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Conference committee moves to shift some appropriations into individual bills, starting with health-care funding
Summary
The H.493 conference committee agreed in principle to move certain appropriations out of the conference budget and into the companion bills (for example, moving S.126 health-care funding into the healthcare bill) so that money would 'follow the bill.'
The H.493 conference committee on May 8 discussed a procedural approach to place program funding in the substantive bills that will carry program language rather than tracking the money only on the bottom-line budget. Committee members proposed taking the Senate general-fund money for the health-care bill (S.126) and putting it directly into that bill; similar moves were discussed for other bills, including H.91.
A member said moving appropriations into the bill keeps the budget cleaner and prevents the bottom line from being disrupted if bill language changes during the remainder of the process. Committee staff noted differences between the House and Senate approaches (for example, the House moving some spending into special HIT funds and the Senate using general fund), and the committee asked staff to sum the relevant amounts and place them into bill language where appropriate. Committee members indicated informal agreement to this approach and asked staff to notify legislative counsel so positions and funding lines are moved consistently.
Why it matters: Shifting appropriations into substantive bills changes how program funding is tracked through conference and can affect how changes to bills on either floor alter the budget arithmetic.
Next steps: Staff will compute totals for the relevant lines, prepare bill language amendments, and inform legislative counsel so the positions and funding are moved into the bill records.
