Budget Conference Conducts First Meeting

On Oct. 30, the 29 budget conference members charged with coming to an agreement on revenue and spending between the two chambers of Congress met for its first public meeting in the Capitol. The initial gathering began with opening statements by each member, which all centered around finding comity and common ground, while staking out boundaries on potential spending cuts to the middle-class, Medicare beneficiaries and defense programs, as well as changes to tax revenues that the conference will concentrate on for the next six weeks. AGC sent a letter to the conferees outlining industry priorities on taxes, entitlement spending, sequestration and investment in the nation’s infrastructure. The conference is charged with coming to an agreement by Dec. 13, and a key aim will be finding a top-line discretionary spending level for fiscal year 2014, which began on Oct. 1. As of now, the House and Senate budgets are $91 billion apart on their preferred top-line numbers. The leaders of the conference, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.), will continue to meet privately with each other to lay out parameters and identify areas where principles overlap. The next meeting of the budget conference is expected to be broadcast live either on C-SPAN or the Budget Committee's website on Wednesday, Nov. 13. On the tax reform front, Budget Chairman Ryan – also a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee – noted that the tax-writing committees, not the budget conferees should have final say on revisions to the tax code. Chairman Ryan said, “Our tax code is full of carve-outs and kickbacks. We need to get rid of them. And bipartisan talks [over tax reform] are just the way to do it....If this conference becomes an argument about taxes, we're not going to get anywhere.” Meanwhile, Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) addressed those who have questioned the chances for tax reform during a speech on the Senate floor yesterday, where he said the tax reform “issue is not going away.” Chairman Baucus also addressed how he plans to work with the ongoing budget conference. “I look forward to working with Chairman Murray and Chairman Ryan on the tax and entitlement components of their discussions," Baucus said during his speech. He promised to continue to work on a “parallel track” with House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) to keep going forward with tax reform. For more information, please contact Brian Lenihan at (202) 547-4733 lenihanb@agc.org