HOUSE SETS TIGHT ALLOCATION FOR E&W APPROPS SUBCOMMITTEE

House lawmakers unveiled the allocations for each appropriations subcommittee late last week, and funding is going to be tight in the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee. The panel funds the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management, but the $30.4 billion allocation for the subcommittee—known as the 302(b) allocation—is $2.9 billion below the panel’s pre-sequester level from a year ago, and $700 million below the post-sequester level. That is likely to force tough decisions on key weapons, nonproliferation and cleanup work, which competes along other DOE offices and water projects for funding in the committee. “This is the hand that sequestration has dealt us, and we have no choice but to try and make the best of what we have,” House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) said in a statement. “It is my sincere hope that the House and Senate can come together on a sustainable budget compromise to replace sequestration and establish a responsible, single House and Senate top line discretionary budget number.”