GOP continues talks on 2001 budget total

House Budget Committee Chairman John Kasich, R-Ohio, and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M., have resumed their effort of early February to "pre- conference" the total discretionary spending number for the fiscal 2001 budget resolution-although neither committee is prepared to mark up a budget blueprint this week.

While the Senate will be out next week, the House Budget Committee hopes to go to markup next Wednesday.

But first, panel Republicans must wrestle with the same problem that has stalled their Senate Budget colleagues-agreeing to a spending total that satisfies both conservative hardliners and budget pragmatists.

To that end, House Speaker Hastert and Kasich held back-to- back listening sessions Wednesday evening-first with defense hawks and then with various interested members-to determine what number the House GOP Conference could support.

The discussions will continue as the leadership tries to balance competing pressures from defense hawks, who want to spend $10 billion to $15 billion more on the military next year than the president; moderates and appropriators, who say some increase over current spending is needed to meet GOP pledges of more money for education, biomedical research, veterans and agriculture; and hardline fiscal conservatives, who want to freeze total appropriations at the fiscal 2001 enacted level of $586 billion.

Domenici, who believes $600 billion is more realistic, has a similar struggle on his hands within the Senate Budget Committee-where conservatives led by Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, also want to clamp down on fiscal 2001 spending.

Gramm has said he opposes allowing real growth in non-defense discretionary spending. And Gramm-as well as Kasich-wants to make sure the budget leaves room for the $483 billion tax cut package proposed by the likely GOP presidential nominee, Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

Rep. John Sununu, R-N.H., a member of both the House Budget and Appropriations panels, said: "You've got to give a lot of credit to the senators who are weighing in to control spending in the Senate budget resolution. In the House, there has always been very broad support for [a spending freeze]."

But Sununu also acknowledged that pressure to spend more from defense hawks and others would force the House Budget Committee to go higher than the freeze level, although he predicted the committee will produce a budget that "quite likely will be very close to $586 [billion]."

Sununu also said the committee's budget will contain separate reconciliation instructions to cover the "marriage penalty" tax relief bill and the Social Security earnings limit repeal already passed by the House-as well as for a version of the Senate's Education Savings Accounts legislation, and possibly for urban renewal tax credits.