Republicans Break Budget
Deadlock
April 11, 2003 - Republican leaders appear to have
resolved the impasse over the size of the tax cut in the FY
2004 budget plan by sidestepping the question for now, allowing
a compromise budget plan to move forward. The House April
10 adopted by a vote of 216 to 211 a conference report on
the FY 2004 budget resolution (H.Con.Res.
95) that includes an unprecedented budget reconciliation
procedure where the House and Senate will consider different
tax bills and work out the differences later. The Senate approved
the measure 51-50 on April 11 before adjourning for the two-week
congressional recess.
The conference budget agreement drops the House proposal
for $265 billion in cuts to mandatory programs such as Medicaid,
agriculture, and veterans health care. Instead, the bill directs
various House and Senate committees, including the House Ways
and Means, House Energy and Commerce and Senate Finance committees,
to submit no later than Sept. 2, 2003, unspecified savings
in mandatory spending related to "waste, fraud and abuse"
that could be used for "development of future concurrent
resolutions on the budget."
The bills also create reserve funds to set aside $400 billion
over the next 10 years to modernize Medicare and provide a
prescription drug benefit; $12.9 billion over 10 years to
reform the Medicaid program; $50 billion over 10 years to
increase access to health insurance for the uninsured; $1.3
billion over 10 years to extend expiring SCHIP funds for 1998,
1999, and 2000; and $5.6 billion over 10 years for Project
BioShield.
The budget agreement limits FY 2004 discretionary spending
to $784.5 billion, an increase of $18.7 billion (2.4 percent)
over FY 2003 (before the addition of funds included in the
FY 2003 supplemental). For discretionary health programs,
the conference agreement calls for $49.62 billion, equal to
what the Administration proposed and an increase of $152 million
(0.3 percent) over FY 2003. The House proposed to cut discretionary
health funding by $1.4 billion (2.8 percent) while the Senate
recommended an increase of $3.2 billion (6.5 percent). The
Senate proposal assumed a 10 percent increase for NIH, bringing
its budget to $29.7 billion in FY 2004. The Administration
has proposed $27.9 billion for NIH for the coming year.
The President proposed a package of tax cuts totaling $726
billion over 11 years, a number that the House adopted when
it passed its budget resolution on March 21. But the budget
plan the Senate passed five days later included only $350
billion in tax cuts because four Republicans - Senators Chaffee
(R.I.), McCain (Ariz.), Snowe (Maine), and Voinovich (Ohio)
would not support additional cuts..
GOP leaders initially proposed the House draft a $626 billion
tax cut bill and the Senate consider a $350 billion measure.
The size of the final tax package would then be negotiated
by a House-Senate conference. That proposal was put on hold
when the Senate Parliamentarian issued a written opinion that
any conference report on a tax package larger than $350 billion
would need 60 votes in the Senate to avoid a filibuster.
In response, Republicans crafted a conference agreement that
directs the House to draft a $550 billion tax bill while the
Senate will consider a $350 billion bill to avoid a filibuster.
The conference agreement further specifies that the conference
report on the tax cut can be as large as $550 billion, thus
providing filibuster protection in the Senate for an additional
$200 billion in tax cuts.
Last, the bill includes the non-binding Senses of the Senate
concerning fiscal relief for the states, expansion in health
care coverage and funding for children's graduate medical
education programs.
Information:
Dave Moore, Senior Associate Vice President
AAMC Government Relations
dbmoore@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
Lynne Davis Boyle, Assistant Vice President
AAMC Office of Governmental Relations
ldavisboyle@aamc.org
(202) 828-0526
Get Washington Highlights
in your Inbox!
| 
