Funding for Commerce, Justice, State still up in air

Staff for House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., met Friday to discuss proposals on how to resolve a funding dispute involving the 2000 decennial census, but have yet to reach agreement, according to a Gephardt spokeswoman.

"We agree to disagree for now," the spokeswoman said.

Both sides would like to eliminate a deadline that would cut off fiscal 1999 funding after June 15 for the Commerce, Justice and State departments, which includes Census Bureau spending.

As part of a GOP proposal, Hastert has offered to remove the deadline and split bureau funding from Commerce-Justice-State spending in FY2000, providing next year's funding now, ahead of the normal appropriations process.

Gephardt opposes splitting the census funding, in part because the inclusion of funding for the Justice and State departments has made it more difficult for Hastert to cut spending for the bureau's planned use of sampling, which Republicans oppose.

The Gephardt spokeswoman said the two offices remain in "preliminary conversations" and expect to meet again, although no date has been set for another meeting.