News from Washington, D.C. 07/09/2010
The Senate postponed floor votes the first two days of July to
honor the late Democratic Senator Robert C. Byrd of West
Virginia. Senator Byrd, who was the longest serving member of
Congress in history, passed away at age 92 on June 28. During his
tenure, Senator Byrd held numerous positions of power in the
Senate, including majority leader, minority leader, majority
whip, and Democratic Conference secretary.
As of this writing, it is uncertain who will take over Senator
Byrd’s seat. West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin III (D) has yet
to announce a target date for appointing a successor to serve the
remaining two years of Senator Byrd’s term. This leaves Democrats
with one less vote on a number of contentious legislative items,
such as financial overhaul legislation and any climate
change/energy initiative.
Although Senate leaders postponed floor action, the confirmation
hearing for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan continued
through the rest of the week. Leftover items will be deferred to
the week of July 12, following the Fourth of July recess. Upon
their return to Washington, Congress will have approximately four
weeks to wrap up its legislative business before the August
recess, which is scheduled to begin the week of August 9.
On the fiscal year 2011 appropriations front, Congress has been
off to slow start this session as neither the House nor the
Senate has passed any of the 12 spending measures. With Congress
unlikely to approve a budget resolution for the upcoming year,
House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt (D-SC) is expected to
release soon a “budget enforcement bill” that would impose a
discretionary spending cap for next year.
In an effort to jump start the appropriations process, House
Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-WI) scheduled the week of
June 28 several subcommittee markups, including the
Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS), Transportation, and Agriculture
appropriations bills.
The CJS Appropriations Subcommittee approved a draft fiscal year
2011 spending bill that would provide $60.5 billion in
discretionary spending. The bill total is slightly below the
budget request and nearly $3.9 billion below the current fiscal
year.
Included in the draft bill is $330 million for the State Criminal
Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP). The proposed SCAAP funding is
the same amount appropriated this year and the spending level
President Obama recommended in his budget proposal for fiscal
year 2011.
The measure also includes $6.8 billion for the Bureau of Prisons
and continues a multi-year program to alleviate critical
shortages in corrections staffing. For state and local law
enforcement activities, the bill provides a total of almost $4
billion, an increase of $250 million above the 2010
level.
House Democrats recently unveiled a package of domestic spending
priorities that they would like to attach to the $37.1 billion
fiscal year 2010 emergency supplemental appropriations bill (HR
4899) that would provide funding for the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan. The package includes $10 billion to prevent teacher
layoffs, money to beef up U.S.-Mexico border security, and
funding to assist efforts in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
It is expected that House Democratic leaders will hold two votes
on the supplemental measure – one vote for the domestic spending
package and another for the war funding. A July 4 deadline has
been set by the Pentagon in order for overseas military
operations to go uninterrupted.
In other news, House and Senate negotiators reached a landmark
agreement that would overhaul the nation’s financial regulatory
system. HR 4173 would, among other items, create a new government
council that would monitor, identify and resolve risks to the
nation’s economy posed by large financial institutions. The bill
would also create an independent consumer protection agency that
would enforce consumer protection laws as well as banking and
credit unions regulations.
On a party-line vote, the House adopted June 30 the financial
reform package, while the Senate is expected to approve the
measure after the Independence Day recess. However, as with many
of the legislative items on the Senate’s radar screen, the
financial overhaul bill may be delayed until someone is appointed
to take over Senator Byrd’s seat and Democrats have enough votes
to override a potential Republican filibuster.
On June 29, President Obama held a bipartisan meeting at the
White House to discuss climate change with lawmakers, urging them
to approve legislation that would limit greenhouse gases and put
a price on carbon emissions. About two dozen senators attended
the meeting, hopeful that a compromise could be reached on
climate change and energy legislation. However, despite the
president’s efforts to develop a consensus, no deals were
struck.
If a broad climate change package (S. 1733), which is sponsored
by Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT), cannot
garner enough support, lawmakers may advance a competing energy
measure sponsored by Energy and Natural Resources Committee
Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM). The Bingaman bill (S. 1462) would
establish a renewable energy credit trading program and an energy
efficiency credit trading program, mandate an increase in the
percentage of electricity generated by renewable sources, and
expand oil and gas exploration in the Gulf of Mexico. Although
the Bingaman bill does not put any restrictions on carbon
emissions, members who support such provisions would be allowed
to offer amendments to the bill.
Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has signaled that he
wants to take up an energy bill next month. Although with the
recent passing of Senator Byrd and limited time in July, the
Senate faces a steep mountain to climb if they want to pass
energy legislation prior to the August recess.
In other developments, the Senate failed to adopt a scaled-down
version of a jobs and tax extenders bill (HR 4213) that would
have extended the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP)
for Medicaid benefits and foster care payments for an additional
six months, through June 30, 2011. The bill, which fell three
votes short of the necessary 60, trimmed the FMAP boost by
one-third, from $24 billion to $16 billion. The same measure also
contains a $2.5 billion extension through fiscal year 2011 for
the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Emergency Fund
(TANF-ECF). California’s counties have led the nation in creating
20,000 jobs under the Fund.
Most of the bill was offset with cuts and revenues, with the
exception of a provision to extend unemployment insurance
benefits. After the vote on HR 4213, Democrats blocked Republican
efforts to move a one-month unemployment benefits extension that
would be fully paid for by tapping into unused economic stimulus
funds.
FMAP and TANF-ECF remain in legislative limbo until after the
Senate returns from its one-week Fourth of July break.
On the other side of Capitol Hill, a bill (HR 5618) that would
provide for an extension of unemployment benefits failed to
garner enough votes to pass the House the week of June 28. The
final tally fell short of receiving the required two-thirds
majority by a vote of 261-155. Republicans and a handful of
moderate Democrats argued that the hefty $33.9 billion price tag
would add to the growing national deficit because the cost of the
bill was not offset.
It should be noted that House leadership may employ a different
strategy and take the bill to the Rules Committee. If approved,
the measure could be considered on the House floor and pass with
a simple majority vote. However, even if that strategy proved to
be successful for proponents of the extension, the Senate outlook
for passage of the measure is uncertain.