House panel OKs Labor-HHS bill; Clinton veto likely

Democrats complained the legislation wasn't real, but Republican appropriators, trying not to repeat past mistakes, moved a $342 billion fiscal year 2001 spending bill covering popular health, education and job programs through a House subcommittee Wednesday.

The bill passed on an 8-6 party-line vote.

Typically, the perpetually under-funded bill is one of the last appropriations bills even to see committee action, and the last two years, the bill has been so mired by political shenanigans, it has not even moved to the House floor.

But Rep. John Porter, R-Ill., the retiring chairman of the Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee, declared that this bill would move through the proper channels, even if its low discretionary allocation ensures long-term trouble. As for that allocation, appropriators mustered about $99.9 billion in discretionary funds, a $4 billion increase over last year but $6 billion short of what President Clinton requested.

Porter called the legislation "very lean" by comparison to what he would have liked to see enacted or even to the corresponding Senate measure, which is $4 billion higher than the House mark, thanks in part to some creative accounting. Yet he said this year's bill "reflects the best [he] could do to meet the priorities of members of both sides."

In his last subcommittee markup as chairman, Porter was frank and candid about the direction of this year's appropriations process. The only Republican lawmaker to vote against the Republican budget resolution, Porter said his leadership's decision to continue moving spending bills "by majority" rather than in a bipartisan manner is a "mistake" Republicans will regret.

Knowing that the bill's amounts will force President Clinton to veto the measure, Porter criticized fellow Republicans for refusing to acknowledge the success of 1998, the only year in recent memory in which the two parties worked together on budget issues. That year, both parties avoided partisan acrimony by establishing priorities and spending limits and sticking to them, he said.

But for the past several years, Republicans have chosen instead to do battle with the administration, he said, adding that this situation has led to Republicans spending more money than they would have if they had just worked with the administration and Democrats in the first place.

"Isn't that interesting? We lose our fiscal discipline when we don't work together," said a sarcastic Porter.

Democrats, all of whom took turns Wednesday praising Porter for his candor and his leadership in the Congress, also laid the blame for the bill's problems at the foot of the GOP leadership. "This is a pointless bill put together by a very good man who had no other choice," said Ranking Member David Obey, D-Wis.

The House veteran complained that the bill's allocation, which would cut education programs by $3 billion below the president's request, labor programs $1.7 billion and health $1.1 billion, "condemns [it] to another trip on the road to futility."

So troubled is the bill that Obey and fellow Democrats refused to submit any amendments at the subcommittee meeting and offered to agree to a unanimous consent request to move the bill right from the subcommittee to the House floor, where it could be voted up or down. Contending the bill was not "real" because Republicans would eventually give into White House demands for increased funds, Obey said they should move quickly to consider the bill so that they could get around to seeing a new and improved allocation sooner rather than later.

Porter joked that an "offer like his doesn't come along very often," but both he and full committee Chairman Bill Young, R-Fla., given the difficulties in just moving the bill the last two years, said they would rather see the bill move in regular order. "It would be a mistake to not allow the other members to work their will," Young said.

The rest of the markup was spent either praising Porter or criticizing the Republican and Democratic leaderships for demagoguery over budget issues. Following the cue of Democrats, Republicans, too, refused to offer any amendments.

The bill would appropriate $39.59 billion for the Education Department, an increase of $1.64 billion over last year but $2.9 billion less than the president's request. Most of those reductions come in the elementary and secondary schools accounts, grants for disadvantaged students, after-school centers and mandates for new teacher hires.

Within the education budget, the following would be appropriated:

• $6.3 billion for special education grants, an increase of $500 million over fiscal 2000 and $201 million more than the president's request.
• $23.5 billion for elementary and secondary education accounts, a $576 million increase over the current year but $1.3 billion below what the president requested.
• $1.75 billion for the Teacher Empowerment Act, which would allow schools to use funds for teacher training or new teacher hires. The panel chose to pay for this program instead of the president's class-size reduction initiative, which would mandate new teacher hiring across the country.
• $7.941 billion for Title I disadvantaged grants, the same as fiscal 2000 but $416 million below what the president requested.
• $760 million for the TRIO program for disadvantaged and minority students, an increase of $115 million over fiscal 2000 and $35 million more than the president's request.
• $985 million for school impact aid, an increase of $79 million over fiscal 2000 and $215 million over the president's request.
• $439 million for the Safe and Drug Free Schools, the same as the president's request.
• $260 million for literacy programs, the same as fiscal 2000 but $26 million below the president's request.
• $406 million for bilingual and immigrant education programs, the same as the current year but $54 million below the president's request.
• $1.1 billion for vocational training, an increase of $44 million over fiscal 2000 and $244 million more than the president's request.
• $600 million for after-school centers, an increase of $146 million over fiscal 2000 but $400 million less than the president's request.
• $365 million for the education block grant, the same as fiscal 2000. The president zeroed out this account in his budget request.
• The legislation would increase the maximum Pell grant by $200 over fiscal 2000, bringing the grant award to $3,500, the same as the president's request.

The bill would also appropriate $43.9 billion in discretionary funds for the Health and Human Services Department an increase of $2.2 billion over fiscal 2000 but $1.142 billion less than the president's request. Most of those reductions come in Head Start and childcare block grants.

Among the major health accounts:

• $18.8 billion for the National Institutes of Health, an increase of $1 billion over fiscal 2000 and the same as the president's request.
• $1.7 billion for the Ryan White AIDS program, an increase of $130 million over fiscal 2000 and $6 million more than the president's request.
• $3 billion for the Centers for Disease Control, an increase of $321 million over current year funds and $141 million more than the president requested.
• $1.582 billion for childcare and development block grant an increase of $400 million over current year levels but $417 million below the president's request.
• $5.667 billion for Head Start, an increase of $400 million over current year funds but $600 million below the president's request.
• $709 million for the maternal and child health block grant, the same as the president's request.
• $1.6 billion for the substance abuse block grant, the same as the president's request.
• $528 million for the community services block grant, the same as the previous year and $17 million more than the president's request.
• $416 million for the mental health block grant, an increase of $60 million over fiscal 2000.
• $1.4 billion for the Low Income Energy Assistance Program, the same as the president's request.

The bill sets Labor Department spending at $12.626 billion, $464 million less than fiscal 2000 and $1.7 billion less than the president requested. Most of those cuts are directed at job training, dislocated worker assistance, school-to-work programs and the Occupational Health and Safety Administration.

Among the Labor Department's major accounts:

• $857 million for adult job training programs, a $93 million cut from fiscal 2000 and from the president's request.
• $1 billion for youth job training, the same as the current year but $21.5 million less than the president's request.
• $1.382 billion for dislocated worker assistance, a cut of $207 million below fiscal 2000 and $388 million below the president's request.
• $1.4 billion for job corps an increase of $42 million over current year funds and $7 million more than the president's request.
• $175 million for youth opportunity grants, about $75 million less than last year and $200 million less than the president's request.
• $381 million for OSHA, the same as fiscal 2000 but $44 million less than the president's request.
• The panel zeroed out funds for the one-stop career centers program. The president requested $154 million.