House, Senate Negotiators Close In on '96 Budget

By Robert C. Johnston

Washington

House and Senate negotiators were close to an agreement late last week on a 1996 spending bill that would essentially set federal school aid at 1995 levels for the remainder of the current fiscal year.

House Republicans, who grudgingly accepted Senate spending levels for education and other social programs, also abandoned a contentious school-voucher proposal for the District of Columbia and their plan to make some school aid contingent on a balanced-budget deal...