Political Fight Endangers Disaster Aid

WASHINGTON — With more than $1 billion in California disaster aid hanging in the balance, President Clinton and Congress are on a collision course over a Republican effort to avoid a repeat of the 1995-96 government shutdown that became a political disaster for the GOP.

At stake is the fate of a midyear emergency appropriations bill that provides about $8 billion for a hodgepodge of high-priority items, including funding for U.S. peacekeeping forces in Bosnia and disaster relief for 23 states, including flood-damaged areas of California.

The Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday approved that must-pass bill, after tacking on a far-reaching amendment intended to keep the government operating if there is another budget impasse this fall. It would do so by automatically extending funding after the end of this fiscal year on Sept. 30, but at reduced levels that Democrats deem unacceptable.

Clinton has threatened to veto the disaster relief bill if it includes the budget-cutting amendment. Senate Democrats accused Republicans of holding the disaster relief measure hostage to their partisan agenda on the budget and other areas.

“The people in these 23 states need help and need it now and it is grossly unfair to them to use this instrument of diaster relief as a vehicle for political gain,” said Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.).

The dispute comes as a bipartisan team of congressional and administration officials continue efforts to reach a budget compromise for the coming fiscal year. Sources said that an agreement is near, as negotiators have narrowed differences on tax cuts, defense spending, Medicare savings and other domestic programs.

But Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) warned that it would be a “death blow” to the budget talks if Republicans press ahead with their controversial anti-shutdown bill.

However, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) said late Wednesday that budget negotiators had made enough progress so that they may be able to announce the broad outlines of a budget deal as early as today.

Lott said they were close to an agreement on the crucial areas of tax cuts and Medicare reform. Sources close to the talks said negotiators were moving toward a five-year net tax cut of about $100 billion.

At the center of the dispute is the appropriations bill that includes funding for the Bosnia operation, a nutrition program for women and children and disaster aid.

It was not immediately clear precisely how much would go to California to help recover from the winter flooding of 1996-97, but the House Appropriations Committee estimates that its version of the bill could provide around $1.3 billion. The staff of Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) estimates that the Senate’s version could provide as much as $2.4 billion.

The administration’s most pointed veto threat was directed at the amendment Republicans have dubbed the “government shutdown prevention act,” however.

In the winter of 1995-96, a budget impasse between Clinton and the GOP produced two partial government shutdowns. Republicans paid a heavy political price because polls showed that voters tended to blame the GOP for the shutdowns more than Clinton.

The bill approved by the Senate committee would avoid that scenario by automatically extending funding for any agency that does not receive its regular appropriation by the start of the fiscal year on Oct. 1. The measure, however, would trim the funding level to 98% of the amount provided in the current fiscal year.