Senate Stalls on Spending Bill

The Senate refused today to exceed fiscal 1987 spending limits, stalling action on a proposed $9.4-billion supplemental appropriations bill.

Lawmakers voted 55 to 34 in favor of waiving budget laws to allow consideration of the measure, five short of the 60 votes needed. They were expected to reconsider the vote later. Most of the spending authorized by the bill--$6.7 billion--would go to the Commodity Credit Corp., the government’s “bank” for farm subsidy programs, which ran out of money May 1. More than a dozen other provisions have been attached to the bill since debate began a week ago.