House Chairman Hopes to Pass FY2003 Spending Bills in January
House Appropriations Committee Chairman C.W. (Bill) Young (R-Fla.) says he wants to pass the remaining unfinished spending measures for fiscal 2003 by the time President Bush delivers his State of the Union address to Congress on Jan. 28. But Young admits, "This is not going to be easy." For one thing, the Senate would have to cut about $9 billion from legislation its appropriations panel cleared earlier this year. For another, Young notes, the House is slated to be in session only six days in January.
Only two of the 13 annual appropriations bills for 2003--Dept. of Defense and military construction--have been enacted. All the non-defense agencies are operating at 2002 funding levels under a continuing resolution. That "CR" expires Jan. 11, and Young told reporters on Dec. 19 his plan is to pass another short-term, stopgap measure and then an omnibus bill wrapping together the 11 appropriations bills for 2003 that haven't been passed yet.