House proposal restores delayed federal pay checks

Even as the House and Senate budget committees struggle to keep a lid on fiscal 2001 discretionary spending, House Appropriations Chairman Bill Young, R-Fla., is circulating a draft of the fiscal 2000 supplemental scheduled for a Thursday markup that would nearly double the $5.2 billion President Clinton requested.

The $9.02 billion measure would restore to the fiscal 2000 books military and civilian pay dates that had been bumped into fiscal 2001. The pay date shift was made in last fall's omnibus spending bill to keep total spending from eating into the projected Social Security surplus, but the Congressional Budget Office now projects a non-Social Security surplus of $23 billion for fiscal 2000-money that will be used in part to cover the costs of the supplemental.

The measure primarily pumps up the defense and agriculture accounts, and would provide additional fiscal 2000 funding for anti-drug efforts in Colombia-a top priority of House Speaker Denny Hastert, R-Ill. It also would fund peacekeeping operations in Kosovo and relief to victims of Hurricane Floyd and other natural disasters.

While Clinton asked for $2.82 billion in emergency defense money for overseas contingency operations, aid to Eastern Europe and foreign military financing, the committee would provide nearly $5 billion-an amount that includes unrequested funds for operations and maintenance needs, the defense working capital fund, defense health programs and military construction projects.

House GOP leaders and Budget Chairman John Kasich, R-Ohio, have been trying to accommodate the GOP Conference's desire to provide more for defense than Clinton's fiscal 2001 request of $305 billion while keeping total fiscal 2001 spending as close as possible to the $586 billion fiscal 2000 freeze number-a problem Majority Whip Tom DeLay, R-Texas, last week said may be solved by spreading defense spending out over fiscal 2000 and fiscal 2001.

The chairman's mark also would appropriate substantially more for disaster assistance and other agriculture line items, such as the conservation and wetlands reserve land-idling programs, and buildings and facilities projects.

Other areas where the committee would provide funds not requested by the administration are in the transportation and NASA accounts, specifically for the Coast Guard, emergency relief highways, human space flight, aeronautics and technology and mission support.

Across the Capitol, several Senate GOP sources say Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., does not want to move a separate fiscal 2000 supplemental, preferring instead to have appropriators move the fiscal 2001 Defense Appropriations bill early.

And unlike in the House, where Hastert's commitment to the emergency anti-drug money for Colombia is helping to drive the supplemental, many senators of both parties have serious questions about the wisdom of providing so much money to such an unstable country without significant restrictions. The Senate Appropriations Committee is tentatively scheduled to mark up a supplemental March 21.