Membership Messages

Follow-up on federal appropriations process FY19

Hello everyone,

 

On the Member connection call, Tom Manning-Beavin asked a great question on the FY19 federal appropriations process. Specifically, when will Members of Congress (we’re really talking about the House here, because they appropriate funds) accept requests and when appropriations subcommittees would accept Member of Congress requests? It was a great question and suggestion for my follow up, and shows how we can work together to get more done.

 

First of all, as you know, the most important thing for these Members of Congress is to hear consistently about your good work as leaders in your (and their) communities, so reaching out is good in all cases. On this specific question, there are two issues: 1) Members of Congress process for taking input from constituents; and 2) Appropriations Subcommittees’ process of taking Member of Congress input.

 

On 1), apparently each Member of Congress has their own process for taking requests from constituents. I encourage you to contact your Member of Congress about how they are taking input if you would like to request an appropriation – it’s a great opportunity to reach out directly to the Congress Member and be able to share your stories on programs that are important to you. On that note, I should say that Fahe is already joining coalitions requesting expanded funding for HOME, USDA programs, and others. Here they are:

 

1)    HOME Coalition requests $1.2 billion for HOME, an increase from 2017 $950 million

2)    NRHC requests $1.2 billion for 502 direct, an increase from FY18 $900 million in the House / $1 billion in the Senate

3)    NRHC requests $50 million for 515, an increase from the FY18 $23.4 million in the House / $35 million in the Senate

4)    NRHC requests $30 million loans and $10 million grants for 516-514, an increase from the FY18 $15M loans + $10M grants (House) and $6M loans + $8.4M grants (Senate)

5)    NRHC requests $38 million for Self-Help housing, an increase from a FY17 appropriation of $25 million in the House and $30 million in the Senate

6)    NLIHC requested $3.5 billion annually for the national Housing Trust Fund

 

For the programs most important to you, you may request the above amount, or request more. In all cases, talk with your Member of Congress about the work you all are doing with the program and why it is important. We all know we need more investment than this on the national scale so Appalachia has enough to do all the work that needs doing. However, these coalitions made a determination about a measurable increase that they believe they can get.

 

 

On 2), The Members of Congress then send their requests (informed by yours) to the various relevant appropriations subcommittees. As we discussed on the call, those subcommittees have already started taking requests, with the deadlines listed below. Just as an FYI, the hyperlink is to the Congressional website, where clicking on a subcommittee will show instructions for the Members of Congress to submit to the appropriations subcommittees.

 

House Subcommittee Deadline

  • Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies – March 16, 2018
  • Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies – March 16, 2018
  • Defense – March 19, 2018
  • Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies – March 16, 2018
  • Financial Services and General Government – March 19, 2018
  • Homeland Security – March 19, 2018
  • Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies – March 16, 2018
  • Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies – March 19, 2018
  • Legislative Branch – March 16, 2018
  • Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies – March 16, 2018
  • State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs – March 16, 2018
  • Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies – March 19, 2018

 

If you want to make appropriations requests, we encourage it, and encourage you to please do so in a timely fashion (thanks again Tom for bringing this up on the call) so that Members of Congress can request to the subcommittees. Please reach out to me if you have follow up questions or thoughts, and I hope you have good conversations with your Congressional Representatives. Have a great weekend,

 

Alex