On the recordFebruary 3, 2011
over the last 20 years, the apportionment of committee funding has gone a straight two-thirds for majority and one-third for minority during the 1990s, regardless of the size of the majority and minority, to biannual negotiations during the past decade. It is my intention that the approach adopted for this Congress will be used in the future. This new funding allocation for Senate committees is based on the party division of the Senate, with 10 percent of the total majority and minority salary baseline going to the majority for administrative expenses. However, regardless of the party division of the Senate, it is also intended that the minority share will never be less than 40 percent, and the majority share will never exceed 60 percent. In addition, we are making a transition to restore Special Reserves to its historic purpose. We know that we will face tight budgets for the foreseeable future and cannot expect increases in funding. We have to move toward funding authorizations that are in line with our actual resources and I look forward to working with my friend, the majority leader, to accomplish this.
