The Labor-HHS Appropriations bill for Fiscal Year (FY) 2009, which begins October 1, 2008, a bill which includes funding for Social Security's administrative budget, has been reported out of the Senate Appropriations Committee. The Senate Appropriations Committee has sent out a press release, but it is not yet showing up on the Committee website. The Senate bill would give the Social Security Administration $50 million more than the President's request for the agency. That is the same as what was reported out of the Labor-HHS Subcommittee but it is well below what was sought by those advocating for the agency. Unfortunately, the Commissioner of Social Security was not among those advocating for a bigger budget for his agency. Commissioner Astrue has been trying to downplay his agency's need for additional funding.
The fate of Social Security's FY 2009 appropriation is very much up in the air. The appropriations process has stalled in the House of Representatives. The President would surely veto anything that the Democratic controlled Congress would pass. With a new President coming next January, the Democrats in Congress have little incentive to negotiate with President Bush over the FY 2009 appropriations. It has generally been assumed that the appropriations process going on now was mostly to determine the bill that would be presented by the new Congress to the new President come next year, but there would be new actors on the stage then and there may be significant changes from what is being voted out of Committee now.
Beginning October 1, 2008 Social Security will be operating under a continuing funding resolution which will be problematic for the agency, since it will probably only allow spending at the FY 2008 level. This problem is likely to continue until at least next February and probably next March.
The fate of Social Security's FY 2009 appropriation is very much up in the air. The appropriations process has stalled in the House of Representatives. The President would surely veto anything that the Democratic controlled Congress would pass. With a new President coming next January, the Democrats in Congress have little incentive to negotiate with President Bush over the FY 2009 appropriations. It has generally been assumed that the appropriations process going on now was mostly to determine the bill that would be presented by the new Congress to the new President come next year, but there would be new actors on the stage then and there may be significant changes from what is being voted out of Committee now.
Beginning October 1, 2008 Social Security will be operating under a continuing funding resolution which will be problematic for the agency, since it will probably only allow spending at the FY 2008 level. This problem is likely to continue until at least next February and probably next March.
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