This department has more than 5,500 employees and an annual appropriation of approximately $6.5 billion.

In the 15 months that follow, the program is to have $356 million - a cut of 35 percent from the last annual appropriation.

A freeze would be placed for the next five years on all Government programs financed by annual appropriations.

The money, however, is still subject to annual appropriation by the Republican Congress.

These services, which have been proved to reduce the need for foster care, require annual appropriations by the Congress.

Ideally, he said, the state should provide each district with an annual appropriation, depending how many students it has.

There are 13 annual appropriations bills which together fund the entire federal government.

"This would lead us to a period where we wouldn't have annual appropriations," he said.

But annual appropriations decreased, to $318,000 in the 2000 fiscal year.

They set total spending limits for all programs that require annual appropriations.