BY PAUL BARTON
Enquirer Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON -- In another instance of parting ways with GOP leaders, Rep. Steve Chabot said Friday he is likely to oppose the 1999 federal budget package announced this week.
"Everything I've seen so far strongly encourages me to vote against it," said Mr. Chabot, R-Cincinnati.
Mr. Chabot's decision comes despite personal lobbying by House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
"I think the American people are getting the short end of the stick," Mr. Chabot said. "There is virtually no tax relief in the deal."
The White House and congressional leaders reached agreement Thursday on a $500 billion package -- part of $1.7 trillion overall budget -- that provides money to help hire new school teachers, help farmers and assist anti-drug efforts.
Prediction comes true
The bill proposes to spend $20 billion of the just recently realized $70 billion federal budget surplus, and Mr. Chabot said that upsets him.
"It's exactly what those of us who wanted to cut taxes predicted," Mr. Chabot said.
He said he couldn't believe the compromise in the wake of intense discussion in Washington about the need to use surpluses to guarantee the future of Social Security.
"The president was saying all along he wanted to save Social Security first," Mr. Chabot said.
Mr. Chabot has gained a reputation for opposing House GOP leaders from time to time.
In 1996, Mr. Chabot and a gang of "Rebel 11" in the House held up the budget process because they did not feel Mr. Gingrich and other leaders were doing enough to enact tax cuts and restrain spending. Mr. Chabot's Democratic opponent in the 1st Congressional District race, Cincinnati Mayor Roxanne Qualls, said she was "pleased by some of the provisions" of the budget agreement, particularly the part dealing with education funding.
She differed with Mr. Chabot's contention that the budget agreement dips into the federal budget surplus for a lawmakers' "emergency fund."
"I was very pleased to see that this agreement came together while preserving the entire budget surplus for Social Security," Ms. Qualls said.
The offices of most other Cincinnati-area congressmen said Friday that their members had not made up their minds about the bill and wanted to see the final language.
But spokesmen for several said they were likely to vote for it unless they spotted something they regarded as a severe problem. Rep. Rob Portman, R-Terrace Park, and Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, secured major anti-drug initiatives in the bill.
Mr. DeWine's, developed with Rep. Bill McCollum, R-Fla., involves a $2.6 billion effort to bolster international eradication and interdiction efforts.
"This comprehensive drug strategy will help keep drugs off our streets and out of reach of children," Mr. DeWine said in a statement. Meanwhile, Mr. Portman secured provisions designed to help parents, teachers and communities in addressing drug-related issues, including more treatment programs for those in jail and prison.
"This problem I think ultimately has to be solved around the kitchen table in our homes and in our schools and in our streets," Mr. Portman said of drug abuse.
The Portman-related programs will cost at least $195 million but the bulk of it represents funds already appropriated and not additional money, his staff said.
