Clinton, Top Lawmakers OK Budget Framework

President Clinton and congressional leaders agreed Monday on what aides described as the “framework” for a year-end budget deal, setting the stage for the lame-duck Congress to end its work as early as this week.

But officials stressed that details of the prospective agreement to fund education, health and other programs remained to be ironed out as Republicans and Democrats gauge support for it. An accord on this front is likely to pave the way for settlement of other budget sticking points.

The officials declined to discuss how much money would be allotted for the key education-health spending measure, although one report put the figure at nearly $109 billion.

Republicans previously had offered about $107 billion for discretionary programs in the education-health bill. The White House had sought a total closer to the $114 billion that some Democratic and Republican negotiators--though not the House GOP leadership--had concluded was possible before the Nov. 7 election.

Linda Ricci of the White House Office of Management and Budget would not confirm or deny the $109 billion figure. She said only: “We have a framework in which details need to be worked out.”

Regardless of the final figure, the accord would include spending increases for two key Clinton priorities: renovating public schools and hiring more teachers.

The progress in the budget negotiations came after Clinton met Monday with House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) and Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.). It was the third such meeting within a week.

It was uncertain whether Congress and the White House would also manage to cut deals on other controversies that led to the lame-duck session. These included disputes on immigration, Medicare funding and a proposed minimum wage increase.

One issue that leading Republicans apparently are no longer pressing with Clinton is a demand for legislation that would permit the next president to undo new safety regulations to promote ergonomics in the workplace. That could prove a significant disappointment to many in the GOP rank-and-file and to business lobbyists.

On the other hand, many Democrats could be disappointed if the 106th Congress ends without significant steps to ease federal restrictions on the citizenship status of hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, including many who fled parts of Central America and Haiti during recent civil upheaval. Republican leaders have been unyielding in their opposition to immigration reforms sought by the White House.

Nonetheless, if a budget agreement is enacted with bipartisan majorities, it would represent a modest step toward rebuilding bipartisan political relationships that have been strained during the bitter presidential election dispute.

Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said that the House could vote as early as Thursday on a final budget accord.

“I’m satisfied that we can do it,” Young said. “Everybody, I believe, wants to get this job done. There will be a lot of good in this bill.”

But Rep. David R. Obey of Wisconsin, top Democrat on the House committee, complained that the framework imposed by the White House and the congressional leadership could prove difficult as negotiators scramble to determine funding for different programs. “We will be asked to make the impossible choices within the dollar limits that are being suggested,” Obey said.

Young and Obey spoke before the House and Senate approved, by voice vote, the 20th in a series of stopgap spending bills, known as continuing resolutions, to keep parts of the government operating more than two months into the fiscal year that began Oct. 1. The latest resolution will run through Friday--giving lawmakers four days to make a final push for compromise.

Besides the education-health bill, three “must pass” spending measures are still pending. The measures cover the departments of Treasury, Commerce, Justice and State and other agencies. Nine annual spending measures have been enacted.

Also Monday, the House approved a compromise version of legislation authorizing intelligence agencies.

Clinton had vetoed a previous intelligence bill that contained provisions he believed went too far in seeking to quell leaks of classified government information.