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January 24, 2003 - The Senate Jan. 23 approved a $391
billion omnibus FY 2003 spending bill (H.J.Res.
2). The measure, which covers all non-defense discretionary
spending, now goes to a House-Senate conference, where negotiators
will have to decide whether to keep the nearly 3 percent in
across-the-board cuts of all programs in the bill adopted
by the Senate to provide additional funding for programs including
education funding, Medicare, and drought relief. The Senate
passed the package by a vote of 69-29 after spending a week
debating amendments to add funding for specific programs.
House negotiators are expected to balk at the across-the-board
cuts, which were necessitated by the agreement to keep the
bill within the overall spending limit demanded by the White
House. That limit, originally set at $750.5 billion, has recently
been increased to more than $755 billion as the result of
a White House request for an additional $3.9 billion for intelligence
activities. The President also is expected to accept $825
million in additional spending that Congress wants to combat
Western wildfires. The President has already signed two FY
2003 appropriations bills providing $365 billion for defense
in FY 2003.
Last week, the Senate approved an amendment calling for a
1.3 percent across-the-board cut to provide $5 billion in
additional education funding. This is in addition to a 1.6
percent across-the-board cut included in the initial text
of the omnibus bill to offset Medicare adjustments, election
reform, and drought assistance. Senate Appropriations Chairman
Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) predicted the 1.6 percent cut would
be adjusted to less than 1 percent as a result of new estimates
by the Senate Budget Committee revising the cost of those
programs.
Appropriators were unsuccessful in their efforts to complete
the FY 2003 process by the President's Jan. 28 State of the
Union address. Chairman Stevens has predicted a conference
report could be completed as early as Feb. 3, but most observers
believe the President's Day recess is a more realistic target
for completion of the bill.
Information:
Dave Moore, Senior Associate Vice President
AAMC Government Relations
dbmoore@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
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