House Democrats Boost Education, Health Programs

Thursday, June 7th 2007, 6:44 pm

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Democrats awarded big budget increases for education and health care and research as a House panel approved the largest domestic appropriations bill that Congress will consider this year.

The $151.5 billion measure covering labor, health and education programs for the budget year beginning Oct. 1 faces a veto threat from President Bush over its generous increases for programs cherished by Democrats but also popular with many Republicans.

Overall, Democrats would provide a 4.8 percent increase over current levels for programs covered by the bill. Targeted for bigger increases were heating subsidies for the poor and money for afterschool centers and community health centers.

The House Appropriations Committee chairman, Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., made a vigorous defense of the measure.

As approved by a subcommittee, it would provide a major boost for education programs, including an 8 percent increase over current levels for elementary and secondary school students under Bush's No Child Left Behind law.

``We have a federal budget deficit,'' Obey said. ``But we also have deficits in worker development, safety and protection; deficits in health access, affordability and quality; and deficits in educational access and opportunity.''

The bill would increase the maximum Pell Grant for college student from low-income families $390 to $4,700 _ on the heels of a $260 increase this year.

More than any other of the 12 annual spending bills passed by Congress each year to fund agency budgets, the education and health measure provides a contrast between Democrats and Bush. They are heading toward veto fights this fall.

Bush's February budget sought cuts of almost $4 billion from the bill, seeking to kill programs such as grants to community service agencies that provide assistance to the poor.

In a gesture to Republicans, Obey would boost programs favored by Republicans and Bush, such as a 25 percent increase for abstinence education. He also left in place restrictions on federal funding of abortions.

But Obey cut the $1 billion a year Reading First program by more than $600 million in the wake of widespread allegations of conflicts of interest and mismanagement.

The National Institutes of Health would receive a 2.6 percent increase over current levels, higher than increases of recent years but not enough to satisfy some health research advocates.

Earlier, the Appropriations Committee approved a $27.6 billion measure funding the Interior Department and the Environmental Protection Agency.

That measure reverses cuts sought by Bush to grants to communities for drinking water and wastewater projects and other water and sewer projects.

It also provides a 6 percent increase for the Indian Health Service.