July 20, 2005

Appropriations Season: Updates from Capitol Hill

NOAA

As mentioned in our last NOAA update, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed its Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) FY 2006 bill on June 23rd. The bill must now pass the Senate floor and is, in fact, rumored to be the next appropriations bill scheduled for a full Senate vote before Congress leaves Washington for its summer break.

Once the CJS bill has passed the Senate floor, House and Senate Appropriators will compromise on any remaining differences between their two bills during a conference committee. The committee's report will then be sent back to the floors of both chambers for a vote.

EPA

The Senate passed its FY 2006 Interior and Environment bill at the conclusion of June. Included was a $7 million figure for the OEE, as compared to the $9 million that the House included in its Interior bill.

Currently, staff-level talks on how to reconcile differences between the House and Senate versions of the Interior bill have been progressing quickly. Lawmakers are expected to officially join these conference committee negotiations as early as Monday evening. Aides for both chambers expect to wrap up the committee's work and send a completed report to the floor of the House and the Senate before Congress takes its August break.