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Future cloudy for Arkansas flood aid Thursday, Jun 12, 2008 By Aaron Sadler Stephens Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - More than $39 million in federal flood aid for Arkansas is in limbo as lawmakers haggle over a massive war spending bill. Faced with a presidential veto threat, House leaders do not plan to include money for Arkansas storm recovery and other domestic needs in emergency legislation to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Senate set aside the money in the emergency spending legislation last month, and Arkansas senators are pushing Arkansas House members to fight for the aid. At the same time, House leaders are trying to craft a bill acceptable to conservatives and to President Bush who has warned against spending for domestic projects. Staff members for Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., have told staffers for Arkansas House members that the senators are "greatly concerned that domestic spending is being taken out of the bill," according to a Lincoln aide. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., said he met Tuesday with Rep. Mike Ross, D-Prescott, to discuss the legislation. Ross said Wednesday his problem with the Senate version is unrelated to spending for Arkansas. Ross said he opposes a provision to spend $52 billion for veterans benefits without paying for it. Ross is co-chairman of the Democratic "Blue Dog" coalition, a group of fiscally conservative Democrats who champion pay-as-you-go budgeting rules in the House. The so-called paygo rules require most new spending to be offset by either a tax increase or budget cuts. "Certainly, flooding is an emergency and should not be subject to paygo, just as war spending is not," Ross said. A House-passed funding measure included a tax increase on the wealthiest Americans to pay for the new GI bill, which expands benefits for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The tax would be a income surcharge of about half of 1 percent on couples earning more than $1 million. The Senate stripped the tax from its version. "It passed the House paid for, then went to the Senate and the Senate sided with millionaires instead of veterans," Ross said. "I don't know many folks who earn over a million dollars a year but those I do know I believe would gladly pay $500 to help send an Iraq or Afghanistan war veteran to college." Pryor wouldn't criticize Ross for his hard line on spending. "I do have a lot of respect for what he does and the fact he does feel so strongly about this," Pryor said. "It's really a promise he's made to the 4th District." Another Blue Dog, Rep. Marion Berry, D-Gillett, said in a statement that the top priority for Congress is to pass an emergency spending bill that can become law. That bill, he said, should include money for the war as well as funding for domestic emergencies. "As the House, Senate and White House continue to negotiate a final bill, I will support efforts to balance these critical needs for Arkansas and the nation with the need to restore fiscal responsibility and accountability to the federal budget," Berry said. If approved, Arkansas would receive $33 million for the Army Corps of Engineers to repair and restore navigation channels damaged by this spring's flooding. Also, the corps would be directed to evaluate the condition of levees and floodwalls and complete other flood-related projects. Another $6 million would be used to purchase flood plain easements under the federal Emergency Watershed Protection program. |
