Senate Passes Budget Plan
March 28, 2003 - The Senate March 26 passed its FY
2004 budget resolution (S.
Con. Res. 23) by a 56 to 44 vote after 8 days of debate
and 50 roll call votes. Six Democrats voted for final passage,
and one Republican, Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) voted against
it. The Senate resolution must now be reconciled with the
version (H.
Con. Res. 95) the House passed March 21 by a vote of 215
to 212.
Much of the attention of the House and Senate negotiators
will focus on the difference between the two resolutions in
the size of the proposed tax cut. The House budget plan includes
the President's proposal for $726 billion in tax cuts, while
the Senate voted to limit the tax package to $350 billion.
Other issues to be resolved include the levels of Medicaid
(see related article) and discretionary
spending for FY 2004. The Senate added $7 billion in discretionary
spending, raising its total to $791 billion. The House resolution
includes $775 billion in discretionary spending for FY 2004,
and the President's budget proposed $786.6 billion, according
to the Congressional Budget Office.
By a 96 to 1 vote, the Senate March 25 approved an amendment
offered by Senate Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee
Chair Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) to add $2.8 billion for discretionary
health programs. According to a summary from Senator Specter's
office, $1.8 billion of the additional funds would be assumed
for the NIH ), $600 million for CDC, and $400 million for
health professions education programs in HRSA. The Senate
action raises the total included for discretionary health
programs to $52.4 billion in FY 2004, an increase of $2.95
billion (6 percent) over FY 2003, and $4.3 billion more than
assumed in the House budget resolution.
House and Senate conferees are not expected to meet formally
until April 2; however, Members and staff have already begun
preliminary talks. One factor that may delay the budget conference
is consideration of the $74.7 billion FY 2003 supplemental
spending request for the war in Iraq that the President submitted
to Congress March 25. House and Senate leaders have indicated
they will push for completion of the supplemental before the
start of the two-week recess on April 11.
The AAMC joined more than 30 national organizations in a
March 27 letter to the chairs and ranking members of the House
and Senate Appropriations Committees urging them "to
set aside funding in the emergency supplemental request for
homeland security needs and specifically to support the smallpox
compensation program and state and local efforts to vaccinate
first responders."
Information:
Dave Moore, Senior Director
AAMC Government Relations
dbmoore@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
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