With Democrats largely giving up the fight, the House Labor- HHS Appropriations Subcommittee today was poised to pass a fiscal 1999 funding bill that slashes high-priority Democratic programs, while boosting health initiatives and pushing Republican legislative riders.
"It's a tough allocation this year," Labor- HHS Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Edward Porter, R- Ill., said at the start of the markup. However, Appropriations Chairman Bob Livingston, R-La., said the bill amounts to a cut of one-half of 1 percent.
Democrats offered few amendments, but made it clear they oppose the bill. "The [Republican] Party leadership has once again moved toward the politics of confrontation," said Appropriations ranking member David Obey, D-Wis.
Obey lamented the change in appropriations strategy, saying that last year the subcommittee produced a bipartisan bill. "A year ago, we had a different situation," he said. "We had a good time in this committee."
The measure would increase funding for the Centers for Disease Control by more than $207 million and boost money for the National Institutes of Health by $1.3 billion. The bill also would eliminate the summer jobs and Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, and cut the school-to-work program by $250 million. In education, the bill would cut the Goals 2000 program by $245 million, while boosting special education state grants by $503 million.
The bill would establish peer review for OSHA regulations and prohibit needle exchanges for drug abusers, establishment of national education testing unless authorized and new rules governing organ transplants.
The bill also would establish restrictions on bilingual education programs--including a limit stating that students may not participate in such programs for more than two years without a waiver.
The bill also would encourage block grants by allowing states to use Goals 2000 funding and professional development grants for the same purposes as the education block grant program.
The panel passed a GOP plan that would require the National Labor Relations Board to adjust for inflation the threshold used by the board to determine if companies should be governed by the panel.
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