The House passed a $602 billion Labor/HHS Appropriations bill yesterday by a close vote of 215-213, nearly one month after twenty-two Republicans surprisingly voted with Democrats to defeat the initial bill that came out of conference. In the vote, all Democrats and only 12 Republicans voted against the bill, which provides $142.5 billion in discretionary funding (the remainder is automatic spending on entitlement programs). This discretionary amount is 0.1 percent - or $163 million - less than what was appropriated for FY 2005, and $785 million more than President Bush’s budget request.