The House approved, by a vote of 368-58, an $82 billion FY 2005 supplemental spending bill (H.R. 1268) to fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and added $921 million above President Bush's request to protect U.S. armed forces. Although $76 billion is for defense-related purposes, there is much unrelated pork barrel spending for Republican congressional leaders. The deal contains other unrelated authorizing provisions the Real ID Act, which would create new standards for driver's licenses. The National Governors Association (NGA) and the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) oppose these new driver's license requirements because they are concerned that the proposal imposes new technological standards and verification procedures on states without paying for them. The House is expected to vote on the agreement this week and the Senate next week.

Last week, President Bush called for the largest middle-class benefit cut in Social Security's history as a way to "save" the program. This week, polls show that only 38 percent of the American public said that they support Bush's proposal to cut Social Security benefits for middle and upper income workers while 54 percent said that they oppose it.

Bush's plan would cut benefits by more than 40 percent for middle class workers retiring in the future. These cuts would hit all workers except those whose lifetime earnings fall below $20,000 a year. In addition, workers who chose private accounts would be forced to pay a "privatization tax" of 70 cents on every dollar earned in their account. The middle class benefit cut combined with the privatization tax would, over time, reduce the guaranteed benefit to zero for many workers, forcing them to rely entirely on the amount left in their private account after paying the privatization tax. The benefit cuts in the Bush plan are actually larger than the cuts that would result if no action is taken to fix the projected shortfall, which is forecast to occur in 40 to 50 years in the future. The President's proposal to cut middle class benefits would not change the need for the government to borrow an additional $5 trillion over the next 20 years to pay for the private accounts.

But even though the polls show that a majority of Americans say that Social Security is not in crisis and that Congress should not rush to change the program, the House and Senate GOP leadership announced that it plans to act quickly, probably by July, to bring Social Security legislation to a vote. Last week the Senate held its first hearing and the House Ways and Means Committee announced that next week it would hold a hearing where six witnesses, all chosen by the GOP majority, will call for private accounts. The Democrats are being held to one witness who will oppose Bush's privatization scheme and his huge middle class benefit cuts.

In a sign that Bush will not tolerate those who oppose his privatization plan, the Department of Labor sent a letter to the AFL-CIO warning the federation that it could be violating the law in holding rallies that criticize Wall Street investment firms that support Mr. Bush's proposal for private investment accounts. The campaign included public protests in 70 cities, and it focused on four big companies that had joined a business-backed group called the Alliance for Worker Retirement Security, which is lobbying for the private Social Security accounts. The letter did not cite any specific instances and it stopped short of any formal accusation, but House Republicans viewed the warning as a shot over the bow of labor at a time when Mr. Bush's plan has largely stalled in Congress and when Wall Street firms have distanced themselves from it.

House leaders have set the various subcommittee spending levels for FY 2006 spending bills. The large Labor-Health and Human Services-Education (LHHS) spending bill that provides funding for many state and local services would be reduced by at least $160 million below the 2005 funding level, but still nearly one percent above the President's request. Congress increases its own funding by nearly five percent, along with increases for defense, veterans, transportation, state, homeland security and foreign operations. Environmental programs would be cut the most, along with energy and water programs, while agriculture would be held at the same level as last year. Congress will now implement these spending plans as part of the annual appropriations process.

House Republicans introduced a Head Start reauthorization bill that represents a victory for Head Start advocates who had strongly opposed the Head Start bill, which passed the House by one vote in 2003, because it included a Bush proposal to permit an eight state block grant pilot project. House Democrats had also been united in their opposition to the 2003 bill, arguing that it would have eventually stripped the program of federal standards and merged Head Start into other early childhood programs at the state level.

The bill introduced this week takes significant steps towards strengthening the academic content of the Head Start program, improving fiscal accountability and management among Head Start grantees, and enhancing collaboration between Head Start grantees and other early education providers in the states. The bill also upgrades Head Start's training and technical assistance and restores a proposed cut to this quality improvement system. The bill, however, does not address the low pay offered to teachers in the Head Start program, whose average annual income is just $25,000. In order to meet the demand for high quality teaching for needy children, teachers must be adequately compensated. The bill also does not provide funds to include more children of migrant and seasonal farm workers in Head Start.

Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), Chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee, said that the committee would focus on financial abuses reported in local programs. A Government Accounting Office report, requested by the Republican majority, concluded that 76 percent of local Head Start operators surveyed in 2000 had some form of financial irregularity. Accordingly, the House bill would place more stringent standards on local operators applying to renew their grants.

The House passed the Vocational and Technical Education for the Future Act (H.R. 366). The bill reauthorizes programs under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act and provides states a two percent set-aside for administrative costs. The Senate version (S. 250) passed in March. House-Senate conference committee members are expected to be appointed shortly to resolve differences between the two bills.

The House Appropriations Homeland Security Subcommittee cleared its FY 2006 spending bill by voice vote. The bill provides the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with $30.85 billion, roughly $1.3 billion above the President's request and $1.4 billion above the FY 2005 enacted level. However, the subcommittee shaved almost $485 million from various agencies and is withholding $310 million due to failure of the agency to comply with congressional requests for information. The bill does not include the President's proposal to implement a new passenger security fee, resulting in a $1.7 billion funding gap. The bill includes $750 million for basic state formula grants, $850 million for urban area grants, $400 million for state and local law enforcement terrorism prevention grants and $2 billion for disaster relief. Within the bill, first responders are funded at the President's requested level of $3.6 billion, which falls about 38 percent short of what is needed for full funding.

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies approved a $26.6 billion FY 2006 appropriations bill. The bill funds the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund at $850 million each.