Pubdate: Wed, 04 Aug 1999 Source: Boston Globe (MA) Copyright: 1999 Globe Newspaper Company. Contact: http://www.boston.com/globe/ Author: Jennifer Andes, Associated Press CONFERENCE PASSES $4.7 BILLION DC BUDGET WASHINGTON - A House-Senate conference committee on Wednesday approved the erection of cellular phone towers in a popular park in the nation's capital and told its local government not to fund needle exchanges for drug addicts to combat AIDS. Both measures were included in a bill establishing a $4.7 billion budget for the city government for the fiscal year 2000, which begins Oct. 1. The legislation returns to both chambers for a final vote before going to President Clinton, who has threatened to veto it over the needle exchange issue. Under the bill, the federal government would provide $429 million of the capital city's budget. The balance would come from local taxes and fees. The bill requires the National Park Service to implement an earlier decision to allow the cellular towers to be built in Rock Creek Park despite objections from Mayor Anthony Williams, other district leaders and environmentalists. Clinton also has problems with the cell phone towers because the National Capital Planning Commission's authority to review the project was bypassed. The Senate conferees agreed to the House position prohibiting the legalization of marijuana for medical uses in the district. A provision added to last year's budget prohibits votes from a Nov. 3 referendum on a medical marijuana initiative from being counted. They can be counted at the end of the fiscal year, but the new amendment prohibits the use of medical marijuana no matter which how the count goes. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea