Dear Hecate
When do the Members of the Conference Committee begin to meet? Are the meetings open to the public? What's the best way for us to protect our earmark in the House Budget?
Worried in Worcester
Dear Worried
This coming week the Staffs of both Ways and Means Committees will sit together and begin to review and confirm the differences between the House and Senate budget.........line item by line item.
The final list will be distributed to the Leadership and Members of the Conference Committee in each branch.
Senate Leadership will meet with the Senate Members to begin to identify Senate priorities and the House Leadership will meet with the House Members to being to identify House priorities. (For example we know that there are a number of outside sections in the Senate Budget that set new policy, and we know that the House has already stated that they don't like to insert new policy intiatives in the Budget. Another example is the big difference between the House and Senate in the amount and distribution of the Chapter 70 funds.)
After each branch has established their priorities, Conference Committee Members will begin to meet jointly in private to offer and negotiate compromises on some individual line items. Staff from each Ways and Means committee are always present to offer technical assistance. Sometimes the negotiations around uncontroversial items are quick -- let's just split it down the middle. Sometimes a controversial issue can take weeks of back and forth.
For this purpose controversial means that one or both branches have identified that the line item as a priority, and are not going to give until and unless their Leadership tells them they can.
So your job is to make your line item a priority by first flooding the House Leadership and each member of the House Conference Committee will all the reasons why they should fight to make sure the House version of the line item is in the final Conference Report. Ask each House consponsor and supporter of your earmark to communicate in writing to the Leadership and to each of the Conferees.
Your second job is to flood the Senate Leadership and each member of the Senate Conference Committee with all the reasons why they should accept the House version. (At all costs avoid the technically correct phrase of asking the Senate to "yield" to the House on this line item. Assume they were misinformed or mistaken, or maybe your earmark slipped through the cracks.)Get any Senate supporters to communicate in writing to the Leadership and each of the Conferees.
While the Conferees and the staff do their best to keep everything secret until they have finished, your House and Senate supporters might be able to get some hints before the conference concludes in the final public meeting.
Get to work.
Monday, May 29, 2006
Sunday, May 21, 2006
What will the Senate Democrats actually DO in the Tuesday Caucus?
Dear Hecate:
My Senator told me that she would be presenting our amendment in a private Democratic Caucus on Tuesday the 23rd and it was there that she would get a sense of whether or not our amendment had the support of the Leadership and enough of the rank and file to succeed during the budget debate that starts the next day. What is the purpose of these private caucuses? Do the Republicans have a caucus too? Is there something we can do to influence these caucuses? What do they do in there anyway?
No Stone Unturned Nellie:
Yes, the Republican's will no doubt have a caucus before the budget debate begins, and the agenda and the purpose for the Democrats and the Republicans will be more or less the same: to engage the Senators in an informed global discussion of all the public structures that support everything from education, transportation, clean air and water, public safty, the courts, social services, parks and recreation and the list goes on. Important to know: these sessions are considered private and off the record
In both caucuses the Democratic Leadership and the Republican Leadership will first review the Senate Ways and Means budget recommendations including the estimated revenues and the amounts allocated to each of the departments and agencies. After that briefing, Members do engage in a "spirited discussion" questioning the revenue assumptions and allocation decisions. Savvy Senators will wait for the right time in these discussions to brief their colleagues on some of their proposed amendments, both to identify possible supporters and to get a preliminary opinion from their Leadership.
Needless to say, Senate Leaderhip has a way of telling both Democratic Members and the Republican Members which amendments have their support and which don't.
Senators who are confident their amendment has the support of Leadership will immiediately begin detailed discussions with the President's staff and Sentate Ways and Means Staff to review and finalize the text and the dollar amount. Senators who are suspcious that their amendment will not be supported by the Leadership do the same thing AND figure out some face saving activities for the advocates.
You can help your Senate champion by talking to as many Senators as you can before the Tuesday Caucus. Ask each of them to speak up during caucus in support of your amendment. Wouldn't hurt to hang around outside the Senate President's office to pick up some immediate feedback either.
My Senator told me that she would be presenting our amendment in a private Democratic Caucus on Tuesday the 23rd and it was there that she would get a sense of whether or not our amendment had the support of the Leadership and enough of the rank and file to succeed during the budget debate that starts the next day. What is the purpose of these private caucuses? Do the Republicans have a caucus too? Is there something we can do to influence these caucuses? What do they do in there anyway?
No Stone Unturned Nellie:
Yes, the Republican's will no doubt have a caucus before the budget debate begins, and the agenda and the purpose for the Democrats and the Republicans will be more or less the same: to engage the Senators in an informed global discussion of all the public structures that support everything from education, transportation, clean air and water, public safty, the courts, social services, parks and recreation and the list goes on. Important to know: these sessions are considered private and off the record
In both caucuses the Democratic Leadership and the Republican Leadership will first review the Senate Ways and Means budget recommendations including the estimated revenues and the amounts allocated to each of the departments and agencies. After that briefing, Members do engage in a "spirited discussion" questioning the revenue assumptions and allocation decisions. Savvy Senators will wait for the right time in these discussions to brief their colleagues on some of their proposed amendments, both to identify possible supporters and to get a preliminary opinion from their Leadership.
Needless to say, Senate Leaderhip has a way of telling both Democratic Members and the Republican Members which amendments have their support and which don't.
Senators who are confident their amendment has the support of Leadership will immiediately begin detailed discussions with the President's staff and Sentate Ways and Means Staff to review and finalize the text and the dollar amount. Senators who are suspcious that their amendment will not be supported by the Leadership do the same thing AND figure out some face saving activities for the advocates.
You can help your Senate champion by talking to as many Senators as you can before the Tuesday Caucus. Ask each of them to speak up during caucus in support of your amendment. Wouldn't hurt to hang around outside the Senate President's office to pick up some immediate feedback either.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Budget Making in the Senate.............
Dear Hecate:
Is it true that that the Senate puts it's own budget recommendations together with little or no attention to either the Governor's Budget or the final House budget?
Hecate says:
First of all, the Senate leadership does pay a great deal of attention to the Governor's budget because the budget document serves as the Administration's workplan for funding and implementing all of our government's public structures.
Two small examples that have been in the news lately. If the Administration is truly committed to providing quality training programs for foster parents, there will be a line item in the Governor's budget that provides enough money for the Department of Social Services to design and implement such a program. If the Administration is truly committed to repairing all the ancient dams and levees to prevent the flooding of homes and farm land, there will be a funded line item in the Governor's budget to do that.
The Senate's job is to analyze the Governor's budget or workplan and to propose some alternative ways to allocate resources -- line item by line item.
Second of all the Senate pays a great deal off attention to the initial House Budget and especially to the amendment process, because the House has already gone through a line item by line item process of proposing alternative ways to allocate resources. One example that has been in the news lately is the good work done by local aid advocates who succeeded in adding over 70 million dollars to the Chapter 70 line item. What was the response from the Senate? A very early announcement during the same week that the Senate was planning to include even MORE money to Chapter 70.
So the Senate will go through a budget debate next week, having already announced most of their major priorities and alternative ideas for how our public structures from the Department of Social Services to the Department of Bridges ought to be funded. There will be a list of line items that are higher than the Governor's Budget and the House Budget, and another list of line items that are lower. No doubt the Senate debate will result in some corrections and some earmarks, but we expect no major new bold million dollar initiatives. Of course we could be wrong. Again.
Is it true that that the Senate puts it's own budget recommendations together with little or no attention to either the Governor's Budget or the final House budget?
Hecate says:
First of all, the Senate leadership does pay a great deal of attention to the Governor's budget because the budget document serves as the Administration's workplan for funding and implementing all of our government's public structures.
Two small examples that have been in the news lately. If the Administration is truly committed to providing quality training programs for foster parents, there will be a line item in the Governor's budget that provides enough money for the Department of Social Services to design and implement such a program. If the Administration is truly committed to repairing all the ancient dams and levees to prevent the flooding of homes and farm land, there will be a funded line item in the Governor's budget to do that.
The Senate's job is to analyze the Governor's budget or workplan and to propose some alternative ways to allocate resources -- line item by line item.
Second of all the Senate pays a great deal off attention to the initial House Budget and especially to the amendment process, because the House has already gone through a line item by line item process of proposing alternative ways to allocate resources. One example that has been in the news lately is the good work done by local aid advocates who succeeded in adding over 70 million dollars to the Chapter 70 line item. What was the response from the Senate? A very early announcement during the same week that the Senate was planning to include even MORE money to Chapter 70.
So the Senate will go through a budget debate next week, having already announced most of their major priorities and alternative ideas for how our public structures from the Department of Social Services to the Department of Bridges ought to be funded. There will be a list of line items that are higher than the Governor's Budget and the House Budget, and another list of line items that are lower. No doubt the Senate debate will result in some corrections and some earmarks, but we expect no major new bold million dollar initiatives. Of course we could be wrong. Again.
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