Senate Passes Plan to Speed Spending Bills

Hoping to speed consideration of congressional spending bills, the Senate passed a limited budget plan Thursday that does not say how any of the $503 billion in fiscal year 1991 discretionary spending would be used.

The scaled-back Senate budget plan, passed on a voice vote, was needed to help appropriations panels begin their work without impeding the congressional and Administration budget talks on a fiscal 1991 budget package. Those talks continued Thursday with no reported progress.

The Senate budget plan, which calls for $503 billion in discretionary spending next year in all categories, including defense, is considered “policy neutral” because it does not direct how much money will be spent for any government function.

Appropriations committees will decide that later.

The limited Senate budget now goes to a conference committee with the House, which on May 1 passed a spending plan containing $513 billion in defense and domestic discretionary spending as part of a larger $1.2-trillion spending package for fiscal 1991.

The House budget cuts defense spending levels below what President Bush requested in the budget he submitted in January and calls for spending $6 billion on domestic initiatives that Bush did not propose.

Despite passage by voice vote, some opposition was noted on the Senate floor.

“With passage of this resolution, it’s one more step toward (another) year of drift,” said Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.).

Earlier Thursday, Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.) indicated the House would not accept the Senate’s budget approach.

“I’m not opposed to it for the Senate,” Foley said. “I’m not ready to agree to that conclusion for the (House-Senate) conference” to adopt.

Under its rules, the House can begin consideration of spending bills for the following year once it has adopted a budget resolution. But the Senate cannot begin work on its spending bills until House and Senate negotiators agree on a budget plan.

Congressional leaders felt it was important to clear the way for routine consideration of spending bills in case budget summit negotiators fail to reach an agreement.