House Panel Approves USDA Spending Bill

May 14, 1999

The House appropriations agriculture subcommittee on Thursday approved a 2000 funding measure for the Agriculture Department that increases discretionary by more than $1 billion. Though the bill was sent out of the subcommittee on a voice vote, several hours of wrangling preceded the final approval. The subcommittee acted without an official limit on how much it could spend – called a "302(b)" in Congressional parlance – but subcommittee chairman Joe Skeen (R-NM) said it was in accord with informal instructions from committee chairman C. W. Bill Young (R-FL), according to CONGRESS DAILY.