WASHINGTON — House Republicans released an appropriations bill Wednesday that would slash funding for financial services agencies by 9% in 2012.
The bill, released by the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services, would provide $19.9 billion in funding for the agencies, including the Treasury Department, Securities and Exchange Commission, IRS, Small Business Administration and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It would provide $2 billion less than fiscal year 2011, and $6 billion, or 23%, less than the Obama administration requested.
The subcommittee will hold a hearing on the proposed legislation Thursday, according to a press release.
The measure would also cap mandatory funds for the CFPB at $200 million — the current limit is $600 million — and subject it to the annual appropriations process beginning in 2013. The bureau currently receives a percentage of the Federal Reserve budget and is independent of the appropriations process.
"This new agency created by the Dodd-Frank legislation has not yet been fully constituted and many questions remain as to its authority and mission," the subcommittee said in a press release.
The legislation would also limit funding for the Office of Financial Stability, which administers the Troubled Asset Relief Program, and would terminate Treasury's Home Affordable Modification Program. The measure would provide SBA more money than last year, but less than it requested.
