The House narrowly passed, 211-207, its FY2001 budget resolution (H. Con. Res. 290) on March 23. Final passage proved difficult as members of the Conservative Action Team (CAT) opposed the budget plan because it would spend too much of the non-Social Security surplus, while Republican appropriators opposed the plan because it would not spend enough. In the end, five Republicans voted against the spending plan—Reps. Sonny Callahan (R-AL), John Hostettler (R-IN), Connie Morella (R-MD), Mark Sanford (R-SC), and Ron Paul (R-TX)—and two Democrats voted for the budget—Reps. Gary Condit (D-CA) and Ralph Hall (D-TX).
In order to garner the votes needed to pass the resolution, Republicans made several changes to it. These changes include a cap of $23 million on advance appropriations in the FY2001 spending bills; a prohibition on directed scorekeeping, a practice whereby Congress tells the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) the spending levels to attach to each appropriations bill; and the removal of a provision that would have created a point of order against legislation that would spend the non-Social Security surplus. The provision, sponsored by Rep. Patrick Toomey (R-PA), would have prohibited the consideration of the FY2000 emergency supplemental appropriations bill (H.R. 3908). In exchange for dropping the provision, Rep. Toomey will be allowed to offer an amendment to H.R. 3908 that would allocate $4 billion for debt reduction.
The Budget Plan Overall, the House budget plan would provide for $596.5 billion in discretionary spending in FY2001, a $10.5 billion increase over FY2000.
However, according to the CBO, the budget plan would fall $20 billion short of meeting program needs due to inflation. Defense discretionary spending would be set at $17.4 billion, a six percent increase over last year, while non-defense discretionary spending would be set at $19.4 billion, $6.9 billion less than FY2000. The plan would reserve the entire Social Security surplus—projected to be $1 trillion over the next five years—to pay down the debt. Additionally, the budget plan would set aside $40 billion of the non-Social Security surplus to reform and strengthen Medicare. This would include funding for the enactment of a Medicare prescription drug benefit. The resolution also would create a Social Security “lock box” aimed at protecting the Social Security surplus from being spent on other programs.
The resolution also would set aside $10 billion of the non-Social Security surplus for tax cuts in FY2001. The resolution would provide for $150 billion in tax cuts over the next five years. In addition, the plan would establish a reserve fund of $50 billion over five years to be used for additional tax relief or debt reduction.
Education and training programs would receive $56.8 billion in discretionary spending, $2.2 billion more than FY2000. The entire increase would be allocated to elementary and secondary education programs, with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act receiving top priority.
Health programs would receive $34.9 billion in discretionary budget outlays, a $1.2 billion increase over FY2000. The resolution assumes that the National Institutes of Health would receive a $1 billion increase in FY2001.
Budget Alternatives Prior to voting for the final budget plan, the House defeated five separate alternatives. One, offered by Budget Committee ranking Democrat John Spratt (D-SC), was defeated, 184-233. The plan was essentially identical to the President’s budget proposal. Another, offered by Rep. John Sununu (R-NH), reflected the spending priorities of the CATs. It was defeated, 78-339. Another, offered by Rep. Charles Stenholm (D-TX), was defeated by a vote of 171-243. The plan mirrored the spending priorities of the Blue Dog Democrats, a group of fiscally conservative Democrats. Another, offered by Rep. Major Owens (D-NY), reflected the spending priorities of the Congressional Black Caucus. The plan was defeated, 70-348. And the final alternative, offered by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) on behalf of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, was defeated, 61-351.
Senate Action The Senate Budget Committee was scheduled to mark up its FY2001 budget resolution (as-yet-unnumbered) this week, but postponed action because committee Republicans could not muster the votes to approve the spending plan. If a deal is not reached within the next week, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) indicated that he will bypass the committee and bring the FY2001 budget resolution to the Senate floor the first week of April.
