October 5, 2001

White House, Congress Reach Agreement on FY 2002 Spending

On Oct. 2, White House and Congressional appropriators formally agreed to increase discretionary spending for FY 2002 to $686 billion. The negotiators had comprised on the $686 billion figure last week, but the appropriators would not consider the agreement official without a formal request from the White House for the additional spending to insulate themselves from possible allegations later on that Congress is responsible for increased spending.

The $686 billion total includes the $661 billion in discretionary spending agreed to in the FY 2002 budget resolution plus an additional $18.4 billion for defense requested by the President and $4 billion for education and $2.2 billion for disaster relief from wildfires and natural disasters sought by appropriators. The total does not include the $20 billion in emergency FY 2002 spending that is part of the recently enacted supplemental or the $15 billion relief package for the airline industry.

As a result of the agreement, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees planned to meet Oct. 4 to settle on new subcommittee allocations based on the $686 billion total. House Appropriations Chairman C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla.) told reporters that four or five spending bills can move through conference quickly once the allocations are determined.

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