House leaders say cost of supplemental could rise

While congressional leaders continue to haggle over whether to attach debt limit provisions to the fiscal 2002 supplemental bill, appropriators continued to trade offers on the spending figures in the bill--with reports of some progress.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bill Young, R-Fla., said Wednesday that conferees are "close to convening" a formal conference on the supplemental bill--noting that while extraneous items like the debt limit remain unsettled, the two sides had come closer to agreeing on the various spending totals in the bill.

While he declined to note how expensive the supplemental would be, he did say the final figure was likely to come in above the House-passed level of $28.8 billion.

One of the main reasons is that the House is likely to drop proposed cuts in airline loan guarantees--in a move considered a victory for air carriers. Those cuts had been designed to offset $1.4 billion of the bill's cost.

Young said appropriators were looking at other possible offsets, but would not specify which ones.

Asked whether he was concerned that a price tag above the House number would be a problem for his caucus and the White House, Young replied that "when you go to the Senate, [spending bills] go up" in cost.

But he said he was trying to keep the bill's cost low enough to avoid a veto and still attract broad support in the House and the Senate.

One of the problems appropriators are facing, sources said, was the lack of a "top-line" spending total that would be acceptable to the White House and to House budget hawks.

With that number, appropriators could more easily finish the bill by using advanced appropriations or contingency funds to satisfy both camps--those who want to keep the cost low and those who think the White House is underestimating its budget needs.

Meanwhile, with disagreements still looming over the debt limit and even controversial abortion language attached to the Senate bill, some sources said that if a deal comes before the recess, it will not be until late next week.

"Bad karma, bad breath, bad attitude and bad food makes for a good deal," remarked James Dyer, staff director of the House Appropriations Committee.