#Federal Budget

Today the Senate began considering the $59 billion supplemental spending bill (HR 4899) that its Appropriations Committee approved last week. The bill includes emergency funding for priorities such as military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, disaster assistance and veterans disability payments.The Concord Coalition urges policymakers…

The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved a supplemental appropriations bill which, according to its preliminary estimates, will provide $58.8 billion in additional funding for this fiscal year.The bill includes $33.5 billion for military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, counter-terrorism, and…

Over the next few weeks, we will be hearing a lot about supplemental appropriations and emergency spending as Congress turns to a major supplemental spending bill that will likely include funding for the war effort and other priorities. As discussed…

The federal government ran an estimated budget deficit last month of $85 billion, marking the second year in a row that there has been an April deficit. The government usually runs large surpluses in April as income taxes pour into…

President Obama handed his bipartisan fiscal commission two very ambitious assignments: Find ways to balance the budget excluding interest payments by 2015 and to “meaningfully improve” the long-term fiscal outlook. (more…)

In the weeks ahead, climate change and energy issues are likely to be in the news again. Recently there has been much discussion on Capitol Hill about a potential bipartisan climate change proposal in the Senate. Energy issues were also…

One of the first post-recess priorities for the Appropriations Committees in Congress will likely be considering legislation for “supplemental” spending in the current fiscal year. Supplemental spending bills are usually considered each spring and are intended to provide funding for…

The Treasury Department has released preliminary spending and revenue totals for the first half of the fiscal year showing a slight improvement in the deficit compared to the same period in FY 2009. However, it is too soon to know…