Senate Panel Approves FY08 Budget
News Date March 20, 2007
The Senate Budget Committee approved an FY08 budget resolution on March 15 which provides a total of almost $950 billion in budget authority for the next fiscal year. The budget resolution is not signed into law and serves as a blueprint for the individual congressional appropriations committees as they develop their spending bills.
The full Senate is expected to begin debate on the budget bill the week of March 19. The Senate's FY08 budget plan would provide more money than the administration's $932 billion proposal, and would boost spending for a variety of domestic programs such as health, education, homeland security, and veteran's care. The budget plan allows a $15 billion increase in mandatory agriculture funding between 2008 and 2012, and provides a "deficit neutral reserve fund for the reauthorization of agricultural programs" under the new farm bill. (Contact: Charlie Ingram)