holidays is imperiled. “The Senate is ready to stay in Washington next
week and do the work the American people expect us to do. And I hope the
House Republican leadership will do the same,” Reid said in a statement.

The FY’12 stop-gap bill was defeated in the House Wednesday night
on a 195 to 230 vote. Almost all House Democrats and nearly 50 House
Republicans voted against the plan.

The Democrats voted against the measure because of what they called
inadequate funds for emergency spending.

The nearly 50 House Republicans who voted against the plan largely
came from the Tea Party wing of the party which is critical of
government spending. Specifically, they said the overall discretionary
funding level for FY’12 of $1.043 trillion is too high.

Senate Democrats will likely bring up the House-passed bill Friday
and then defeat it, forcing negotiations between the two chambers next
week.

** Market News International Washington Bureau: (202) 371-2121 **

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