BPC’s Hoagland on House Passage of Omnibus Legislation

Washington, D.C.– The following is a statement from Bipartisan Policy Center Senior Vice President G. William Hoagland on today’s House action on the omnibus spending legislation for fiscal year (FY) 2018:

“With today’s vote, Congress is on its way to making significant and critical investments that will improve Americans’ lives. By providing funds to address the opioid crisis, furthering commitments to federal clean energy research and infrastructure, strengthening the low-income housing tax credit, increasing funding for child care and development block grants, and enhancing public health emergency preparedness and biodefense, this legislation takes many positive steps forward on policy, in line with recommendations BPC has made.

“Less worthy of celebration, however, are the opaque process by which this agreement was reached, the five Continuing Resolutions it took to get to this point, and the lack of any attempt to pay for billions of dollars in new spending. Congress just months ago enacted a tax package that adds at least $1.5 trillion to the debt over the next decade, and this new legislation piles on even more debt. Whatever happened to fiscal responsibility?

“This lack of regular order is one more example of why Congress must reform its budget process without delay, and the recently-named bipartisan, bicameral budget reform committee is a good start.”