Back from the holidays, Congressional leaders met with the White House this week to reach a budget agreement before the latest Continuing Resolution expires on January 19, 2018. At the center of negotiations are debates over spending levels for military and domestic programs, as well as immigration and border security.
Republicans and Democrats are arguing over a deal that would combine tougher immigration policies with a DACA deal. Until the budget deal is negotiated, lawmakers do not know how much funding is available for Fiscal Year 2018 and are unable to finish an omnibus package that will cost over a trillion dollars. Forestry advocates continue to urge lawmakers to include a wildfire funding fix in the omnibus bill. This fix would end the budget practice known as “fire borrowing,” which forces the United States Forest Service to drain funds from important management projects to pay for wildfire suppression activities. Several standalone proposals have been introduced in Congress in 2017 which would make wildfire funding eligible for FEMA’s major disaster relief along with hurricanes, tornadoes, and other natural disasters.