Senate will take up transportation, housing spending bill next week

Reid said the bill would come as part of an “unrelenting” new focus on the effects of deep discretionary budget cuts that went into effect March 1 in the absence of a grand bargain on taxes and entitlement spending.  

{mosads}There is little chance both chambers of Congress will be able to pass and reconcile the 12 annual bills before the fiscal year ends Sept. 30. As Reid noted Thursday, the House is slated to be session only 17 days for the rest of the year.

Overall there is a $91 billion difference in spending levels between the House and Senate appropriations this year.

For the THUD bill, the difference is $10 billion. The Senate will consider a $54 billion bill and the House is weighing a $44 billion bill, which is a cut of $7 billion from last year.

Hardest hit in the GOP bill is the Community Development Block Grant program, which is cut nearly in half to $1.6 billion — a cut of $1.3 billion that makes its budget lower than in 1975. There is no funding for high speed rail at all.

Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) serves as the THUD subcommittee chairwoman as well. She said the bill was chosen because it well illustrates that impact of sequestration across the country on infrastructure and economic growth.