Omnibus scramble begins as Nov. 21 deadline nears
The fiscal 2004 omnibus spending bill will hitch a ride on the fiscal 2004 Agriculture appropriations measure, encompassing it and four other spending bills that must be reconciled by next Tuesday, when a formal conference could convene, House Appropriations Committee Chairman C.W. Bill Young, R-Fla., said Thursday.
After a meeting with Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska -- who deferred to Young on questions, as the latter will chair the conference -- Young said the measure could be on the House floor as early as Nov. 21, the target adjournment date set by GOP leaders.
House and Senate leaders, holding out hope of a Medicare deal, have told Young and Stevens to prepare for the possibility of working through that weekend, although Young said, "We'll try our very best to have it done" before then.
Stevens still wants to pass three spending bills the full Senate has yet to approve. The chamber is expected to turn to the fiscal 2004 measure today, after the marathon debate over judicial nominations.
But Stevens also wants to move separately through the fiscal 2004 District of Columbia and Commerce-Justice-State measures, as demanded by Senate Appropriations Committee ranking member Robert Byrd, D-W.Va. and other Democrats. It is unclear if Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., will give him that chance.
Regardless, Appropriations Committee aides are readying the VA-HUD, Commerce-Justice-State and District of Columbia measures for inclusion in the omnibus, which will also include the Labor-HHS bill and the underlying Agriculture measure.
"We'll start conferencing items we know will be in the wrap-up bill while [Stevens'] bills are on the floor," Young said.
Young and Stevens also are discussing ways to find an estimated $3 billion to fund additional spending for veterans' health care, election overhaul and special education, while remaining within President Bush's top-line, discretionary spending cap of $786 billion.
"We continue to work on that and negotiate," Young said, without elaborating.
Aides said a variety of possibilities are under discussion, including rescission of previously appropriated funds and offsets in various accounts. Another $289 million, which the Senate added to the fiscal 2004 Foreign Operations bill, is likely to be funded through reductions to Bush's Millennium Challenge Account, which Congress has not yet authorized. A conference on that bill could meet Monday.
Also complicating matters are policy riders, such as overtime compensation rules and other authorizing provisions not within the Appropriations Committees' purview but that always seem to find a way into end-of-session omnibus bills.
"As usual, those are the kind of things that cause us far more problems than the money," Young said.
One such rider could be an amendment to the VA-HUD measure being prepared by one of the Senate's presidential candidates, Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C. Edwards' measure would block proposed EPA changes in its New Source Review regulations for utilities and refineries. Business groups say the changes are necessary, but environmental groups oppose them.
The amendment may be offered today by another Democrat, such as Sens. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., or Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., if Edwards is away.
The National Association of Manufacturers has launched a last-minute attempt to head off the amendment, urging members in an e-mail message to contact a list of swing senators and tell them to oppose the amendment.
"Please urge your senators to oppose all efforts to weaken, delay or block the EPA's New Source Review (NSR) reforms," states the e-mail from NAM air quality specialist Jeffrey Marks.
Targeted senators include those from energy-producing states, such as Sens. John Breaux, D-La., Mary Landrieu, D-La., Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., of Arkansas -- who voted against a similar amendment by Edwards earlier this year -- as well as Byrd and Senate Finance Committee ranking member Max Baucus, D-Mont., who voted for it.