Budget and Appropriations 101 CDCs Budget and Appropriations 101 Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

NAHRO Staff Tess Hembree thembree@nahro.org 202-580-7225 Webinar recording, slides available at http://www.nahro.org/congressional-district-contact

Budget and Appropriations 101 in Five Steps Step One- State of the Union Step Two- President’s Budget Step Three- Congressional Budgets Step Four- Appropriations Process Step Five- New Fiscal Year Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org) Common Terms FY= fiscal year, begins on October 1 and ends on September 30 302(a)= Topline discretionary spending level for entire federal government 302(b)= Topline spending level for individual appropriations bill Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org) Common Terms President’s Budget- Spending proposal released annually by the president Budget resolution- Non-binding bill that sets House and Senate spending priorities and limits (302a) Concurrent budget resolution- Negotiated document merging the House and Senate budget resolutions, passed by both chambers, but not signed by President Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org) Common Terms Appropriations- Authorization process that allows the government to spend money- 12 bills fund all departments and agencies within the government THUD- Transportation, Housing and Urban Development bill is the appropriations bill that provides funding for HUD Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

Budget and Appropriations Timeline John Bohm (jbohm@nahro.org) ● Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

State of the Union Address Advocacy NAHRO- Live Tweet during the speech NAHRO- Response statement You- Letter to the President, Twitter, Facebook, Letter to the Editor Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

Step Two February: President’s Budget Release

February: President’s Budget Release Released first Monday in February Political document Not legally binding Specific funding levels and implementation information for policy goals for the year Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

February: President’s Budget Release Contains: Specific funding levels for all programs in all departments and agencies Detailed explanation of recommendations for all departments and agencies Proposes changes to programs Proposes new programs and policies Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

February: President’s Budget Release View budgets, past and current : www.whitehouse.gov/omb Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

February: President’s Budget Release FY 2015 Budget Release- March 4 and March 11 Visit NAHRO’s homepage for our policy team’s coverage In-person budget coverage at NAHRO’s Legislative Conference in Washington, DC Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

President Budget Advocacy NAHRO- Detailed summaries of the proposal NAHRO- Funding recommendations You- NAHRO Advocacy Action Center to send NAHRO-drafted letter to legislators You- Letter to the President, Twitter, Facebook, Letter to the Editor Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org) Questions? Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

March/April: Concurrent Budget Resolution Step Three March/April: Concurrent Budget Resolution Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org) Overview- Congressional Budget Resolutions and Concurrent Budget Resolution House and Senate Budget Committees draft, approve budget resolutions House and Senate debate, approve budget resolutions Budget resolutions negotiated in conference committee Conference committee drafts, approves concurrent budget resolution House, Senate approve concurrent budget resolution Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

March: Congressional Budget Resolutions House and Senate Budget Committees draft their own budget resolutions Document that sets goals and priorities for spending Also establishes overall amount appropriators are allowed to spend in the year- known as a “302(a)” FY15 302(a) has already been set at $1.014 trillion Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

March/April: Congressional Budget Resolution House and Senate debate, pass budget resolutions out of Budget Committee House and Senate both approve their budget resolution on the floor This process should be finished by April 15 Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

April: Concurrent Budget Resolution Both approved resolutions brought to conference committee Negotiations yield one concurrent budget resolution with one 302(a) Passed in both House and Senate Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

April: Concurrent Budget Resolution Concurrent budget resolution is binding, but does not have force of law President not required to sign Sets spending goals for appropriators Most importantly- sets topline spending level for appropriators (302a) Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

Congressional Budget Resolution Advocacy NAHRO- Legislative and Regulatory Agenda You- NAHRO Advocacy Action Center to send NAHRO-drafted letter (if warranted) You- Letter to the Budget Committee chairs, Twitter, Facebook, Letter to the Editor, Letters to Legislators Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org) Questions? Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

March-September: Appropriations Step Four March-September: Appropriations Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

Overview: Appropriations 302(b) Funding levels set by Chair House and Senate Subcommittees draft bills House and Senate Subcommittees debate and approve bills House and Senate Appropriations Committees debate and approve bills House and Senate approve bills House and Senate bills conferenced House and Senate approve conferenced bill Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

March- September: Appropriations March: House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees begin holding informational hearings Once a 302(a) is set by concurrent budget resolution, appropriators allocate funding levels for each of the 12 bills- 302(b) Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

March- September: Appropriations In FY 2014, THUD’s 302(b) is $50.8 billion THUD’s 302(b) level is critical to securing higher funding for HUD programs Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

March- September: Appropriations Advocacy NAHRO- Partner with other organizations funded by THUD to push for highest possible 302(b) NAHRO- Organize national sign-on letter to push for highest possible 302(b) funding You- 302(b) letter- http://www.nahro.org/nahro-advocacy Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org) Questions? Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

March-September: Appropriations Subcommittee Once 302b levels set, appropriations subcommittees draft bills Senate, House each have 12 appropriations subcommittees draft 12 bills Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) bill funds HUD programs Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

March-September: Appropriations Subcommittee THUD Appropriations Bill provides funding for all HUD, discretionary transportation programs within government Traditionally does not include authorization language or major policy changes Absence of action from authorizing committees (Financial Services, Banking) has forced appropriators to include policy language Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

March-September: Appropriations Subcommittee Subcommittee bill draft released Subcommittee debates bill Subcommittee approves bill Passes bill to full Appropriations Committee Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

March- September: Appropriations Subcommittee Advocacy NAHRO- Meet with appropriators to push for specific HUD funding levels while bills are drafted NAHRO- Legislative and regulatory agenda NAHRO- Technical memo You- Advocacy Action Center letter, reach out to legislators to personalize the impact of HUD programs in their states/districts You- Tweet, Facebook messages to appropriators, your legislators You- Time to act is now BEFORE draft of bill is released Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org) Questions? Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

March-September: Appropriations Committee Passes bill to full Appropriations Committee Full Appropriations Committee debates, approves bill Bill moves to floor for final vote Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

March- September: Appropriations Advocacy NAHRO- Push for necessary changes to bill by working with legislators to introduce amendments NAHRO- Communications with legislators and staff urging support or rejection of bills, amendments You- Closely watch NAHRO Advocacy Action Center- critical time to take action and events change quickly You- Be ready to call your legislators offices, Tweet and Facebook to lawmakers Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org) Questions? Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

July- September: Conference Committee Once House and Senate approve their THUD bill (or other appropriations bill), conference committee is formed Conference committee negotiates differences between bills, creates one single THUD bill Conference Committee approves bill House, Senate approve conferenced bill Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

Conference Committee Advocacy NAHRO- Direct communication to conferees NAHRO- Communication to legislators urging them to support/reject conferenced bill You- Check if any of your legislators are conferees You- Watch Advocacy Action Center for alerts Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

Appropriations Subcommittee Advocacy Are you represented by a member of the Appropriations Committee or THUD Subcommittee? House Appropriations resources- appropriations.house.gov Senate Appropriations resources- appropriations.senate.gov Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

October 1, New Fiscal Year Begins Step 5 October 1, New Fiscal Year Begins Ideally, Congress has approved all 12 appropriations bills to fund the government in the new fiscal year Realistically, Congress has not completed the appropriations process Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

October 1, New Fiscal Year Begins Step 5 October 1, New Fiscal Year Begins If Congress has not completed appropriations process: - Omnibus: bills that were close to approval packaged together and approved together - Continuing Resolution (CR): extends funding levels of previous fiscal year in new fiscal year for specific amount of time - Combination of omnibus and CR - Failure to approve any spending bill results in government shut down Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org) Questions? Tess Hembree (thembree@nahro.org)

NAHRO Staff Tess Hembree thembree@nahro.org 202-580-7225 Webinar recording, slides available at http://www.nahro.org/congressional-district-contact