Evening star., 1949-12-27
Congress Due 10 Give
Single Funds Bill
Practical Test in 50
BY the Assoeioisd Press

by the Assoeiafsd Press
With fingers crossed because Of
the chances for 'rlog rolling" con-
gressional leaders have decided to
give the one-package appropria-
ton bill idea q practical test in
1850.
That means that instead Of
handling the Federal budget Of
$40, ,000. .o00, 900 or SO in a dozen or
more bills, Congress will wrap up
the entire sum in a single bill.
The Senate already has passed
q resolution to do that. The House
itself has taken no official posi-
tion but Chairman Cannon Of the
House Appropriations Committee
has announced his agreement with
the idea. No formal House &C
ton is needed, Mr.. Cannon said.
The machinery now is being set
up to handle the Governments
money allotments in single bill.
Single Bill to Be Drafted.
AS in the past, subcommittee
Of the Senate and House Appro-
priations Committees will continue
to handle the budgets of the vari-
GUS Federal agencies. But instead
of each subcommittee writing It's
own money bill, the smaller groups
will report to the full committees,
which will incorporate all the re-
ports into one bill.
The House and Senate then
will handle only one regular ap-
preparation bill, presumably bro
ken down into titles dealing with
the various agencies. A single
bill would 60 to the President
and he'd have to approve it all
or veto 1t all.
As it now stands, the President
can veto an Appropriation bill he
doesn't like without affecting
agencies other than the ones
whose money is involved in that
bill.
The claimed merits of the ore
package bill are that it will give
Congress q more orderly plan of
financing the Government and
will minimize the possibilities of
red ink spending. The idea is
that, at the time the omnibus
bill comes up for passage. Con-
gress will have fairly firm esti-
mate of how much revenue the
Government will receive, and can
tailor the appropriation bill to fit
the expected income.
Log Rolling One Problem.
As things now stand, with each
department being financed in a
separate bill, there is no overall
picture of the financial situation
when a bill is passed. Frequently,
when the last bill is passed and
the sum of all the bills Is added
up, it turns out that Congress
appropriated more money than the
Government will take in. That
means a deficit.
The 1og-rolling" possibilities in
the one-package plan have con-
gressional leaders worried. They
won't talk about it publicly other
than to say I'VE hope there won't
be any of that"
But here's an example Of what
could happen:
~ A one-package bill comes up
for consideration. It finances all
agencies. One Congressman will
be vitality interested in a rivers
and harbors project for his dis
trict, while another will be con-
cerned mainly over an irrigation
project. Neither normally cares |
about the private concern Of the
other. -,
But, since each needs all the
votes he can get to protect his own
pet project, they get together, and
it's a case Of you vote for my
harbor project and I'll vote for
your irrigation project"
More Advantages Seen.
With both propects wrapped up
In the same bill, the possibility Of
one man running out" on the
other are more remote than If
the projects were in separate bills
being voted on months apart.
Another possibility is that a
Congress unfriendly to the Presi-
dent could knock off the payroll
some presidential appointees by
the simple process of denying
money for salaries in an omnibus
appropriation bill. It has done
that before In separate bills.
But in the past the President
could veto such a bill without tie
ing up the funds Of the entire
Government. To nullify such a
congressional act under the one
package plan, he'd have to veto
the entire bill and no Federal
agency would have operating
funds until the differences were
settled.
Congressional leaders feel, how
ever, that the advantages to be
gained from the single bill far
outweight the possible disadvan-
tages. =.
At least. they are going to give
It try and see what happens.
OF the total farms in the United
States, about 10 per cent have
alaefricifv