Appropriations Begin to Lag
May 23, 2003 - Despite pledges from GOP leaders that
this year's appropriations cycle would not mirror last year's
marathon effort, appropriators reportedly are having difficulty
getting the process started. The leadership has been unable
to reach agreement on the subcommittee or 302(b) allocations,
which determine how much money each of the 13 individual appropriations
subcommittees will have to spend in the coming year.
Part of the difficulty results from the overall discretionary
spending limit agreed to in the FY 2004 budget resolution
that Congress approved in mid-April. The congressional budget
blueprint calls for $784.7 billion in discretionary spending
- spending determined by the appropriations committees - in
FY 2004. This is roughly $2 billion less than President Bush's
FY 2004 budget request, which also included user fees that
Congress is unlikely to approve. In addition, the budget resolution
assumes about $7.6 billion in unspecified cuts in the FY 2004
spending bills.
The problem may be particularly acute for the Labor-HHS-Education
subcommittee. Various sources suggest the FY 2004 allocation
for the subcommittee will be approximately $138 billion. This
appears to be a $6 billion increase over the current year's
level. However, the FY 2003 Labor-HHS appropriation assumes
about $2.2 billion in advance funding that has to be credited
against the FY 2004 limit. In addition, the budget resolution
precludes the subcommittee from using advance funding in FY
2004, which means the appropriators must come up with funds
for these programs in FY 2004. As a result, the actual increase
for the coming year may be closer to $1.5 billion.
Information:
Dave Moore, Senior Associate Vice President
AAMC Government Relations
dbmoore@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
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