Appropriators Face Another
Long Fall
August 9, 2002-When Congress returns to Washington
following Labor Day, it will face the ritual September rush
to complete the 13 appropriations bills before the October
1 start of the federal fiscal year. But with no agreement
between the House and Senate on a budget resolution, and an
Administration dead set against spending more than it requested
in its February budget, many observers predict another budget
siege lasting throughout the fall and perhaps into a lame
duck session following the November election.
Although the Senate Appropriations Committee has cleared
all 13 spending bills, only three have been approved on the
Senate floor. The House has passed five bills, but seven have
not even been considered at the subcommittee level, including
the always contentious Labor-HHS-Education bill.
The Senate version of the Labor-HHS-Education bill (S.
2766), which the Appropriations Committee approved July
18, appropriates $134.1 billion - an 8.7 percent increase
over the current year. While the bill completes the doubling
of the NIH budget in five years, it also includes significant
cuts in funding for Title VII health professions education
programs and provides only a minimal increase for the Agency
for Healthcare Research and Quality [see Washington
Highlights, July 19].
Meanwhile, in the House, conservative Republicans, frustrated
with the trend of holding the Labor-HHS bill until the end
of the appropriations process when there is greater political
pressure to add more money to the bill, have forced the House
leadership to agree to act on the bill as soon as Congress
returns from the August recess. As a result, the House Labor-HHS-Education
Subcommittee will most likely consider its version of the
bill on September 5.
However, this action forces the House subcommittee to mark
up a bill under the spending limit set the President's budget,
which is about $4.2 billion less than the limit imposed on
the Senate subcommittee. The House subcommittee faces a difficult
decision: maintain the $3.7 billion requested for the NIH
to complete its budget doubling or take money from the NIH
to address some of the cuts proposed by the White House for
other health programs. Either way, it is unlikely the full
House would approve a bill at this reduced funding level.
Appropriators, and increasingly Congressional leaders, acknowledge
that more money is needed. The dilemma that appropriators
face is how to convince their conservative colleagues and
the President.
Information:
Dave Moore, Senior Associate Vice President
AAMC Government Relations
dbmoore@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
Get Washington Highlights
in your Inbox!
| 
