House Budget Committee Passes FY 2013 Budget Resolution

Yesterday, by a margin of 19-18, the House Budget Committee passed their budget resolution for fiscal year (FY) 2013, the "Path to Prosperity." Two Republicans, Justin Amash (Mich.) and Tim Huelskamp (Kan.), joined all Democrats in opposing the resolution.  A summary of the "Path to Prosperity" can be found here. The FY 2013 budget resolution is expected to be on the House floor next week where it will be opposed by Democrats and may face opposition from some Republicans. The annual budget resolution is supposed to set the overall spending limits appropriators will use when they begin work on the annual spending legislation.  The resolution addresses every aspect of the federal budget including discretionary spending, entitlement programs and taxes. The budget resolution would set the discretionary spending cap at $1.028 trillion.  The cap is the same as last year's House Republican Budget but $19 billion below the $1.047 trillion cap set in the Budget Control Act passed last August.  The resolution calls for using a process known as budget reconciliation to cut more than $200 billion in mandatory spending  over 10 years and eliminating $55 billion in planned defense cuts through sequestration (as outlined in the Budget Control Act).  In terms of taxes, the plan assumes no new tax increases, consolidates the six current tax brackets into two brackets of 10 and 25 percent, repeals the Alternative Minimum Tax, and reduces the corporate tax rate to 25 percent. The resolution's impact on federal construction accounts is yet to be determined.  It can be assumed, however, based on the overall budget number that federal construction accounts will once again see an overall cut in funding.  Ultimately, the appropriators will decide what discretionary programs get funded and at what levels.  As reported in the transportation reauthorization story below, the resolution does have a direct impact on transportation construction funding. Throughout the budget and appropriations process, AGC will continue to educate members of Congress on the importance of continued investment in our federal construction programs. For more information, please contact Sean O’Neill at (202) 547-8892 oroneills@agc.org.