By Reginald N. Todd
legislative director
Hours before the new federal fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, Congress passed a catchall omnibus appropriations bill funding the federal government through the 1997 federal fiscal year. The president quickly signed the $600 billion legislation.
Unlike the contentious negotiations over the FY96 budget, congressional leaders and the Administration found common ground relatively quickly. Republicans agreed to the Administration's request for an additional $6.5 billion for domestic priorities, knowing that the public blamed them for last year's government shutdown. Both sides were also eager to return to their states to campaign for an election less than five weeks away.
The bill contained funding for the federal departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Interior, and Justice. Attached to the bill was a measure to control immigration and further restrict federal benefits to legal immigrants. Also signed as separate pieces of legislation were the FY97 appropriations for Transportation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The outcome of all 13 appropriations bills for FY97 marked a victory for President Clinton. Last year, Republicans were successful in the FY96 budget by cutting total discretionary spending from $508 billion in FY95 to $489 billion in FY96.
For FY97, that figure was raised to $503 billion, only $1 billion below the Clinton request.
While there was an increase for FY97, those figures are still striking. Despite the history of automatic annual growth in spending, FY97 spending is still below FY95 levels - a victory for the Republican-led Congress.
Mandatory spending for entitlements will continue to rise in FY97, although not as fast as previously projected. Federal Medicaid spending is expected at $98 billion in FY97, an eight percent increase over FY96, marking the first single-digit increase in many years. (See below for highlights of the omnibus appropriations bill).
Housing and Urban Development
The FY97 VA, HUD and Independent Agencies appropriations bill (P.L. 104-204) freezes funding for NACo's priority programs in the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Although the aggregate funding for CDBG will not change in FY97, allocations to urban counties and the state-administered programs will be reduced by several percentage points because of a $60 million increase in the number of categorical program set-asides that will be funded out of CDBG.
Labor
Employment and training programs for FY97 received a $715 million increase over FY96. This includes $45 million more for adult training ($895 million), a $246 million boost for summer youth ($871 million), and $193 million more for dislocated worker programs ($1.293 billion) than the House or Senate had proposed. School-to-work received a $20 million increase to $200 million and one-stop career centers received $40 million more ($150 million) than either the Senate or House proposals. These levels reflect the Administration's initiatives to increase funding for domestic priorities.
Health
Health funding for FY97 fared well, with most programs receiving small increases. AIDS funding under the Ryan White program received a big boost, with the program for counties and cities in emergency areas receiving a 15 percent increase. Much of that increase, however, will go to the new areas which qualified recently for the program.
Human services
Many human services programs received increases this year compared to FY96. Older Americans Act nutrition programs and supportive services, however, remained at the same funding level. The largest increase was Head Start, which received $3.9 billion, an increase of nearly $400 million. The Social Services Block Grant (Title XX) received $2.5 billion, $100 million over last year, but still well below the FY95 $2.8 billion level.
The Community Services Block Grant received a substantial increase of $100 million, for a total funding level of $489 million. Overall funding for refugee assistance programs was $412 million, an increase of about $10 million.
Interior
The Payments in Lieu of Taxes Program (PILT) received $113.5 million for FY97, retaining the $12 million increase county officials fought for in FY96.
Justice
The FY97 Justice budget freezes most programs at FY96 levels and contains $1.4 billion for community policing, $170 million for the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (an increase of $26 million), $30 million for drug courts, and $523 million for the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant.
The FY98 budget debate will begin next February, after the presidential inaugural. Regardless of who is elected president or who controls Congress, pressure will still continue to restrain federal spending.
Transportation
The FY97 Transportation appropriations bill increases overall transportation spending by $1.3 billion. The highway program is increased to $18 billion, a record level, and more than $400 million over the FY96 level. Most of the other transportation programs of importance to NACo, including the mass transit and aviation programs, also received increased funding.
EPA
As part of the FY97 HUD appropriations bill, the EPA will receive about $6.7 billion for FY97, an increase of $184 million over last year's levels. There were no attempts this year to attach any controversial riders to the bill.
The bill provides $1.4 billion for the Superfund Program, $625 million
for the wastewater state revolving loan fund (SRF), and $1.25 million for
the new drinking water SRF. In addition, there is $36.8 million for toxic
cleanups under the Brownfields Program and $60 million to the Leaking Underground
Storage Tank Trust Fund.