WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, released the following statement after the Senate early this morning passed its 2016 Budget Resolution:

“Rather than taking a balanced approach to governing, this budget locks in sequestration for another year, adopts steep cuts to important programs, and undercuts the type of investments that we need to make in areas like infrastructure and education that are going to spur economic growth in the long-term,” Senator King said. “We can’t simply cut or tax our way out of the fiscal hole we’re in, and we need to get past looking at this debate in those terms. A one-sided approach simply won’t work.”

As part of the budget process, early this morning the Senate approved along bipartisan lines by a vote of 50-48 an amendment offered by Senators King and Tim Kaine (D-Va) that would would pave a legislative path for adopting a more sensible, compromise budget that would promote economic growth and reduce the debt and deficit by striking an appropriate balance between spending reductions and revenue increases. The amendment creates a deficit neutral reserve fund for future legislation to provide sequester relief to both defense and non-defense discretionary programs, which is a much more realistic and sensible alternative to the budget passed this morning which maintains sequester level spending reductions for defense programs and contains deep cuts to domestic programs.

“If there’s good news in this budget, it’s that the Senate approved our amendment to pave a path forward towards a more sensible budget that replaces sequestration,” Senator King said. “What this country deserves is a sensible budget that reforms entitlements while protecting beneficiaries, closes tax loopholes without raising taxes on the middle class, and maintains investments that will strengthen the country. Our amendment opens the door to that important discussion, and I will continue to seek a balanced approach to budgeting that gets our country back on track, puts people back to work, and grows our economy.”

The amendment follows Senator King’s comments during a Senate Budget Committee last week in which he criticized the budget for taking a one-sided approach to the nation’s fiscal problems. Senator King has been a strong advocate of a balanced approach – replacing sequestration with more targeted cuts and a close review of tax loopholes to raise revenues while also protecting the beneficiaries of important programs.

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