BUDGET

Both houses of Congress recently passed separate bills to reform the nation's welfare and social services programs. Since then, the House and Senate have been working to produce a compromise "conference" bill. When an agreement over whether to convert child nutrition programs (e.g. school lunch) into a block grant is reached, the bill will be sent to both houses for final approval (a House vote may be Dec. 14th or 15th), and on to the President. Organizations and others who care about the needs of the poor are concerned that many members of Congress may vote for this welfare reform bill in the mistaken belief that it is dramatically better than the original House bill, and that it limits damage to poor families.

Details of the Budget Reconciliation Bill and specifics on Medicaid, welfare and other programs are still filtering in. This Washington Watch is meant to give you a quick update on key issues. We will provide more detailed analyses as the actual bill language becomes available.

In the coming weeks Congress will be making final budget and policy decisions on a wide range of programs. We will be sending out more frequent analyses with more details on specific programs. This issue will focus on the House and Senate Welfare Reform bills with updates on EITC and the Istook Amendment. Later we will follow with a focused report on Medicaid and Medicare and a look at the impact of Congressional reforms on child welfare programs and various immigrant related proposals and their disproportionate impact on Texas.

FY 96 Budget.