GOP leaders drafting anti-shutdown bill
House GOP leaders plan to bring a continuing resolution to the floor later this week that would fund the government through Oct. 31, and the Senate is expected to follow suit early next week before the new fiscal year begins.
Recognizing that some crucial policy decisions may not be resolved by Oct. 1-next Wednesday-leaders in both chambers are discussing what legislative language to add to the CR. At the top of the list is what to do about federal highway and aviation programs, which could shut down at the end of next week without approval of reauthorization bills.
The FAA reauthorization bill currently is hung up in conference over the potential privatization of air traffic controllers, while reauthorization of federal highway and mass transit programs has been put off until next year.
Appropriations Committee aides said their preference was to keep the CR clean, but their hand may be forced. "It gets a little dicey when Congress is telling air traffic controllers to stay home," a House aide said.
Although the House could consider a stand-alone, five-month highway program extension this week, senators have their own ideas about how to structure the legislation. A Senate GOP aide said the differences could be resolved quickly next week and the extension would probably not move on the CR. But a House Republican aide said it might not be easy, given the short time and key differences in the authorizing bills.
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Don Young, R-Alaska, is likely to oppose any CR that simply extends highway funding under last year's level of $31.8 billion. House and Senate fiscal 2004 Transportation appropriations bills provide $33.4 billion and $33.8 billion respectively, and Young is likely to try to boost the funding rate in the CR to something closer to those levels, aides said, as would his five-month extension bill.
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is slated to take up its version of the five-month extension Tuesday.
Also being discussed for a CR is whether to shift $2.2 billion in 2004 education funding back to 2003, a provision contained in House and Senate Labor-HHS spending bills. The shift was agreed to by congressional leaders and the White House earlier this year as a way to free up domestic spending by making "advance appropriations" for education that would not count under the 2004 budget ceiling.
But aides said the Labor-HHS appropriations bill was unlikely to be completed by the end of the fiscal year, meaning the $2.2 billion would have to be counted against the 2004 budget allocation.
Meanwhile, the House could consider conference reports this week on the Defense, Homeland Security and Legislative Branch spending bills, while the Senate tries to wrap up a $19.6 billion Interior appropriations bill. Controversial amendments to block the administration's plan to put federal jobs up for competition, boost spending at the Indian Health Service and increase emergency firefighting funds are expected.
Completion of the Interior spending bill is expected as early as Tuesday, at which time GOP leaders have secured an agreement from Democrats to allow the District of Columbia spending bill to reach the floor. Democrats still plan to offer an amendment to strike a provision funding a school voucher plan in the district, however.
Also, a Senate GOP aide said it was possible that the Senate Appropriations Committee could consider the president's $87 billion war supplemental spending request late this week or early next week, allowing the Senate to approve the measure before the chamber's Oct. 3-14 recess.