Washington, D.C. Update 12/17/2010
As the 111th Congress winds down, weary lawmakers are gearing up
for a final showdown on a number of legislative priorities.
Democrats hope to complete action on several major pieces of
legislation, including the fiscal year 2011 appropriations and
other significant measures.
Perhaps the most heavily debated issue in Washington during the
lame-duck session has been the expiring Bush-era tax cuts. An
eleventh-hour deal was struck by the Obama administration and
congressional negotiators that would extend the tax cuts for all
income levels for two years, provide unemployment benefits for an
additional 13 months, and reinstate a modified estate tax through
2012. The $857.8 billion bipartisan measure (HR 4853) was passed
by the Senate on December 15 by an overwhelming 81-19 vote and
successfully cleared the House on December 16 by a vote of
277-148.
Although the tax package was able to sail through the Senate,
moving the measure through the House proved to be more of a
challenge. Several lawmakers from both sides of the aisle would
have liked a number of modifications made to the bill.
Specifically, House Democrats sought to amend the estate tax
provision that was approved by the Senate. House Democrats hoped
to raise the rate and lower the estate value threshold. However,
their attempts were unsuccessful as the Senate-passed tax rate
was sustained at 35 percent for estates of $5 million and above.
For their part, several Republicans argued that the cost of the
package will add to the growing national deficit.
Nevertheless, Senate leaders made it clear to the House that
changes to the tax bill would be unacceptable. Any revisions made
to the Senate-passed tax bill would have significantly stalled
the legislation from moving forward. With a looming December 31
expiration date, lawmakers were able to refrain from their usual
political squabbling and prevent what would have been an upsurge
in taxpayers’ withholding in January. President Barack Obama is
expected to sign the legislation into law as early as December
17.
On the budget front, the current continuing resolution (CR) –
which provides funding authority for the entire federal
government – is slated to expire on December 18. With tomorrow’s
deadline looming, and with the holidays right around the corner,
lawmakers are under intense pressure to make a decision on how to
move forward with the fiscal year 2011 budget.
For its part, the House recently approved a CR that runs through
the end of the current fiscal year (September 30, 2011), and
which would essentially freeze funding at fiscal year 2010
levels. Notably, the House measure includes language that would
restore the 25 percent geothermal payments to counties. The
Senate included the geothermal provision in the tax package
mentioned above.
In the upper chamber, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman
Daniel Inouye (D-HI) earlier this week unveiled a massive $1.3
trillion draft omnibus spending measure that included all 12
unfinished appropriations bills. Although Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid (D-NV) intended to bring the legislation to the Senate
floor late yesterday, Reid was forced to abandon the bill after
several Republicans who had signaled support for the measure
backed away. GOP conservatives opposed the legislation because of
its steep price tag, the limited time given to consider the
measure, and the $8 billion in earmarks that were included in the
bill.
Given the latest developments in the Senate, it appears likely
that upper chamber will move to amend the House-passed full-year
CR with the provisions of a short-term CR and then send the
measure back to the House. While the specifics are currently
under discussion, the Senate CR would reportedly last between 30
and 60 days, meaning members of the new 112th Congress will be
charged with setting spending levels for the remainder of the
2011 budget year.
It should be noted that the late-breaking budget developments in
the Senate leaves unanswered the question of whether Congress
will approve language overturning the Supreme
Court’s Carcieri v. Salazar decision. Although
Appropriations Committee Chairman Inouye had agreed to drop
so-called Carcieri “fix” language from the omnibus spending
legislation, it is unclear whether the provision might make its
way into the Senate version of the CR. The “fix” language, which
would provide the Secretary of Interior with authority to take
land into trust for all Indian tribes, is included in the
House-passed CR.
CSAC strongly opposes congressional action overturning the
Carcieri decision, which limits the secretary’s trust land
acquisition authority to those tribes that were under federal
jurisdiction at the time of the passage of the Indian
Reorganization Act of 1934, in the absence of comprehensive
reforms in the Indian land into trust process.
In other news, on December 13 President Obama signed into law the
Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act (S 3307). The child nutrition
measure will provide more access for poor children to receive
free meals at school, raise the nutritional quality of school
food programs, and reduce the amount of junk food and sugar-laden
beverages sold in schools. The $4.5 billion bill was offset in
part by a $2.2 billion cut to the food stamp program in
2014.
Also, a collective bargaining bill recently failed to advance in
the Senate. The measure (S 3991), opposed by CSAC and the League
fo California Cities, would have mandated state and local
governments to enter into collective bargaining agreements with
police officers, firefighters, and other public safety workers
and would have placed California’s current collective bargaining
process for such workers under the Federal Labor Relations
Authority.
The legislation was unable to garner enough votes to defeat a
Republican filibuster and, therefore, did not advance. Opponents
of the legislation argued, among other things, that
implementation of the measure would significantly overwhelm state
and local governments because the mandate did not provide funding
to localities.
The outlook for the remainder of the lame-duck session is unclear
as lawmakers wrestle with a number of highly contentious issues.
Currently, it is uncertain how congressional leaders will proceed
with the remaining bills that Democrats hope to complete before
the start of the new Congress, including efforts to end the
“don’t ask, don’t tell” policy of the U.S. military, Senate
ratification of the new START treaty with Russia, and finalizing
the “DREAM Act,” which would benefit children of illegal
immigrants.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) hopes to wrap up
legislative work by December 18; however, with what appears to be
a mountain of unfinished items, that goal seems out of reach.
Senate Majority Leader Reid has indicated that lawmakers could be
returning to Washington following the Christmas holiday to resume
business until January 4, last official day of the 111th
Congress.