If the Spending Cap Doesn't Fit, Share It

By Harriet Barovick, Matthew Cooper, Autumn De Leon, Andrew Goldstein, Daniel S. Levy, Lina Lofaro, Desa Philadelphia, Chris Taylor

Fiscal year 2000 begins Oct. 1, and Congress, unwilling to dip into Social Security surpluses, is desperately searching for an additional $20 billion to spend without exceeding the already maxed-out 1997 budget caps. A look at the more elegant proposals:

THE 13TH MONTH Key supporter: PENNSYLVANIA SENATOR ARLEN SPECTER How it works: By making the fiscal year longer than a calendar year, Congress can spend up to $16 billion this year and not count it until 2001. Small hitch: Kudos for Caesar-style creativity, but what happens next year, when the bills come in?

IT'S AN EMERGENCY! Key supporter: HOUSE SPEAKER DENNIS HASTERT How it works: Call expenditures like the $4.5 billion allocated for the 2000 Census "emergencies," so they don't count under the 1997 spending caps. Small hitch: If the Census--held each decade for 210 years--is an emergency, what's Hurricane Floyd?

THE POOR WON'T NOTICE Key supporter: TEXAS REPUBLICAN DICK ARMEY How it works: Cut from welfare and housing block grants, or delay paying poor working families billions in earned-income tax credits until next fiscal year. Small hitch: They'll notice.