Democrats approve increases for education, health care

Democrats continued their trek toward a year-end budget clash with President Bush as a key House panel Wednesday approved increases for education, health care and research and heating subsidies for the poor.

The House Appropriations Committee's moves came as it approved a huge bill funding the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education for the budget year beginning Oct. 1. The measure provides about $152 billion next year for programs whose budgets are set at lawmakers' discretion each year _ almost $11 billion above the administration's request.

The panel session occurred just days after Bush used his weekly radio address to chide Democrats for their slow pace in processing the 12 annual spending bills for agency budgets set by Congress each year.

The panel also moved to restore Bush's proposed $550 million cut to Amtrak's subsidies and $735 million cut to community development grants as it approved $51 billion in appropriations for transportation and housing programs, an almost 6 percent increase.

Both bills face certain veto threats from the White House, which says Bush will veto bills exceeding his budget requests, with the exception of an impossible-to-stop measure funding increases in veterans programs. House Republicans have vowed to sustain any Bush vetoes.

Already, Capitol Hill veterans are preparing for a chaotic clash with Bush in the fall and the virtual certainty of a catchall omnibus spending bill that won't be passed until Thanksgiving or even Christmas. The official deadline for the 12 spending bills is Oct. 1, but there's no way Congress can meet it at its current pace. The Senate has yet to debate a single bill.

For Democrats, the health and education bill makes a statement about party priorities, increasing the maximum Pell Grant for low income college students by $390, to $4,700, and boosting spending for programs under Bush's No Child Left Behind education law by $2 billion over current levels, about 8 percent.

Spending for special education and medical research funded by the National Institutes of Health would also rise slightly, while the Community Services Block Grant program providing grants for locally administered programs for the poor would receive a 5 percent increase.

"This bill targets the additional resources in areas where the nation is facing deficits _ deficits in worker development, safety and protection; deficits in health access, affordability and quality; and deficits in educational access and opportunity," said Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis.

While Republicans contend Democrats are busting Bush's budget for appropriated programs, many GOP lawmakers on the spending panel welcome the budget increases. For example, panel Republicans lauded increases for rural health care centers.

Despite a reputation for permitting big spending increases, Bush has had success in recent years in clamping down on appropriations for domestic programs. Many increases sought by Democrats only begin to unwind Bush's spending curbs, which are made tighter once inflation and population increases are taken into account.

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On the Net:

House Appropriations Committee: http://www.appropriations.house.gov