Of the 13 FY01 Appropriations bills, the House has passed all 13, while the Senate has lagged behind with 2 bills left to go. Advocates believe that the Appropriations process will move forward via an omnibus bill given that Congress only plans to be in session for a short while longer.

Additionally, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) announced that the budget surplus over the next 10 years is expected to reach $4.2 trillion, which may give Republican leaders and President Clinton more flexibility in negotiating the final terms of FY01 appropriations. CBO increased its estimate of the FY00 non-Social Security discretionary surplus from $26 billion to $83 billion. It also anticipates a $102 billion surplus in FY01. Although Congress has been told that the surplus is supposed to go towards debt reduction, it has been reported that, most likely, GOP and President Clinton will be able to use the surplus to reach certain tax cut agreements.

Visit http://lcweb.loc.gov/global/legislative/appover.html for more detailed information about the status of all 13 FY01 Appropriations bills

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