LegiStorm

Summary:

On February 20, 2003, President Bush signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act for FY2003, P.L. 108-7 (formerly H. J. Res. 2). Division C of the act appropriates $512 million in federal funds for the District of Columbia. for fiscal year 2003. On February 13, 2003, the House and the Senate approved the conference report ( H.Rept. 108-10 ) accompanying H. J. Res. 2. The Senate approved an earlier version of H.J.Res. 2 , on January 23, 2003, that would have allowed the District of Columbia to spend $5.8 billion in locally raised funds while Congress completed action on the proposed $517 million in federal contributions to the District's FY2003 budget. The 107th Congress failed to complete action on the District's FY2003 Appropriations Act before it adjourned. As a consequence, Congress passed eight continuing budget resolutions freezing District of Columbia and several other FY2003 appropriations bills at their FY2002 level until a budget compromise could be reached. during the 108th Congress. On October 2, 2002, several days after the submission of a revised FY2003 budget by District officials, the House Appropriations Committee reported the District of Columbia Appropriations Act for FY2003, H.R. 5521 . In response to a congressionally imposed October 1, 2002 deadline, District of Columbia officials completed action on a revised budget for FY2003 on September 27, 2002. Passage of an amended FY2003 budget by District officials was aimed at addressing a $323 million budget shortfall identified by the city's chief financial officer. On July 26, 2002, the Senate Appropriations Committee reported S. 2809 , the District of Columbia Appropriations Act for FY2003. The Senate and House bills included $517 million in special federal payments to the District of Columbia, which was significantly less than the $592 million requested by the District. The House and Senate bills included special federal payments of $17 million for the District's college access program and $15 million for security and emergency preparedness activities associated with the city's status as the national capital. The Senate bill included $15 million for capital infrastructure development while the House bill included $24 million, which was less than the $96 million requested by the District. The House and Senate bills, as reported during the 107th Congress, would have continued to allow the District to use its local funds to administer a domestic partners health insurance act approved by the city in 1992. Prior to the passage of the P.L. 107-96 , the District of Columbia Appropriations Act for FY2002, Congress prohibited the implementation of the Health Care Benefits Expansion Act. The Act allows unmarried couples to register as domestic partners and extends health care benefits of city employees to unrelated individuals registered as domestic partners. P.L. 108-7 , includes a provision included in the House bill prohibiting the use of local and federal funding of a needle exchange program. The Senate bill would have allowed the use of District funds for a needle exchange in an effort to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS. In addition, the final act included a provision found in both House and Senate bills prohibiting the use of District or federal funds to prepare a medical marijuana ballot initiative and the use of federal or District funds for abortion services except in instance of rape or incest. This report will be updated as warranted.