Budget-Cutting Bills Advance; School-Funding Bill Stalls

By Robert C. Johnston

Washington

The House passed a vast bill late last week that would curb entitlement spending on programs such as Medicaid, student loans, welfare, and school meals--and radically restructure many programs--as part of the Republican majority's seven-year balanced-budget plan.

The Senate was expected to pass its version of the so-called budget-reconciliation bill late last week. It also aims for a balanced budget by 2002, but its reductions in student-loan programs...