House spending bills will be rolled into one omnibus

House Appropriations Chairman Bill Young, R-Fla., announced Wednesday his intention to package all 13 fiscal 2005 appropriations bills into an omnibus measure after they are passed separately by the House, which he said he expected by the July 23 start of the summer recess.

"Then it would be my plan to take all 13 bills and incorporate all 13 into one bill and go to conference with the Senate," Young said. He also said he hoped the plan would allow the enactment of an omnibus before the fiscal year ends Sept. 30. "We'll wait to see how that works," he said.

Young's comments echo those of Senate Appropriations Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, who said Tuesday he might be forced to go the omnibus route, although that would not be his preference. While Stevens is just beginning the appropriations process in that chamber because of protracted negotiations over the fiscal 2005 budget resolution, Young will take the fiscal 2005 Interior and Homeland Security spending bills to the floor Thursday and Friday. The Appropriations Committee approved the Defense and Energy and Water spending bills today, and they could be on the floor next week.

But if the House considers budget enforcement legislation on the floor next week, that could complicate action on appropriations bills. Young is still negotiating with House Budget Chairman Jim Nussle, R-Iowa, and GOP leaders about the scope of the budget enforcement bill, which as approved by Nussle's panel in March, would set discretionary spending caps for five years. Young wants the cap to last only one year, which was under serious discussion at one point, although GOP leaders faced a revolt from Nussle as well as conservatives who want to go even further to restrain spending.

The duration of the bill's spending caps are currently in play, aides said today, as sentiment remains split among leadership. "There is still no deal between the Budget Committee and the appropriators on a base bill," one GOP aide said, although leaders still were planning to bring the measure to the floor next week. Young met with Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, Tuesday to discuss the matter.

"I don't think there's much progress on coming to an agreement," Young said after the meeting, adding that he told DeLay that leaders should allow appropriators to offer amendments on the floor and "let the House work its will."

Senate negotiators are still attempting to forge a consensus on the budget resolution, although a group of conservatives has made it plain that it might prefer no budget deal, aides said. The group is citing the bonuses of abiding by last year's budget blueprint, which sets a lower spending cap of $814 billion than the budget resolution that passed the House and makes about $700 billion available for tax cuts that would not be subject to pay/go points of order.

"Frankly, we can do more on tax policy that way," Senate Budget Don Chairman Don Nickles, R-Okla., said. That could include making permanent President Bush's tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003, although without the reconciliation protections afforded by an fiscal 2005 budget agreement, tax bills would be subject to non-germane Democratic amendments.