Evening star., 1933-06-08
Three Slight Amendments
Adopted in $30,OOO,OO0
Appropriation Measure.
SENATE is EXPECTED
TO ACCEPT CHANGES
Major Provisions Covered in Agree
ment Include Reduction Of Fed
eral Contribution to $500, 900.

The House today, by viva voca vote,
approved the conference agreement on
the $30,000,000 District appropriation
bill. 1t adopted three slight amend
ments on provisions where the House
conferees brought items back for sep
arate vote in the House. It was an
nounced that there was a tentative
agreement with the Senate that these
changes would be accepted In the Sen
ate so that the bill need not go back
again to conference.
All major provisions of the bill, in
cluding the reduction Of the Federal
contribution for support Of the National
Capital from s7,775,oo0 to s5,70o.o00,
were covered in the agreement between
House and Senate conferees.
One amendment approved by the
House today reduced from $876,000 to
$4,000 the limit of any unexpended
balances from the fiscal year 1892 and
be spent for the construction Of public
school buildings.
The bill emerged from conference late
yesterday, when the Senate managers,
having been unable to obtain q COM
promise on the major issues Of the Fed
eral contribution and the District park
refund payment to the United States,
finally accepted the House terms in
order to obtain passage Of bill be-
fore the session ends.
Several Senate amendments were
left in disagreement in order to allow
the House managers to obtain sepa-
rate vote on those questions. These
were the amendments accepted by the
House today.
Important Amendment.
The most important Of these Is the
tain municipal departments, with the
approval of the Budget Bureau, to
transfer funds from one subhead to
another within the department In order
to make the best possible use of the
drastically reduced operating expenses
carried in the bill. The amendment
would apply to the free public library
system, to school maintenance items,
Fairgrounds, Health Department and
public welfare activities.
The amendment Is regarded as an i'm
portant one, because 1t would give these
agencies q chance to avoid some of the
hardships likely to result from the re-
duced appropriations. For example, .
department could save the services Of
urgently needed employees, by cutting
down on maintenance expenditures and
transfer was saved in that way to meet
salaries.
Measure Little Changed.
While the House agreed to q few
Senate amendments allowing the Dis
trict to spend more of its surplus gas
tax money and some unexpended bal
ances of old appropriations, for con-
struction work, the bill as finally agreed
to leaves the measure essentially in the
form in which it came from the Budget
Bureau.
One encouraging prospect in the bill
for District taxpayers is that 1t leaves
the District Commissioners free to re-
duce the tax rate on real estate and
tangible personal property below the
present $1.70 rate. if they find this pos
sible after studying the measure as
finally agreed upon.
District Auditor D. ]. Donovan will
submit report to the Commissioners
within a few days on District finances
for the coming year. Pending compile
ton Of this report he declined today
to discuss the effect of the conference
report on the tax rate. In reporting
the Distrit bill to the House two months
ago, however, the House Appropriations
Committee expressed the opinion that,
unless there should be a falling of in
revenue collections, the amount esti-
mated to accrue as result of the re-
ductions in this bill below current ap-
preparations. would indicate cut in the
tax rate from $1.70 to $l.50,
! Total Not Materially Changed.
The total appropriated by the bill as
it now stands Is not materially different
from the House measure, in so far as
items chargeable to the general rev.
enues are concerned. Most of the Senate
improvements kept in the bill come
from the gas tax fund and from making
available for school buildings an un-
expended balance of Municipal Center
money. Nothing definite regarding the
tax rate for next year is looked for
until the Commissioners get Donovan,s
report. For several years each District
supply bill has carried a clause pro-
hibiting reduction in the tax rate, but
this ban was removed by the House
after it had been shown that the drastic
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