November 19, 2007

Back to the Drawing Board

On November 13, President Bush made good on his repeated promises and vetoed the fiscal 2008 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS) appropriations bill (H.R. 3043). The bill provides modest overall increases for vital programs that support health services research and health data, most of which have experienced significant cuts, lost purchasing power, or both over the past three years.

A press release issued that morning by House Appropriations Chairman, David Obey (D-MI) noted, "The same President who is asking us to spend another $200 billion on the misguided war in Iraq and is insisting on providing $60 billion in tax cuts next year to folks who make over a million bucks a year, is now pretending to protect the deficit by refusing to provide a $6 billion increase to crucial domestic investments in education, healthcare, medical research and worker protections that will make this country stronger."

Both the House and Senate versions of the Labor-HHS bills received broad, bipartisan support as reflected in the final passage vote results. Nevertheless, when the House attempted to override President Bush's veto on November 15, the vote fell short of the necessary two-thirds majority by just two votes (277-141).

Leaders in Congress are doing all they can to reach a compromise with the White House, pass the fiscal 2008 appropriations bills before December 14, and avoid another year-long continuing resolution. Democrats now propose "splitting the difference" with the President-trimming their proposed discretionary spending by half to just $11 billion over the president's $932.8 billion request.

For more information on the funding levels contained in the original Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bills, please visit our funding chart. Questions? Please e-mail Emily Holubowich, Director of Government Relations.