House Appropriations Committee members have cleared a bill that would provide $21.7 billion to fund operations of the Treasury Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Small Business Administration and U.S. federal courts for fiscal year 2017.The proposed budget in the FY 2017 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill is $2.7 billion less than the President’s request and about $1.5 billion less than the enacted fiscal 2016 amount, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers’ (R-Kentucky) office said Thursday.
“Our bill is the product of comprehensive hearings with input from both sides of the aisle with an emphasis on economic growth and job creation through small businesses, while bolstering law enforcement to protect our citizens,” Rogers noted.
The bill would reduce the Internal Revenue Service‘s budget by approximately $236 million next fiscal year and add new oversight and transparency rules at the agency.
The panel adopted an amendment offered by Scott Rigell (R-Virginia) that seeks to block funding for the implementation of an executive order requiring federal contractors to comply with labor standard reporting requirements that Rigell believes can hurt vendors’ contracting activities.
The committee also accepted Rep. Marcy Kaptur’s (D-Ohio) proposed amendment to revive mail-delivery standards that were established in July 2012.
