WASHINGTON - Penny Altendorf isn't a farmer, but the ongoing drought is affecting her family nonetheless.

She and her husband Richard own an aerial sprayer company, a business that is dependent on the weather in eastern North Dakota where they live. And it's been so dry this year, Altendorf says, struggling farmers in the area are cutting down on expenses by using ground sprayers.

That means less business for Northwood Aero Service and a tough time paying the bills.

"We didn't make enough income to even cover our initial outlay of expenses," she says, noting they still have to pay their pilots, insurance and workers compensation whether they work or not.

Altendorf is one of many small business owners in North Dakota and South Dakota who would benefit from a few extra government dollars to lessen the drought's effects. But legislation that would provide billions of dollars for relief is now stalled in a Congress preoccupied with national security issues and the upcoming November elections.

"The drought hurts farmers but it also hurts Main Street," says Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., one of many farm-state lawmakers pushing the disaster legislation. "The key is President George W. Bush. He alone has blocked this."

The White House and many Republicans in the House have objected to congressional proposals for agricultural disaster relief, which would benefit farmers affected by dry conditions along with those hurt by flooding and other disasters. They say the bills are too expensive.

Indeed, farm-state lawmakers are asking for a lot of money when money is scarce. A $4 billion proposal is pending in an agriculture spending bill; Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., introduced a new version this week that would provide $6.5 billion.

Lawmakers aren't optimistic about the chances of the money making it through Congress anytime soon.

Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss, the Republican chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, says the House "is probably not going to go along with it."

"It's always been pulled out by the House," he says. "I don't know."

House Republicans pulled the $4 billion package out of a spending bill designed to pay for the Iraq war earlier this year, and leaders have shown no public indication of changing their minds on the issue.

Reps. Stephanie Herseth, D-S.D., and Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., both say they are frustrated that there is not more attention on rural issues as the election nears.

"Things could be very different after the election, and I believe there are rural seats hanging on this disaster bill," Pomeroy said.

North Dakota's Conrad said it would be easiest to push the package before the election, when political pressure is highest. He and other supporters have said they will try and attach the drought legislation to other bills.

Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., who is in a tight election race, is pushing his own disaster legislation that includes targeted money for fighting wildfires.

But Republican leadership, preoccupied with several defense and national security bills this month, has so far shown little interest in moving agricultural disaster assistance soon.

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns last week promised to provide $79 million in relief funds, including $50 million for livestock producers, and accelerate $700 million in planned payments to cotton, grain sorghum and peanut farmers.

Farm-state lawmakers have said that's not enough.

Johanns has said he wants to wait for the harvest of this year's crops before deciding whether to give out more money. That could push the decision to October or later, after Congress goes home at the end of September.

Johanns is "eager to see what the yield actually looks like," Agriculture Department spokeswoman Terri Teuber said this week.

Penny Altendorf says she has been talking to both Conrad and Dorgan, whom she contacted "on a whim" about her situation.

Conrad's new bill includes $300 million in grants for small businesses like the Altendorfs' that have been directly affected by weather. She predicts the payments would not be enough to pay all her bills, but they might be enough to make an interest payment and slightly ease the pain.

"You can almost see your equity and business chipped away," she says.