To Members of the NASULGC System:

Memorial Day has come and gone and the congressional appropriations season is now about to bloom. This report provides you with a look ahead at the next three months and provides our best guess as to what may happen in the House of Representatives and Senate.

Budget Resolution
The House has passed the final version of the F.Y. 2005 congressional budget resolution. However, the Senate has not yet been able to pass this measure. Therefore, both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees are gearing up to pass the 13 annual spending bills with or without the budget resolution.

302(b) Allocations
As you recall from prior communications, we have all been working hard to ensure that the House and Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittees have enough funds to avoid cuts to CSREES research, extension, and education programs and to fund NASULGC's priority requests. Our effort appears to have borne some fruit! The anticipated allocation to both agriculture appropriations subcommittees for F.Y. 2005 is $16.7 billion. If this number holds, the subcommittees will have an allocation very near the $16.84 billion that was in place in F.Y. 2004 and -- more importantly -- an allocation that is much higher than the level proposed in the president's budget request.

House Action Begins Today
The House Appropriations Committee will begin to markup its F.Y. 2005 bills starting with the bill to fund the Department of Defense, which is scheduled for later today. Other bills that are likely to move this week include those that provide funds for the Department of Interior and Related Agencies (e.g. Forest Service) and the Department of Homeland Security. Both of these bills are scheduled to be marked-up in their respective subcommittees on Thursday, June 3. The agriculture appropriations bill is tentatively scheduled for markup by the House subcommittee on Thursday, June 10.

The House of Representatives will attempt to report all 13 bills from the Appropriations Committee before the long summer recess begins on/about July 23 and to get as many bills as possible passed by the full House by that date.

Senate Markups Could Also Begin Shortly
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-AK) met with his subcommittee chairs yesterday and was convinced to wait and see if the Senate could reach a budget agreement before proceeding with his bills. Stevens originally wanted to move all bills through markup by June 15, but now has decided to wait a couple of weeks to see whether the budget resolution passes. Additionally, he wants to see what the House does with its bills.

Stay tuned. More news as it breaks.

Larry LaRocco and Tim Sanders
The Blue Ribbon Team