September 28, 2001

Appropriations Stall, Congress Approves CR

Progress on several of the appropriations bills, including Labor-HHS-Education, has been stalled because of a disagreement between appropriators and the White House over the overall discretionary spending level for FY 2002.

The White House, with support from House GOP conservatives, wants to hold discretionary spending to $679 billion. This represents the $661 billion spending limit in the FY 2002 budget resolution passed last spring plus $18 billion in additional defense spending being sought by the President. Appropriators are pushing to increase the limit to $686 billion to accommodate an additional $4 billion for education and another $2.2 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The White House reportedly concurs with the additional education funding, but wants it to be offset by across-the-board cuts in other programs.

The lack of an agreement on the overall number has forced the House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee to once again delay marking up its FY 2002 bill. With the Oct. 1 start of the federal fiscal year looming and none of the 13 appropriations bills finished, Congress has passed a continuing resolution to keep federal programs running through Oct. 16.

Although Congressional leaders insist that they can complete all of the appropriations bills by the end of October, some observers believe a more realistic target is mid-November. The House has passed 11 of the 13 bills and the Senate 10. Although conferees have been appointed for 6 of the bills, none of those conferences has begun.

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