Congressional Appropriations Underway

Congress has begun the FY 00 appropriations process as both House and Senate committees made their 302(b) allocations and began to consider individual appropriations bills at the subcommittee and committee level. The 302(b) allocations are the method by which the appropriations committees divide te funds approved in the budget resolution among the 13 appropriations subcommittees. These allocations become the "pot" from which each subcommittee must dispense monies to various programs within their jurisdiction. The Energy and Water Development Subcommittee, which appropriates money for USACE programs, received $21.1 billion in appropriations in FY 99. This year, the Senate subcommittee received $21.3 billion and the House, only $19.4 billion. The amounts are different because the full House and Senate appropriations committees decided to divide the funding differently. The Senate Appropriations Committee voted out its Energy and Water Development bill in May. Even though the overall allocation was slightly above FY 99 levels, appropriations for the USACE was only $3.76 billion - nearly $350 million below the amount appropriated in FY 99. The Energy and Water Development bill is expected to be one of the first appropriations bills considered by Senate. Markup by the House subcommittee was expected sometime in June, but with an allocation almost $2 billion below the Senate subcommittee, USACE funding is unlikely to fare any better in the House.