House Appropriators Approve Less Money for Financial Services
The House Appropriations Committee approved by voice vote a measure that could mean less money for the FCC and FTC in FY 2016. The committee signed off on how much money each of the different appropriations titles would receive for…
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the next year. A Democratic lawmaker warned against the cuts in the $20.25 billion in allocations for Financial Services, a small portion of which would encompass the FCC and FTC budgets. “We take a 6 percent reduction,” Financial Services Subcommittee ranking member Jose Serrano, D-N.Y., said Wednesday during a session of the full Appropriations Committee. “We took a 6 percent reduction last year. … Why these cuts?” He questioned whether the reduction was really a cut or whether it was done due to an “agenda somewhere” and emphasized the subcommittee deals with many controversial issues, not specifically naming net neutrality -- a topic that dominated a subcommittee hearing with FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in March (see 1503240045). Some Democratic lawmakers expressed frustration at many billions in cuts across the board that the suballocations would show, but Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., shot back that there have been many subcommittee hearings and that lawmakers should have been asking questions of agency heads about what they would do with less money. “We’ve had that chance all spring,” Rogers said. The FCC has repeatedly called for more money this year, citing big-ticket needs such as a headquarters relocation. “Approval of these allocations will allow us to bring all of the bills to the floor,” Rogers remarked, calling the breakdowns of funding “fair and balanced.” The budget asks “everyone to tighten their belts,” Rogers said. The committee hasn't released a budget proposal for the FCC and FTC.