Senate Democrats are pushing for an omnibus appropriations measure to keep the federal government and bond-related programs funded through Sept. 30, the end of fiscal 2011, instead of moving forward with a continuing resolution that was approved by the House last week.
But Republicans in the House are railing against the omnibus bill, citing the inclusion of earmarks and spending increases exceeding those in the House-passed measure. House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, who is to become speaker in January, called the omnibus bill a "spending monstrosity" Wednesday.
The Senate could vote as early as Thursday on the omnibus bill — a conglomeration of 12 different spending authorizations for each major division of the federal government that was drafted by Senate Appropriations Committee chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii.
The stopgap measure that is funding all the federal government's agencies and programs is set to expire Dec. 18.
Complicating the lawmakers' ability to tackle the funding issue is the battle over tax legislation that has been occupying the attention of both chambers. But the Senate passed the tax bill Wednesday and sent it to the House.
The $1.1 trillion omnibus bill would, unlike the House-approved continuing resolution, allow for about $8 billion of earmarks that would dedicate funding to states and localities for specially selected projects.
However, there are several similarities between the two measures.
Like the CR, the omnibus bill would provide additional funding for the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which were both assigned hundreds of mandates by the Dodd-Frank regulatory reform law.
The Senate omnibus measure mirrors the House CR in its proposal to extend current transportation and aviation programs, including bond-related funding, through the end of the fiscal year 2011.
But neither bill would provide the $50 billion of transportation funds or create the new infrastructure bank that the Obama administration requested in recent speeches.
Inouye said the omnibus is "far superior" to the House-approved CR.
"While I appreciate the work that the House has done in producing a full-year continuing resolution, I do not believe that putting the government on autopilot for a full year is in the best interest of the American people," he said.
The omnibus proposal would significantly increase funding for the CFTC — giving it a budget of $286 million, a $117 million raise over last fiscal year. The additional funds would support staffing and technology improvements to help implement the new Dodd-Frank duties, including regulation and oversight of over-the-counter derivatives trading and clearance.
The SEC's funding would be raised to $1.3 billion, a $205 million increase over last year, to bolster the commission's legal and investigative staffing to perform its new Dodd-Frank oversight and enforcement duties.
By comparison, the House CR would raise the CFTC and SEC budgets by a smaller amount, to $261 million and $1.25 billion, respectively.
The omnibus bill includes what market participants consider a basic extension of current highway funds. However, the extension through next fall would provide a longer-term planning horizon for state transportation departments than has been provided by a recent series of stopgap measures.
In addition, it would continue to fund community development block grants to states and localities at the fiscal 2010 level of about $4 billion.
The omnibus also would funnel $1 billion into intercity and high-speed rail projects, which is the same amount the House approved in its CR.
Finally, the omnibus bill would provide $8 billion in loan guarantees for nuclear power — enough for four nuclear projects in the country, according to Inouye's committee. The House CR would provide less — $7 billion — of federal loan guarantees for nuclear power.
