House Passes Supplemental Spending Bill

The House today (March 23, 2007) passed a controversial supplemental spending bill (H.R. 1591) 218-212.  The bill provides $124 billion for FY 2007 emergency war supplemental funding subject to a timetable for Iraqi completion of stated goals, along with $22 million in domestic spending not related to the budget for the US's current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The domestic spending includes $6 billion for hurricane disaster relief, but is mostly agricultural--"benefiting spinach growers and citrus farmers, salmon fishermen and peanut storage."  See Jeff Delaney and David Stout, House Narrowly Backs Iraq Timetable, NY Times, Mar. 23, 2007.   The bill also includes the $2.10 minimum wage increase and $1.3 billion small business tax cut package reluctantly deemed necessary to support the wage increase.   See William Watts, Democrats Win Passage of War-Funding Bill, Marketwatch, Mar. 23, 2007.  The latter provisions were orginally in a separate bill (H.R. 976) that had stalled because of inability to establish an appropriate conference committee with the Senate, which had passed a much larger package of new tax cuts for businesses.  See earlier posting here.