FY 2015 Appropriations: House Action Continues, Senate Progress Stalled

The fiscal year (FY) 2015 appropriations process was off to an encouraging start when both the House and Senate announced a few months ago that they would abide by the FY 2015 discretionary spending caps included in the Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA, P.L. 113-67). Since that time, there has been movement on several FY 2015 spending bills as shown on the table below. Six bills have passed the House, and most have been marked up by the House Appropriations Committee, with the exceptions of Interior-Environment and Labor-Health and Human Services (HHS)-Education. The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved seven bills. However, progress stalled when the full Senate was unable to move its first three bills (Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science, and Transportation-Housing and Urban Development [HUD]) as part of a minibus spending package because of disagreement over the amendment process.

This Budget Brief describes the funding and policy provisions included in appropriations bills relevant to states. Table 1 provides recommended funding levels for major grant programs based on the latest House and Senate actions. Legislative text is not available for Senate bills that have been approved only at the subcommittee level.