Appropriators face long list of budget chores

Appropriators face a daunting task when they return in September. No fiscal 2003 spending bills have been signed into law, and most have yet to pass either chamber.

Only three appropriations bills are ready for House-Senate conferences: the Defense, Military Construction and Legislative Branch measures. And the Defense spending bill may not be easy to complete, as appropriators must decide whether to attach to it a $10 billion contingency defense fund requested by the administration but not approved yet by either the House or Senate Appropriations committees.

During the week of Sept. 9, the House is expected to resume marking up the fiscal 2003 spending measures put on hold before the recess. After conservatives complained that appropriators front-loaded some bills at the expense of others, House leaders pulled the plug on moving other spending bills and forced appropriators to focus on writing a 2003 Labor and Health and Human Services appropriations bill, traditionally the most difficult spending measure to get through the House. GOP moderates have complained that the bill's allocation is too low, and leaders remain stumped on how to move it.

Before tackling the Labor-HHS spending measure, the full House Appropriations Committee may take up the Energy and Water appropriations measure. The bill passed subcommittee in July but was pulled from the schedule after the conservative revolt on the Labor-HHS spending bill.

Also left hanging is the Agriculture appropriations bill, which passed the full committee in July and was headed to the floor before being pulled. Despite the agreement between conservatives and GOP leaders that no bills would go to the floor before the Labor-HHS spending bill, leaders, who will be pressed for time in September, could try and move the Agriculture and Energy and Water appropriations measures to the floor sooner rather than later.

Meanwhile, the fiscal 2003 Foreign Operations spending bill is scheduled tentatively for a subcommittee markup on Sept. 5.

The Senate is in better shape on appropriations than the House, having moved all fiscal 2003 spending bills through the full committee. However, only the Defense, Military Construction and Legislative Branch spending measures have passed the floor.

Next in line will probably be the 2003 Interior spending bill, which could get bogged down by efforts to attach $1 billion in emergency firefighting money for the West. The White House has so far opposed the fire money, and a significant forest management plan in the measure is likely to be opposed by environmentalists.

Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D, has said he wants to move appropriations measures on a dual-track basis, but Republican conservatives have vowed to hold up spending bills that far exceed the president's request.