Super Committee Holds First Hearing

The Joint Select Committee on Deficit reduction held its first policy hearing on Tuesday, Sept. 13, with testimony from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf on the drivers of the debt. The panel, which is tasked with finding between $1.2 trillion to $1.5 trillion in savings over the next two years, was told by Director Elmendorf that if the committee ultimately recommends specific changes to programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security, his CBO analysts would need several weeks to calculate their budgetary impact.  Meaning, he said, that the committee likely needs to get a draft of its recommendations ready by early November - even though its official deadline is Nov. 23. Last Thursday, the committee held its first full-member closed door session to work on policy positions outside of public hearings.  In addition, this closed door hearing is likely result in the announcement of the next round of public hearings. As for the hearing itself, both Republican and Democratic members of the committee spent much of the meeting attempting to have Director Elmendorf endorse their respective views on the best deficit reduction path forward.  The private meeting raises hopes members can actually discuss substantive policy. The final package of recommendations is officially due Nov. 23. It will be given expedited consideration in both chambers and go for a vote by Dec. 23.  If Congress fails to adopt the package; automatic cuts worth $1.2 trillion would be triggered starting in January 2013. AGC continues to meet with the Members of Congress who serve on the committee, asking for continued infrastructure investment along with tax and entitlement reform is included in their deficit reduction plan.  In addition, several AGC chapters and members, who will be participating in the National Chapter Leadership Meeting in Washington, DC next week, will have the opportunity to reiterate the AGC message when they meet with Members of Congress on the Joint Select Committee. For more information, please contact Sean O’Neill at (202) 547-8892 or oneills@agc.org.