If the Spending Cap Doesn't Fit, Share It

Fiscal year 2000 begins Oct. 1, and Congress, unwilling to dip into Social Security surpluses, is desperately searching for an additional $20 billion to spend without exceeding the already maxed-out 1997 budget caps. A look at the more elegant proposals:

THE 13TH MONTH Key supporter: PENNSYLVANIA SENATOR ARLEN SPECTER How it works: By making the fiscal year longer than a calendar year, Congress can spend up to $16 billion this year and not count it until 2001. Small hitch: Kudos for Caesar-style creativity, but what happens next year, when the bills come in?

IT'S AN EMERGENCY! Key supporter: HOUSE SPEAKER DENNIS HASTERT How it works: Call expenditures like the $4.5 billion allocated for the 2000 Census "emergencies," so they don't count under the 1997 spending caps. Small hitch: If the Census--held each decade for 210 years--is an emergency, what's Hurricane Floyd?

THE POOR WON'T NOTICE Key supporter: TEXAS REPUBLICAN DICK ARMEY How it works: Cut from welfare and housing block grants, or delay paying poor working families billions in earned-income tax credits until next fiscal year. Small hitch: They'll notice.