How your U.S. lawmaker voted

WASHINGTON — Here's how area members of Congress voted in the week that ended Friday:

House

"Pay as you go"

By a vote of 265-166, the House on Wednesday passed a bill (HR 2920) putting Congress' pay-as-you-go budget rules into permanent law and giving presidents power to sequester funds when Congress breaks those rules. The bill awaits Senate action.

Under "pay-go," Congress is required to offset tax cuts or increases in mandatory spending beyond baseline levels with matching revenue hikes or spending cuts. The bill exempts politically popular measures such as Alternative Minimum Tax relief, the Bush administration's middle-class and estate-tax cuts and Medicare payments to doctors.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Jay Inslee, D-1; Rick Larsen, D-2; Brian Baird, D-3; Norm Dicks, D-6; Adam Smith, D-9.

Voting no: Doc Hastings, R-4; Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-5; Jim McDermott, D-7; Dave Reichert, R-8.

Republican alternative

By a vote of 169-259, the House on Wednesday defeated a Republican plan to replace HR 2920 with a law setting permanent caps on annual spending and deficit levels while leaving tax cuts uncapped. The measure sought to cap discretionary spending at 3 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and total federal spending at about 20 percent of GDP. Congress now caps discretionary spending on a year-to-year basis in dollars rather than as a fixed percentage of GDP. The annual congressional budget resolution also projects the year's total spending and estimates the anticipated deficit or surplus.

A yes vote backed the GOP plan.

Voting yes: Hastings, McMorris Rodgers, Reichert.

Voting no: Inslee, Larsen, Baird, Dicks, McDermott, Smith.

Housing, transportation budgets

By a vote of 256-168, the House on Thursday passed an appropriations bill (HR 3288) that provides $68.8 billion in discretionary spending and $123.1 billion in total spending for transportation, housing and urban-development programs in fiscal 2010.

The bill's transportation section provides $41.1 billion for highway construction; $10.5 billion for mass transit; $6.4 billion for airport safety and air traffic control; $4 billion for building high-speed rail-passenger service between cities and $1.5 billion for Amtrak.

For housing, the bill appropriates $18.2 billion in Section 8 vouchers for low-income tenants; $8.7 billion in Section 8 funds to provide low-income housing for the elderly, disabled and others; $7.3 billion for public-housing maintenance and repairs; $1.85 billion to help communities house the homeless; and $350 million in housing aid for those with AIDS.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Inslee, Larsen, Baird, Dicks, McDermott, Reichert, Smith.

Voting no: Hastings, McMorris Rodgers.

Public housing

By a vote of 152-276, the House on Thursday refused to kill the HOPE VI public-housing program, which provides grants to communities for replacing rundown projects with mixed-income housing and support services for residents. The amendment to HR 3288 sought to eliminate the program's $250 million budget for 2010.

A yes vote was to kill the program.

Voting yes: Hastings, McMorris Rodgers, Reichert.

Voting no: Inslee, Larsen, Baird, Dicks, McDermott, Smith.

Housing, transportation spending cut

By a vote of 181-252, the House on Thursday rejected a proposed 5 percent across-the-board cut in HR 3288. The amendment would have trimmed $3.4 billion from the bill's $68.8 billion in discretionary spending.

A yes vote backed the amendment.

Voting yes: Hastings, McMorris Rodgers.

Voting no: Inslee, Larsen, Baird, Dicks, McDermott, Reichert, Smith.

Health, education spending

By a vote of 264-153, the House on Friday passed a bill (HR 3293) that provides $160.7 billion in discretionary spending and $567 billion in mandatory spending for health, education and labor programs in fiscal 2010. The bill ranks second to the Pentagon budget as the largest of the appropriations bills that will fund the $3.6 trillion federal budget next fiscal year.

In part, the bill provides $31.3 billion for the National Institutes of Health; $14.5 billion in Title I education funds for disadvantaged school districts; $11.5 billion in Individuals With Disability Education Act (IDEA) payments to school districts; $7.2 billion for Head Start; $6.7 billion for public-health programs; $5.1 billion to help the poor pay heating bills, and $1.4 billion in job-training funds. The bill also ends a 21-year ban on paying for needle-exchange programs to curb the spread of HIV AIDS and other infectious diseases among drug addicts.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Inslee, Larsen, Baird, Dicks, McDermott, Reichert, Smith.

Voting no: Hastings, McMorris Rodgers.

Senate

F-22 warplanes

By a vote of 58-40, the Senate on Tuesday voted to strip the 2010 military budget (S 1390) of $1.75 billion for 7 F-22 Raptor fighter jets that the Pentagon does not want. President Obama said he would veto any defense bill that funds F-22s in addition to the 187 planes already approved by Congress.

A yes vote was to remove the funding.

Voting no: Maria Cantwell, D, Patty Murray, D.

Concealed handguns

By a vote of 58-39, the Senate on Wednesday failed to reach 60 votes to advance a measure setting federal rules for concealed handguns. The amendment to S 1390 sought to require the 48 states (all but Wisconsin and Illinois) that issue concealed-handgun permits to honor the permits of other states, even ones based on less-strict qualifications. The amendment was backed by the National Rifle Association and opposed by Handgun Control.

A yes vote was to advance the amendment.

Voting no: Cantwell, Murray.

2010 military budget

By a vote of 87-7, the Senate on Thursday authorized a $680 billion military budget for fiscal 2010, including $130 billion for war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bill (S 1390) sets a 3.4 percent military pay raise, increases active-duty personnel by 40,200 troops to 1.41 million troops and caps procurement of F-22 Raptor fighter jets at 187 planes.

Additionally, the bill bars the military from using private contractors to interrogate prisoners and makes changes requested by President Obama in the rules for trying terrorism suspects before military commissions. For example, the bill increases due-process protections in areas such as the admissibility of coerced testimony, hearsay evidence and exculpatory evidence.

The bill provides $27.9 billion for military health care, $6.7 billion for procuring Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles and $7.5 billion for training and equipping the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police.

The bill includes a nonmilitary measure expanding the federal law against hate crimes to include offenses based on sexual orientation, gender or disability, as well as the existing categories of national origin, religion and race.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Cantwell, Murray.

Roll Call Report Syndicate