March 22, 1999 (12:15 p.m.)

SUMMARY OF AMENDMENTS SUBMITTED FOR H.CON.RES. 290 - CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET

(in alphabetical order)

Bachus #1 Expresses the Sense of the House that the levels in the Budget Resolution and legislation enacted pursuant to the Budget Resolution assume that tax incentives should be provided for education savings, including exempting from Federal income tax withdrawals form qualified State tuition plans.

Castle #3 Expresses the Sense of the Congress that the committees of jurisdiction over budget process reform should develop a comprehensive budget process reform plan, addressing specific components of said plan, including, but not limited to, joint budget resolutions, emergency spending, continuing resolutions, and unfunded liabilities.

Clyburn #6 Congressional Black Caucus Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute. Proposes to use the projected $1.9 trillion dollar surplus to fund designated priorities: at least 10% would be devoted to investments in education and other programs; another 10% would be allotted for investments in working class families for safety net programs. The budget does not take away from Defense or undermine Social Security.

DeFazio #2 Congressional Progressive Caucus Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute. Maintains fiscal discipline by following the President's general framework for debt reduction; reserves the Social Security surplus to pay down our national debt and extend the solvency of Social Security; reserves a portion of the non-Social Security surpluses to pay down debt and extend the solvency of Medicare; supports the use of additional non-Social Security surpluses to create a Medicare prescription drug benefit; offsets the increases made in priority areas such as education, housing, health care, veterans care, and social services, with reductions in spending at the Pentagon, reducing waste and fraud in the Medicare program, cutting corporate welfare, and making targeted tax reforms which impact only large corporations and the wealthiest Americans; includes targeted tax cuts such as the expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit, the increase of the Dependent Care Tax Credit, the $3,000 long-term care tax credit, and; makes the Dependent Care Tax Credit refundable.

Holt #4 Increases budget authority and outlays for Function 250, which increases funding for the National Science Foundation at the level requested in the President's budget and increasing for inflation thereafter; $675 million in 2001, $682 million in 2002, $733 million in 2003, $844 million in 2004, and $946 million in 2005 by reducing the tax cuts assumed in the budget resolution which would allow the National Science Foundation to continue to make major contributions to basic research and education at all levels and across all fields of science and engineering.

Gekas #12 Expresses the Sense of the Congress that the Government should not shut down, and that the best way to achieve that is to establish a permanent mechanism (an automatic Continuing Resolution) to keep the regular functions of the federal government operating in the event of another budget impasse.

Markey/McDermott/Thompson (MS) #7 Adds reconciliation instructions to reduce revenues by $483 billion for fiscal years 2002 through 2006.

Spratt #8 Democratic Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute. Extends the solvency of Social Security and Medicare; repays the entire publicly held debt by 2013, provides targeted tax cuts to working families; invests in several domestic priority areas while saving 100% of the Social Security surplus; and provides for our national security needs. Includes initiatives for (1) education improvements such as school modernization and the hiring of more teachers; (2) Medicare prescription drug coverage for all beneficiaries and protections for low-income persons; (3) improved access to affordable health insurance for children, families, and other vulnerable people; (4) environmental priorities such as clean water and land acquisition; and (5) expansion of economic opportunities for working families.

Stenholm #9 The Coalition's Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute. Puts the budget on a path to eliminate the publicly held debt by 2012 with a strong, immediate commitment to debt reduction; provides room for a fiscally responsible tax cut; sets realistic discretionary spending levels that provide room for investments in defense, agriculture, education, health care and veterans programs; establishes a $40 billion Medicare reserve fund that can be used to fund Medicare reform, a prescription drug benefit and Medicare provider relief, and; allocates funds in the baseline for mandatory initiatives to address needs in agriculture, access to health insurance and health care for military retirees. LATE.

Sununu #10 Conservative Action Team's Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute. Provides sufficient tax relief ($270 billion over 5 years)to provide for the House-passed marriage penalty relief, the House-passed health care access provisions, the House-passed Small Business relief package, the Senate-passed Education IRA's; repeals the 4.3 cent gas tax, the 1993 tax increase on Social Security, and the estate tax; provides for the Breaux-Thomas Medicare Reform bill including prescription drugs; permits the enactment of Social Security reform provided the reform includes Individual Private Accounts; provides $187 billion increase for defense over five years; sets aside $50 billion specifically for Public Debt Retirement; and includes all Budget Committee-adopted enforcement mechanisms as well as requires joint House-Senate 302(b) allocations. LATE

Tauscher #5 Increases the Dependent Care Tax Credit (DCTC) for families with less than $60,000 in income; offset by imposing taxes on activities harmful to the environment, specifically indexing tobacco and alcohol tax rates for inflation and imposing a tax on particulate matter.

Tierney #11 Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute. Provides $117.5 billion over five years in targeted tax cuts for low and middle class and small business (largely by adopting many of the President's proposed "tax incentives") and increased revenue in revenue raisers (loophole closures, corporate tax shelters) largely by identifying a possible total of $400 billion over five years ($80 billion per year) and eliminating $143 billion over five years ($28.6 billion per year) of them – using the revenues for the cuts and investments; increases Pell grant limit from $3,300 to $3,700; provides funding for Alternative Paths to Teaching (recruitment, mentoring, and professional development of teachers); provides $26 billion for health care coverage for currently uninsured children; provides funding for States/Regions for planning and implementation grants to develop cost effective universal health care with comprehensive benefits and simplified administration; provides for Prescription Drug Coverage; funding to preserve and strengthen Medicare; restores BBA cuts to allow community hospitals, home health and other providers necessary funds; provides funding for Medicare Buy-In (President's proposal for 55-62 year olds); provides full funding for President's School Modernization and Construction proposals and for enhanced technology; provides full inflation adjustments for domestic discretionary spending through 2005; increases funding for NIH, WIC, IDEA, NSF, Economic Development; Housing, LIHEAP and hunger relief; and increases funding for Veterans' Health. LATE

*Amendment summaries provided by amendment sponsors.