Hurdle Remains for FY04 DOD Construction Spending Bill
A final deal on a military construction spending bill for fiscal year 2004 may have to wait at least a little while. House and Senate conferees met on Oct. 22 to reconcile differences between their versions of the "mil con" appropriations measure, but ran into a snag, partly over spending on some Dept. of Defense overseas projects, including one in Korea. With congressional leaders pressing appropriators to wrap up several unfinished 2004 spending bills, talks on the mil con measure may resume by Oct. 23.
Whenever an agreement is reached on the mil con legislation, the final bill's total will not be good news for the construction industry. The House and Senate versions each call for about $9.2 billion, about $1.5 billion, or 14%, below the 2003 appropriation.