Appropriations

The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security approved a fiscal 2011 $43.79 billion measure on Wednesday, a two percent increase above 2010 levels. 

The measure includes $9.92 billion for Customs and Border Protection, $107.5 million above the president’s request and $210 million below current levels. 

That funding includes $3.57 billion for 20,370 border patrol agents, with 17,000 based on the nation's Southwest border, more than double the agents in 2004, according to the subcommittee. 

About $20 million would go toward counter-drug initiatives for southbound operations lanes, personnel, and equipment to stop the outbound flow of weapons and currency used in the drug trade, $25.9 million for new officers, pilots, vessel operators, and staff and $20.5 million for one additional unmanned aircraft system and support equipment.

Republicans, Democrats and the Obama administration have proposed additional funding and agents along the nation's southern border, as violence has increased. 

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies approved a fiscal 2011 $77.3 billion discretionary spending bill on Wednesday. 

The measure matches the Obama administration's request and is $745 million less than the fiscal year 2010 amount, mainly because of decreased spending for the final year of BRAC 2005. 

The bill includes an $18.7 billion request for military construction and family housing, the same as the administration’s request.

The BRAC request, which is scheduled for completion in September 2011, is fully funded at $2.4 billion. The measure also provides funds to support additional construction requirements for operations in Afghanistan at $1.3 billion, as requested by the administration. 

Senate Appropriations Committee Republicans requested on Tuesday a three-year spending freeze setting non-defense discretionary spending at $1.108 trillion for fiscal 2011, not including war or emergency spending. 

That amount is $16.2 billion less than requested by President Obama for fiscal 2011, $41 billion less for fiscal 2012 and $33.1 billion less in 2013 for the plan authored by Sens. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.).

“I think that’s a terrific idea — it’s the right thing to do to place a cap on growth,” McCaskill told reporters shortly after Republicans announced their plan. “I think if we try to do massive cutting right now we could be dangerously close to a much more serious recession. But capping growth is exactly what we should be doing.”

McCaskill said the provision is only one or two votes away from gaining approval. 

A White House official pressed Monday for a one-year extension of a program that is expected create about 200,000 jobs by September, but has been targeted by Republicans for elimination. 

The push is to continue the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grants program, reauthorized by the 2009 economic stimulus bill and set to expire Sept. 30. The program was created in 1996 as a replacement for welfare. 

“At a time like this, when there are still far too many Americans out of a job, policy makers might consider this simple rule: when a program is successfully and efficiently creating jobs, don’t eliminate it,” said Jared Bernstein, chief economic advisor to the vice president, in a blog post.

The extension of the program is included in a tax extenders bill that has gone through several revisions in the Senate but hasn’t been passed yet. The latest version was paid for, but several Republicans have asked for modifications to the suggested tax increases that would pay for the bill.

The Department of Health and Human Services is reallocating $25 million to help patients with HIV and AIDS, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius vowed this week. Sebelius made the promise in a letter to Republican senators who have introduced legislation to transfer unobligated stimulus money to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program.

Almost 2,100 patients are on ADAP waiting lists in states across the country. AIDS advocates praised the move but said more needs to be done.

"The Obama administration recognizes the importance access to medications is to people with HIV/AIDS and the particular hardship states are currently experiencing due to the economic downturn," said Carl Schmid, deputy executive director of The AIDS Institute. 

"This additional funding will help some people who are currently waiting to receive medications through the ADAP program and some of the projected increased demand. Unfortunately, it is far from the $126 million needed for the remainder of the fiscal year to ensure that all people with HIV/AIDS who qualify for ADAP can receive their medications."

Cross-posted from Healthwatch.

The Transportation Department is making a $293 million investment in dozens of communities around the country for transit improvements that include new streetcars, buses and facilities. 

The funding is part of the Obama Administration’s livability initiative to better coordinate transportation, housing and commercial development investments to serve the people living in those communities, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Thursday. 

The grants are being made through two programs, the Urban Circulator Grant Program and the Bus and Bus Livability Grant Program.

"This investment by the Obama Administration in our nation's communities will create jobs, boost economic development and recovery, and further reduce our dependence on oil," LaHood said. "Our goals are to provide cleaner, safer and more efficient ways to get around."

The Health and Human Services Department will provide states and large metropolitan areas with $390.5 million to help hospitals improve their emergency preparedness and response. 

The grants are expected to help hospitals and other healthcare facilities be ready for emergencies such as disease outbreaks, natural disasters and acts of terrorism. 

Facilities in all 50 states and several U.S. territories are expected to use the funding to improve communications systems, processes for fatality management and systems that track available hospital beds. 

California will receive nearly $32 million and Los Angeles county will receive an additional $12 million. Texas is slated for about $28 million, and Florida $22 million. 

Under the program, New York state will receive $13.6 million and New York City is slated for more than $10 million. 

Illinois will get more than $12.3 million, and the city of Chicago is expected to receive about $3.9 million. 

The Associated General Contractors of America has called on Congress to provide more funding to help the industry better weather the financial crisis after construction spending decreased in the month of May. 

"Stimulus has made a difference, but Congress needs to provide long-term funding for transportation and water projects to assure further economic growth," said Ken Simonson, the group's chief economist, in prepared remarks. "Federal stimulus dollars helped keep public construction afloat and buoyed single-family construction."

Construction spending shrank again in May, dropping 8 percent from a year earlier. However, stimulus-funded public works projects increased from levels a year ago. The increase was the only bright spot for the non-residential construction sector, according to the group. 

Senate Finance Committee leaders Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Tuesday called on the Fox Insurance Co. to account for the $60 million-plus in Medicare funds it received and is alleged to have kept. 

The Finance Committee has jurisdiction over the Medicare Part D prescription drug program that gave the company the funds to pay pharmacy claims before it was terminated from the program. But, so far, it appears the company is still holding onto those funds. 

Senate Democrats are objecting to a House Democratic plan to redirect education funding away from reform programs and toward states and local governments considering teacher layoffs.

The Senate opposition complicates the passage of supplemental spending bill that also includes $37 billion for the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.