Rep. Obey Says Congress Will Wait For Next Administration If Bush Officials Refuse To Compromise On HHS Funding

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 29 Feb 2008 - 12:00 PDT

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Congress will wait until next year to pass the fiscal year 2009 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill in the event that the Bush administration does not agree to negotiate on the legislation, House Appropriations Committee Chair David Obey (D-Wis.) told HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt during a Labor, HHS, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, CongressDaily reports (Povich, CongressDaily, 2/27). During his opening remarks, Obey said, "It would be good if we could work things out because, if we don't, the administration will simply be a bystander" (Carey, CQ HealthBeat, 2/27).

Obey said that he would prefer to negotiate with administration officials to pass the bill this year. However, he added, "If they refuse to sit down with us, then the president has taken himself out of the game, and we'll wait for an adult." In addition, Obey said, "This can be a wasted eight months, or we can get something done." Last year, "the president refused to compromise -- his way or no way -- and the year was wasted," he said, adding, "This year we can wait until we have another president" (CongressDaily, 2/27). Obey said that he expects the next president "will be flexible" (CQ HealthBeat, 2/27).

In response, Leavitt said that he and the administration "look forward to working with Congress, states and all our other partners to carry out the initiatives President Bush is proposing." According to CongressDaily, during his testimony, "Leavitt stuck to his position that he was at the hearing to defend the president's blueprint, not negotiate it" (CongressDaily, 2/27).

Second Stimulus Package
A second economic stimulus package under consideration in the Senate will not include a temporary increase in the federal medical assistance percentage for states, Senate Budget Committee Chair Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said on Wednesday, CongressDaily reports.

Governors and more than 70 health care and labor advocacy groups have lobbied lawmakers for an FMAP increase, "but their pleas have largely fallen on deaf ears," according to CongressDaily (Johnson, CongressDaily, 2/28).

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