Committee Marks Up ATF Budget The House Appropriations Science-State-Justice-Commerce Subcommittee on Wednesday marked up the ATF budget. The committee markup provides for a fiscal year 2007 budget of $980 million, an increase of $48 million above 2006, the same as President Bush’s budget request. The budget continues to have an offsetting explosives user fee, or tax, that would be used to finance ATF's enforcement of the federal Safe Explosives Storage Act. The amount ATF would be expected to raise has been reduced to $30 million from the $120 million in the president's budget. While an improvement, the fee remains objectionable if it applies to small arms ammunition makers who are expressly exempt from the act. NSSF will continue to oppose the tax.