Politics

House Budget Committee To Unveil Fiscal Year 2017 Budget In March

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Juliegrace Brufke Capitol Hill Reporter
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The House Budget Committee is pushing back the introduction of its 2017 fiscal year budget until March.

The panel composed a balanced budget complete with a proposal presenting several different options for deficit reduction, but will hold off from unveiling it until it has been discussed with the broader GOP conference, a committee aide told The Daily Caller News Foundation Monday.

According to the GOP staffer, Chairman [crscore]Tom Price[/crscore] of Georgia has been conversing with lawmakers both on and off the panel about the proposal, which is slated to include reconciliation instructions and budget reforms.

House Speaker [crscore]Paul Ryan[/crscore], who has called on Congress to restore regular order to the process, walked members of his party through their budget options earlier this month, calling for the GOP to stick to agreed upon parameters to avoid another omnibus spending bill.

Conservatives have been highly critical of the spending increases in the deal struck between former Speaker [crscore]John Boehner[/crscore] and President Barack Obama last fall, calling for cuts in the wake of the national debt — which has passed the $19 trillion mark.

Rep. [crscore]Dave Brat[/crscore], who unseated former Majority Leader Eric Cantor, said while members of the House Freedom Caucus are often perceived as saying no to bills, they will be quick to say yes to a fiscally responsible proposal.

The Virginia Republican said it’s the party’s responsibility to prevent major increases to the deficit – like the $105 billion jump to $544 billion from fiscal year 2015 to fiscal year 2016 – so the country doesn’t accumulate the $9.4 tillion cumulative deficit the Congressional Budget Office estimates for 2026.

Brat told TheDCNF the country faces $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities, and the most common idea to get a conservative budget through the House is to tackle spending on the mandatory side.

“We are looking for mandatory reforms either through welfare reform, Medicare reform, social security reform, any of those that will offset the increases on the discretionary side,” he said.

The Budget Committee aide told TheDCNF the process is ahead of schedule and consideration on the appropriations bill will likely start in April – giving committee members adequate time to introduce and consider the proposal in coming weeks.

“This proposal enjoys the overwhelming support of the committee members, and the chairman looks forward to sharing it with the broader Conference as we continue moving this process forward,” Budget Committee spokesman William Allison told TheDCNF.

An exact date for the budget’s release has not yet been announced.

The Budget Committees in both the House and Senate opted not to hold hearings on President Barack Obama’s 2017 Fiscal Year budget blueprint, saying their time would be better spent working on a fiscally responsible plan.

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