WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives has taken the week off, but the Senate is in session most of the week. U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine says they need the time to work on implementing the budget deal passed by Congress and signed by the president.
"We are going to have to rewrite every single one of the 12 appropriations bills," she says. "The good news is that a lot of work has already been done."
Collins chairs the Appropriations Committee subcommittee that oversees transportation programs, and she has already met with the House leaders dealing with that budget to start work on that measure.
She says in some bills they will have to reduce some spending but in many it means slight increases in funding for programs.
"We will have to rewrite those bills but in most cases it's going to mean adding some funding to programs that were cut," she says. "It's still going to be a tight budget and it should be given the size of our debt."
