FY 2004 Appropriations Completed;
FY 2005 Budget Details Due Out on Feb. 2
January 30, 2004 - President Bush signed the FY 2004
consolidated appropriations bill on Jan. 23 (P.L.
108-199), finally releasing funding for NIH, health professions,
VA and a host of other programs important to academic medicine.
Enactment of the bill brings the FY 2004 appropriations cycle
to a close four months into the fiscal year. The president
will release the details of his FY 2005 budget proposal on
Feb. 2.
The president's budget request reportedly will call for holding
total spending increases for discretionary programs other
than defense and homeland security to less than 1 percent.
The White House is under increasing pressure from congressional
Republicans concerned about a growing federal budget deficit.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Jan. 26 predicted the
deficit in FY 2004 will total a record $477 billion, an increase
of more than $100 billion over the FY 2003 deficit.
Congressional leaders already are signaling that the upcoming
budget cycle will be a repeat of the gridlock that marked
the last two sessions of Congress. Both Senator Ted Stevens
(R-Alaska), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee,
and Rep. Ralph Regula (R-Ohio), chair of the House Labor,
Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee,
predicted Congress will not be able to finish most of the
13 appropriations bills for FY 2005 prior to the November
election. Both chairmen cited a shortened congressional schedule
due to the political conventions and mounting calls for more
fiscal discipline as obstacles that will impede the timely
passage of most appropriations bills.
Information:
Dave Moore, Senior Director
AAMC Government Relations
dbmoore@aamc.org
(202) 828-0525
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