Congress Approves $3.5 Trillion Budget for Fiscal Year 2010

The House and Senate Wednesday approved their $3.5 trillion budget resolution for fiscal year 2010. No Republicans voted for the measure in either chamber. The budget resolution, which provides a non-binding framework for tax and spending legislation in Congress, assumes $764 billion in tax cuts over five years, and aims to cut the deficit in half by FY 2012 and by two-thirds by FY 2014. The agreement sets discretionary funding at $1.1 trillion for FY 2010, $10 billion less than the amount President Obama recommended in his budget, and sets non-defense discretionary spending at $529.8 billion for FY 2010. The budget resolution extends the Bush 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for the middle class, and assumes a continuation of the 2009 estate tax rate of 45 percent on estates worth more than $3.5 million, or $7 million per couple, which would be indexed for inflation. Under current law, the estate tax rate would drop to zero in 2010, but would be reinstated at a top rate of 55 percent and $1 million exemption in 2011. The agreement also includes special instructions that would allow health-care and education overhaul proposals to pass the Senate by a simple majority vote to defeat a filibuster. Republicans have warned that these special instructions could be used by the Democrats to expedite passage of other controversial legislation, such as a carbon emission cap and trade bill. Passage of the budget resolution is the first step in the annual Congressional spending process, which allocates funding for, among other things, federal construction programs. AGC will continue to advocate for the increased federal investment in the nation's infrastructure and public facilities through the nearly 100 construction programs at the federal level.