ICAST Experts Weigh In: Starkly Different Budget Bills Emerge from Congress

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By Kristen Cheriegate, ICAST Policy Manager | Ms. Cheriegate navigates ICAST through the policy world to obtain real-world solutions, funding resources, and networks with potential partners to provide more services to low- and moderate-income households.

The Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 budget is gearing up to be a show in Congress, with both the Republican-controlled House and the Democratic Caucus-controlled Senate pushing their own priorities within each individual Agency-related appropriations bill. Here are some measures ICAST wants to highlight to keep an eye on as we move forward in the budget process:  

House FY25 Energy and Environment Appropriations 

The House Appropriations Committee approved the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025 with a vote of 210 to 205. The resolution provides $38.478 billion, which is a 0.2% reduction from FY24 funding and 10% below the President’s Budget Request. According to the press release, agency funding levels would be reduced, including a 20% reduction to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The House also included a section that denotes what the proposed funding cannot be used for, such as: 

  • Executive Order No. 14081, relating to the Implementation of the Energy and Infrastructure Provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022; 
  • Implementation of the Biden Administration’s executive orders on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). 

The House has also accepted a motion to reconsider the Energy-Water Act which had passed the Appropriations Committee not long before. The $59 billion Act aims to cut down on many energy efficiency and renewable energy efforts: 

  • Cuts the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy programs by $1.5 billion or 43 percent. 
  • Revokes approximately $8 billion from the DOE’s Loans Programs. 
  • Slashes the Weatherization Assistance Program funding, and prohibits a chunk of funding related to the DOE’s Justice40 initiative. 

Senate FY25 Energy and Environment Appropriations 

The Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously approved the Fiscal Year 2025 Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act with a 28-0 vote. This $61.467 billion bill provides more than $17 billion for the DOE’s non-defense program – a $296 million increase over FY24. 

  • Approximately $3.4 billion would be allocated for energy efficiency and renewable energy programs, which would aim to invest and continue to bolter existing programs supported by FY24 funding. 
  • $70 million for the Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs, with the goal of having the funds support the electrification of 30,000 Tribal homes that do not have access to power. 

The Senate Appropriations Committee also approved the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies bill in 28-1 vote. Providing an estimated $44 billion in total funding, with a breakdown of some funding goals as highlighted: 

  • $12.65 billion for Tribal programs across the Department of the Interior and the Indian Health Service, an increase of $1.774 billion above FY 2024. 
  • An increase of $64.5 million for a total of $1.963 billion in funding for the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ operations of Indian programs to fund essential services in critical areas like housing improvement, natural resources protection, economic development, and social services.  
  • $9.29 billion in essential funding for EPA’s critical responsibilities to protect the environment and public health. 

Next Steps 

The House and Senate created and approved the majority of budget resolutions from their respective committees. The next step for each resolution is to pass their Chamber of origin. Following this, we enter the negotiation stage, where these bills are debated and eventually merged into one document (i.e., House and Senate energy/water budget resolutions merged into one). Both Chambers must pass a single version of each budget resolution before sending the approved funding bills to the President’s desk. 

Many of the budget resolutions have not passed their initial Chambers, and with both Chambers in recess – we will not see much movement in the Hill until their return in September (minus long pro forma sessions). Being that the next Fiscal Year begins on October 1, and because the approved bills are quite different thus far between each Chamber, we can expect to see heavy debate in the coming months. 

If the budget process has not been completed by the next Fiscal Year, a “Continuing Resolution” can be passed and signed (by the President) in order to extend current funding for critical government operations – therefore avoiding a government shutdown. 

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