John Spratt: “The budget agreement and the budget resolution both include funds for five Presidential initiatives, $16 billion for…”

“The budget agreement and the budget resolution both include funds for five Presidential initiatives, $16 billion for children's health care coverage, to which we were just referring, $9.7 billion over 5 years to restore SSI and Medicaid benefits to legal immigrants already in the country who are or may become disabled, $1.5 billion for food stamps, $1.5 billion to ease the impact of increasing Medicare premiums on low-income beneficiaries, and $3 billion for welfare to work. In each case, amounts have been allocated to the committees of jurisdiction and netted into the reconciliation targets for each committee. Although these committees have been given directives and targets that would allow them to spend these amounts, the agreement specifically provides additional resources solely for the stated purposes. The agreement in no way contemplates that this spending can be diverted to another program within a committee's jurisdiction or that it can be withheld to meet spending reductions that that committee is called upon to make.”