Blue Dog Rep. Boyd on budget conference

House Democrats have included a fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrat
as a conferee in negotiations on a federal budget resolution.

Blue Dog Rep. Allen Boyd (Fla.) will join House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt (S.C.) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.) as the House Democrats in conference talks with the Senate over the budget resolution. The House Republican conferees are Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.), the ranking member of the Budget Committee, and Rep. Jeb Hensarling (Texas).

{mosads}The Senate will likely name their conferees Thursday, said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.).

The inclusion of Boyd in the conference could be a sign that House Democrats are willing to budge on the amount of discretionary spending in the budget. Boyd helped persuade Spratt to limit the amount of non-defense discretionary spending in the House’s budget plan. That proposal, drafted by Spratt , calls for $533 billion in such spending, which is less than the $540 billion requested by President Obama but more than the $525 billion request made by the Senate.

The other major difference between the House and Senate plans is over the use of the reconciliation process for healthcare and education reform. Reconciliation instructions, included in the House budget, would allow healthcare and education measures to move forward in the Senate with just a simple majority instead of the 60 votes needed for most contentious legislation. The Senate’s budget resolution does not include reconciliation measures.

Both chambers are supposed to pass a final resolution before lawmakers consider spending bills in May. House Democrats, however, don’t expect the conference to take that long.

“I don’t think we’re far off,” said Nadeam Elshami, a spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). “We’re making good progress.”