Senate version of Labor-HHS bill draws veto threat

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved the massive and always controversial spending bill providing funds for popular health, education and job programs. The bill is substantially larger than a comparable House bill, but it still drew a veto threat from the Clinton administration.

The Labor-HHS-Education bill, which passed on a 28-0 vote, would provide about $104.5 billion in discretionary funds for fiscal 2001 programs, an increase of nearly $9 billion over fiscal 2000 and just slightly below the president's request of $106 billion.

The bill is also more than $4 billion higher than a corresponding House measure, which passed out of subcommittee on Wednesday. Thanks to a convoluted array of accounting techniques-such as taking some $2.2 billion of unspent money out of the State Children's Health Insurance Program and cutting $1.9 billion from the Social Services Block Grants-Senate appropriators were able to raise the level of their bill much higher than the $100 billion allocation they initially received.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, called the re-apportionment of funds "skillfully crafted." But President Clinton used harsher and more threatening words in pronouncing a veto threat. In a statement issued Thursday, the president said that while the Senate bill has "more acceptable funding levels" than the House version, it "does so by bankrupting the Social Services Block Grant, shifting money from children's health insurance and making other cuts."

Specifically, Clinton mentioned the panel's decision to use about $3.1 billion in school grants for a multitude of services, such as school construction, new teacher hires or teacher training, rather than his mandate to reduce class size. He also criticized cuts for unemployed workers and youth training initiatives, as well as funds for AIDS prevention and treatment, mental health and substance abuse services and nursing home oversight.

Clinton's veto threat drew the ire of Stevens, who called Clinton's quick decision-making-it was issued Wednesday, the same day that the bill moved through the Labor-HHS subcommittee-"a little surprising." Noting that the bill provides funds for many programs at or above the level requested by the administration, Stevens accused Clinton of "hardly trying to understand the intricacies" of the largest nondefense spending package ever put before Congress.

Democrat Tom Harkin, the Iowan who serves as ranking member on the Labor-HHS subcommittee, also indicated surprise at Clinton's veto threat, saying, "We didn't need that." Harkin called the legislation a "very, very good bill" and defended the panel's tactics to free up more money.

Subcommittee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., also spoke out against accusations that the accounting tactics would somehow hurt states that rely on federal funds, saying money that states garnered from settling a lawsuit with the tobacco industry should make up any shortfalls. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., was the only one to take issue with Specter, saying that in his home state, much of the tobacco settlement is going toward a property tax rebate.

The panel considered only one amendment during Thursday's markup: language by Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., that would allow community service organizations to apply directly for federal grants to run after-school programs. Some Democrats objected that the amendment should instead be written into an education bill currently before the Senate, but the panel accepted Gregg's amendment by unanimous consent.

The bill would grant $13.4 billion to the Labor Department, an increase of $318 million over current year funds, but $920 million below the president's request. Most of those reductions would come from training and employment services at the agency.

Other labor highlights include:

• $1.36 billion for the Job Corps, an increase of $6 million over fiscal 2000 and $29 million below the president's request.
• $425.9 million for the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, the same as the president's request and an increase of $44.2 million over current year funds.

The bill would also grant about $42.6 billion for the Education Department, a $4.6 billion increase over fiscal 2000 and about $100 million more than the president requested.

Among the education spending highlights in the bill are:

• $7.3 billion for special education grants, an increase of $1.3 billion over fiscal 2000 and $983.5 million over the president's request.
• $1 billion in work study grants, an increase of $77 million over fiscal 2000 and the same as the president's request.
• $1 billion in federal impact aid, an increase of $123 million over current year funds and $260 million more than the president's request.
• $600 million for after-school programs, an increase of $146.6 million over fiscal 2000 but $400 million less than the president requested.
• The panel also chose to raise the maximum Pell Grant award to $3,650, an increase of $350 over the fiscal 2000 level and $150 over what the president requested.

Health program provisions include:

• $20.5 billion for the National Institutes of Health, an increase of $2.7 billion over fiscal 2000 and $1.7 billion over the president's request.
• $6.2 billion for Head Start, the same as the president's request, and an increase of $1 billion over current year funds.
• $1.1 billion for community health centers, an increase of $100 million over fiscal 2000 and $50 million over the president's request.
• $2 billion for the child care development block grant, an increase of $817 million over fiscal 2000 and the same as the president's request.
• $1.65 billion for the Ryan White AIDS program, an increase of $55 million over current year funds but $69.5 million less than the president requested.