Obey expects to finish spending bills by August

House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) expects  all 12 spending bills for next year will be completed before August.

Obey's calender lays out specific dates for every subcommittee markup, full committee markup and floor vote for each appropriations bill.

"This schedule would allow the House to complete action on all FY2010 appropriations bills before the august recess, provided that consideration of other high priority legislation does not intervene and provided that we have reasonable procedural cooperation from all members," Obey said in a statement. "It is an ambitious schedule, but it is workable if we all work together and if other crucial considerations do not intervene."

Democrats in both chambers have set a goal of getting all appropriations bills through Congress individually and signed by President Obama before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 31. That hasn't happened since 1984.

Democrats, pointing to their unity and the size of their majorities, are hopeful this year will be different. But they'll have a hard time finding time to consider each bill when they're also looking to pass healthcare reform and climate change legislation this year.

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