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Senator Claire McCaskill has written a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid about a three-year cap on increases in discretionary spending. She thinks the cap should be included in any upcoming Senate appropriations bill. The bill sets funding levels for the federal government for Fiscal Year 2011. KSMU’s Ryan Welch has this report.
In the letter McCaskill wrote to Reid, she says she will not vote for the upcoming spending bill if it doesn’t include spending caps for the next three fiscal years. Earlier this year, McCaskill, along with Senator Jeff Sessions, a Republican from Alabama, introduced an amendment to cap the growth of discretionary spending at an average of 1.5 percent each year through Fiscal Year 2013. She says this spending cap proposed in the Sessions-McCaskill amendment is very important.
“I think that’s an essential part of our decisions going forward as it relates to federal spending. And without that provision being included, I will not vote for the omnibus spending bill,” said McCaskill.
The spending caps would not apply to funding for the military. They can be waived in cases of emergency, such as droughts, floods, or terrorist attacks, but only with 60 votes.
McCaskill says that we can learn from similar spending caps from the 1990s to help Congress reach a balanced budget.
For KSMU News, I’m Ryan Welch.
