Democrats Plan to Balance Federal Budget in 4 Years

WASHINGTON | Senate and House Democrats said Tuesday that they had reached a tentative agreement on a budget blueprint that embodies their priorities and sets spending levels somewhat higher than President Bush had requested.

Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., who is chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said the measure could be approved by both houses next week.

The blueprint would bring the federal budget into balance in 2012 and keep it in balance in 2013.

If approved by both houses, the agreement would be a significant political achievement for Democrats. Lawmakers have found it difficult to reach such agreements in election years. But Democrats said they were likely to defer tough decisions on the details of spending and taxes until after the elections.

The budget blueprint is for the guidance of Congress. It is not submitted to the president for his approval and does not become law. It sets a framework for action by Congress on programs and appropriations bills.

The agreement rejects Bush's effort to squeeze major savings out of health programs. The president estimated that his legislative proposals would have saved $178 billion in Medicare and $17 billion in Medicaid in the next five years.

Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, the senior Republican on the Budget Committee, said it was irresponsible for the Democrats to brush aside all the proposals for Medicare savings. It makes sense to require high-income Medicare beneficiaries to pay more for prescription drug coverage, as the president proposed, Gregg said.

Rep. John M. Spratt Jr., D-S.C., who heads the House Budget Committee, said, "We have reached an informal agreement with the Senate on all the major issues and should be able to pass the budget before Congress goes home for Memorial Day."

In his most recent budget, Bush requested $991.6 billion for the wide range of military and domestic programs subject to annual appropriations. Conrad said the agreement would provide "about $20 billion" more than Bush requested for those accounts.

The agreement assumes that the government will collect substantial new revenues, but does not identify the sources.