May 4, 2001

Budget Agreement Stalls, Vote Delayed to May 8

Congressional GOP leaders had hoped to complete action May 3 on the conference agreement for the FY 2002 budget resolution (H.Con.Res. 83). However, consideration of the measure in the House was held up because a jurisdictional dispute between the Budget and Appropriations Committee regarding control of a $5.3 billion FY 2002 emergency reserve fund, which resulted in a delay in filing the conference report. In addition, House Democrats, objecting they did not have time to review the conference report before it came to the floor, employed a number of procedural maneuvers to delay consideration.

Republicans finally abandoned efforts to move the bill at 2 a.m. on May 4 after key pages containing details of the tax cut were found missing from the conference report. The House will begin consideration of the conference report May 7, with the vote on final passage scheduled for May 8.

The agreement, which Republican negotiators finalized May 2, calls for a $1.35 trillion tax cut over 11 years, with $100 billion in immediate tax relief to help boost the economy.

The conference agreement initially assumed $666.6 billion for discretionary spending in FY 2002, a 4.9 percent increase over current year spending. However, the dispute over control of the emergency reserve fund was resolved by eliminating it, reducing the discretionary total to $661.3 billion, close to the 4 percent the President Bush requested and the House initially approved. The Senate had proposed an 8 percent increase. Some Republicans on the appropriations committees have expressed concern the increase in discretionary spending is not enough to get this year's appropriations bills passed.

The Senate is expected to take up the measure once it clears the House.

Information: Dave Moore, AAMC Office of Governmental Relations, 202-828-0525.