The Congress moved last week on two bills to implement its White House budget pact.
The House passed a fiscal 1988 spending bill echoing appropriations bills it has already passed, including a $20.6-billion mark for the Education Department. The bill also instructs conferees to alter it to conform to the budget pact, which calls for cutting $2.6 billion from 1987-level domestic spending.
The Senate is expected to pass a similar bill next week that would include $21.2 billion for education.
A conference panel will have to reconcile differences between the education targets and find the agreed-upon cuts. While education programs could be cut, observers think they would fare better than under recently imposed across-the-board cuts.
The Senate Finance Committee last week sent the full Senate a $9-billion package of tax hikes that is to be reconciled with a bill passed by the House before the budget summit.
