Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Congress Completes Work on Omnibus Spending Bill for FY 2005
Legislative update at the NAMI web site - "As is being widely reported in the press, over the weekend Congress approved a massive $388.4 billion "omnibus" spending package for the current fiscal year and then adjourned for the year. The omnibus spending package includes funding for 14 cabinet departments and dozens of agencies, including mental illness research and services, housing and veterans' programs. President Bush is expected to sign the bill later this week..."  
  

Children Left Behind
Washington Post editorial - "Deficit spending didn't bother the Bush administration when the issue was tax cuts. Congress had no trouble finding "savings" to supposedly offset new costs when the costs were in a corporate tax bill stuffed with special-interest provisions. But when it comes to health care for poor children, different, stricter rules seem to apply. This week's lame-duck Congress is poised to leave town without taking any action to restore $1 billion in federal funding for children's health care that wasn't used before its Sept. 30 expiration and therefore reverted to the Treasury. Republican lawmakers say they don't oppose renewing the funding but insist that it has to be paid for with cuts elsewhere. The result is that some 200,000 low-income children will be at risk of losing health coverage in the next three years." [Viewing Washington Post stories requires registration, which is free.]