Senators will consider how much to invest in their own buildings tomorrow, when the Architect of the Capitol will argue to increase his office's budget by 18 percent in an atmosphere of fiscal restraint.

The AOC makes up more than 10 percent of Congress' budget, which funds everything from staff salaries to congressional travel to a handful of legislative branch agencies. Republicans have made a point in the past two years of cutting the overall budget to serve as an example for decreased government spending.

This year, AOC suffered a 5 percent cut, prompting hiring freezes, dimmed lights and a growing list of delayed maintenance projects. But architect Stephen Ayers has warned House appropriators that congressional buildings will fall into disrepair without more funds, even as he embarks on renovations to make the Capitol complex more energy-efficient (Greenwire, Feb. 22).

Tomorrow, he will face the Senate Appropriations subpanel on the legislative branch. Ayers' testimony will likely mirror his comments at the House hearing, but about $79 million of his $668 million request deals with Senate buildings whose funding is only considered by the upper chamber. That would be an $8 million increase over this year for Senate building maintenance and operation, or more than 11 percent.

The House's top legislative branch appropriator, Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.), has told the AOC to not expect a funding increase next year. But Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), Crenshaw's equivalent in the Senate, will not be setting such goals before tomorrow's hearing, spokesman Ron Eckstein said.

"His perspective is of course we want to cut as much out of [the legislative branch] budget as we can, but he wants to make sure all of the needs are being met," Eckstein said. "The AOC, for instance, has to make its proposal and explain what it needs the money for and what their suggestions are. He hopes to work with them."

Nelson's subcommittee will also consider the budgets of the Library of Congress and the Office of Compliance tomorrow.

Schedule: The hearing is tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. in 138 Dirksen.

Witnesses: Architect of the Capitol Stephen Ayers; Librarian of Congress' James Billington; Office of Compliance Executive Director Tamara Chrisler; and Open World Leadership Center executive director John O'Keefe.