Washington Roundup February 14, 2003
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Congress Finalizes FY 2003 Funding: Alcohol and Drug Treatment and
Research Programs Receive Substantial Increases and
Prevention Programs Beat Back Major Cuts

Congress finalized FY 2003 funding this week by passing an omnibus appropriations bill almost halfway through the fiscal year. The bill, which contains funding for eleven of the thirteen FY 2003 appropriations bills, provides major funding increases for drug and alcohol treatment and research programs, while community-based prevention programs beat back significant cuts that had been proposed by the Administration's FY 2003 budget. To help finance such a large spending bill, the bill includes a .65% across-the-board cut for almost all domestic programs.

The Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant received a major boost with a $40 million increase, as did the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment with a $27 million increase. As Congress completed the fifth and final year of doubling the budget of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Institutes on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and Drug Abuse both benefitted, receiving substantial funding increases of $34 million and $80 million, respectively.

Prevention programming overcame the threat of major cuts, with the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention maintaining its FY 2002 funding level of $198 million, despite the Administration's FY 2003 request of a $45 million cut. Additionally, the State Grants portion of the Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities Program, which funds community-based prevention programming, including student assistance programs, also maintained its FY 2002 funding level of $472 million in the wake of a $26 million cut to the National Programs portion of the program.

Now that the FY 2003 funding process is complete, Congress can turn its attention to the FY 2004 process, which began with the release of the President's budget request earlier this month. House and Senate Appropriations Committees will begin holding hearings on agency budgets this spring.

SUMMARY OF FY 2003 DRUG AND ALCOHOL TREATMENT, PREVENTION, EDUCATION AND RESEARCH FUNDING

Please Note: Programs listed in the above chart will be subject to a .65% across-the-board cut -
as a result, funding levels will be slightly lower after this calculation is applied.

House Passes Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF/Welfare) Reauthorization Legislation: Bill Referred to Senate Finance Committee

This week the House of Representatives voted 230 to 192 to pass H.R. 4, "The Personal Responsibility, Work and Family Promotion Act of 2003," a Republican sponsored bill that would reauthorize the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF/welfare) program. The current law expired on October 1, 2002 and is currently being authorized by a continuing resolution. Passage of the bill was partisan, with only 11 Democrats voting for the bill and 2 Republicans voting against it. After passage the bill was referred to the Senate Finance Committee which has jurisdiction over the legislation. The Senate Finance Committee is expected to introduce its own bi-partisan welfare reauthorization bill this session. Key provisions of the House bill include:

o Counting drug and alcohol treatment as work for up to 3 months in any 24 consecutive months period.

o Requiring 40 hours per week of work with a state option to exclude certain families from this requirement.

o Requiring a minimum weekly average of 24 hours of direct work activities and a maximum weekly average of 16 hours of other activities. These other 16 hours of activities could include drug and alcohol treatment.

o Maintaining current block grant funding at $16.5 billion a year.

Representative Kucinich (D-OH) offered an alternative TANF reauthorization bill during the House debate, which failed to pass. His bill would have provided an inflationary funding increase for the TANF block grant, maintained current work requirements, and required states to address barriers to work.

Drug Czar Introduces 2003 National Drug Control Strategy at CADCA's National Leadership Forum: Mission to Prevent, Heal and Disrupt Drug Use

John Walters, Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), announced the Bush Administration's 2003 National Drug Control Strategy this week at the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America's (CADCA) annual leadership conference. The strategy proposes a fiscal year 2004 budget of $11.7 billion for drug control that will serve to achieve three core principles of stopping drug use before it starts, healing America's drug users, and disrupting the drug market. Overall, the Administration proposes $3.6 billion for drug treatment, an increase of 8.2% over the Administration's FY 03 request. Budget highlights included:

o An additional $600 million over three years for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) for the Recovery Now (drug treatment voucher) initiative.

o $694 million for the Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities Program, including $8 million for student drug testing and $100 million for a new mentoring initiative.

o $68 million for drug court expansion.

o $170 million for ONDCP's National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign.

o $70 million for the Drug-Free Communities Program.

o $5 million for Parents Drug Corps Initiative under the Corporation for National and Community Service



Congress is on recess until Tuesday, February 25, 2003. The next issue of the Washington Weekly Roundup will appear on Friday, February 28th.