Congressional Negotiators Reach Deal on Spending Bill

Appropriators from the U.S. House and Senate reached agreement Tuesday on a compromise spending bill that would finance education, labor, health, science and other federal programs for the 2010 fiscal year. The omnibus legislation, which is designed to be the first of two Congress will consider to fund the numerous spending bills that lawmakers have so far failed to pass for the fiscal year that began October 1, would increase spending for the National Institutes of Health to $31 billion and for the National Science Foundation to $6.9 billion, set the maximum Pell Grant at $5,550, and provide $1.4 billion for worker training.