Energy policy not delaying US spending bills: House Democratic whip

Washington (Platts)--13Dec2011/355 pm EST/2055 GMT

Energy policy riders are not delaying a package of federal spending bills that US lawmakers are racing to pass before the end of this week, a senior Democrat in the House of Representatives said Tuesday.

Asked by reporters about potentially controversial energy policy provisions, Senate Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland said he met with two top Appropriations Committee Democrats on Monday night, who told him those are not a sticking point.

"They were both pleased at the progress that was made at working out some of the riders and the internals to the bill," Hoyer said, at a briefing Tuesday.

The package includes bills to fund the Environmental Protection Agency and Interior and Energy departments, among other federal agencies.

A Senate Republican aide, who asked that he not be identified, said energy policy riders were included in the "megabus" spending bill but would not go into detail on the provisions.

A package of spending bills was expected to be released late Monday, but lawmakers delayed releasing the measure. The current timeline is "uncertain," according to House Appropriations Committee spokeswoman Jennifer Hing.

At an earlier news conference on Tuesday, House Speaker John Boehner, Republican-Ohio, said House and Senate appropriators had come to an agreement on the omnibus spending bill and that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was the only obstacle to its introduction.

"There is no problem with this bill," he said of the spending measure. Referring to leaders of the House and Senate appropriations committees, Boehner said, "They've already shook hands on it."

Hoyer largely agreed with Boehner, saying that Democrats are concerned that Republicans would not pass Democratic priorities like extending unemployment benefits and the payroll tax cut, if they pass the spending bill first.

"I think that the bill itself is 98% done. I think there are still some lingering issues that I think are workable," Hoyer said. "What's really holding this up is we have a number of must-pass things to do."

The continuing resolution that funds most federal operations expires on December 16. The spending bill, or yet another continuing resolution, must be passed before then to prevent a government shutdown.

--Keith Chu, keith_chu@platts.com
--Nicholas Juliano, nicholas_juliano@platts.com

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