AFSCME Legislative Report
September 16, 2005
AFSCME LEGISLATIVE REPORT
Congress — Week ending September 16
Hurricane relief moves in Congress including bills dealing with Medicaid,
Housing, Education and Unemployment Insurance. Senate panel questions President
Bush's nominee to serve as Chief Justice.
In this issue:
Hurricane Relief Front and Center in Congress
Congress approved a second Hurricane relief package of $51.3 billion which is
intended to provide immediate relief to individuals and specifically for housing
assistance, but a substantial portion also has been given to the Federal
Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), with lesser amounts to the Army
Corps of Engineers, the Department of Defense and other Federal agencies. Some
are saying the total effort is likely to top $200 billion in new emergency
funding when Congress is finished. A third relief package was announced by
President Bush when he addressed the nation from New Orleans. President Bush
used the nationally televised address in an effort to mend his image and advance
a strong agenda showing leadership in a time of crisis. Specific legislation is
expected that would provide job training and housing for people who have to
start over, as well as tax credits for businesses to stay in the devastated
region.
Not waiting for the President, Congress is working overtime on its efforts to
respond to the crisis. The House passed a package of tax breaks for victims of
Hurricane Katrina and Sens. Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Max Baucus (D-MT) have
announced a $3- $5 billion tax package aimed at relief for individual and
businesses. A second larger tax bill containing business enterprise zones in
affected areas and more tax credits to business is also expected.
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Congress Delays Budget Cutting Bill
In addition, congressional leaders in the face of public outcry have
announced they will temporarily delay action on making cuts in many of the same
vital public safety net programs such as Medicaid and Food Stamps that are in
such great demand in the Gulf Coast region. Congress was scheduled to take
action earlier this month on the so-called budget reconciliation legislation. In
addition to budget cuts totaling $35 billion, Congress also called for new tax
cuts of $70 billion. The House and Senate Republican leaders announced new
target dates for this process. It is now expected that sometime during the week
of October 17th, the House and Senate committees will report their budget
spending cut packages to the House and Senate Budget Committees. The Budget
committees are expected to report out a budget bill by October 26th with floor
consideration to occur shortly thereafter. The tax portion of the budget is
expected to be considered in November. AFSCME believes the budget cuts and tax
cuts should be scrapped entirely and not just delayed.
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Senate Committee Questions Supreme Court Nominee
The Senate Judiciary Committee completed three days of hearings on President
Bush's nomination of John G. Roberts to replace Chief Justice William Rehnquist.
Roberts underwent more than 16 hours of questioning on issues like the right to
privacy, civil rights and the environment. Unfortunately, Roberts was not
forthcoming in sharing his opinions on these important issues that may come
before the court. He also failed to distance himself from the failed anti-civil
rights policy that was a part of President Reagan's legacy.
AFSCME has grave concerns about Judge Roberts' nomination. Judge Roberts'
opinions, writings, and his activities in the Reagan White House clearly show
that he does not share our commitment to equal justice. Records show that
Roberts played a significant role in efforts to weaken civil rights laws,
women's rights and environmental protections. In addition, he clearly has a
narrow view of the federal government's right to impose labor standards on state
governments, a view that should be particularly troubling for employees of state
governments.
The committee is scheduled to vote on the nomination the week of September
18th and the full Senate is expected to vote the week of September 26th.
Return to Index
Bipartisan Disaster Relief Medicaid Bill Introduced in the Senate
Senators from both parties have joined together to propose legislation to
provide urgently needed health coverage to people and states affected by
Hurricane Katrina. The proposal, introduced by Sens. Grassley and Baucus would
immediately provide Medicaid coverage to low-income Katrina survivors, with the
federal government paying for 100 percent of the costs, cancel the federal
matching rate reduction scheduled for FY 2006 and simplify the enrollment
process for eligibility. The bill which is strongly supported by AFSCME is
expected to be voted on by the Senate early next week.
AFSCME
Leaders and Activists:
Call your Senators
Urge them to support the Grassley-Baucus
Disaster Relief Medicaid bill.Return to Index
First Responder Funding Increases Rejected by Senate
During the debate on the bill funding the Departments of Commerce and Justice
(H.R. 2862), two amendments were offered to increase funding for first
responders but both failed on near party-line votes. An amendment offered by
Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) would have provided $5 billion in funding for state
and local governments for interoperable communications equipment for first
responders. Sadly, the communications breakdown among first responders during
Hurricane Katrina demonstrated that state and local governments still do not
have the communications equipment needed to deal with a large scale disaster.
The Stabenow amendment failed by a vote of 40 to 58.
An amendment offered by Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) would have provided $1.02
billion in funding for local law enforcement programs, primarily the Community
Policing Services program (COPS). The amendment failed by a vote of 41 to 56.
Return to Index
President Recycling Flawed Personal Reemployment Accounts for
Katrina Victims
Despite congressional reluctance to approve an earlier proposal to issue
fixed amount accounts to unemployed workers that could be used for income
assistance, training, child care and other services, the Bush Administration is
recycling the concept for unemployed victims of Katrina. Although details have
not been announced, the accounts will provide $5,000 for workers to use for
training, child care and other support services. Like the earlier proposal, it
appears that they will have to use these funds to purchase training services
that they otherwise could receive free of charge from local one-stop centers. It
is not clear whether the Administration will try to advance this plan as an
alternative to extending unemployment benefits as they did several years ago.
Return to Index
Bill Introduced to Undo President Bush's Proclamation that Cuts
Wages and Allows Contractors to Pay Substandard Wages to Gulf Coast Workers
Rep. George Miller (D-CA) introduced legislation that would undo President
Bush's proclamation from last week that cuts wages for workers involved in the
reconstruction of areas damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and its
subsequent flooding. Under longstanding federal law, the Davis-Bacon Act,
companies that win federal construction contracts must pay workers the
prevailing wage — the wage typical for their specific job function in the local
area where the work is being completed. Bush's proclamation suspends this wage
requirement indefinitely in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina, including parts
of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida. Miller's legislation would
overturn the President's proclamation.
Return to Index
Schools May Receive Additional Funding, While Waiving No Child Left
Behind Requirements
The Education Department is readying plans to waive No Child Left Behind
requirements for states affected by Hurricane Katrina, provide cash assistance
to school districts absorbing students, and finance new schoolbooks, demolition
and reconstruction of school buildings and temporary trailers and provide
funding for new teachers for schools bursting with Katrina evacuees.
Return to Index
School Lunch Requirements Eased
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has responded to the devastation
left behind by Hurricane Katrina by reducing barriers to feeding school children
in affected areas. This policy eases National School Lunch program requirements
that simply can not be met in the face of this disaster, including meal
components, record keeping, enrollment and location requirements.
Return to Index
AFSCME Urges Federal Government to Ensure Quality Child Care, Early
Head Start, and Head Start Environments for Children Impacted by Hurricane
Katrina
The destruction caused by Katrina has devastating effects for families with
young children. As thousands of families have been forced to relocate across the
country, and other families begin to return to some of the affected areas, they
need immediate help in order for their children to participate in child care,
Early Head Start and Head Start. Prior to the disaster, the funding levels for
child care, Early Head Start and Head Start were insufficient to serve all
eligible children.
AFSCME is working with a coalition of early education advocates to urge
Congress to provide substantial new emergency funding through the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for increased access to child care
assistance and Head Start and Early Head Start programs and to support
rebuilding of the child care and early education infrastructure in the states
most impacted by Hurricane Katrina.
Return to Index
Head Start Reauthorization Bills Moving Forward
Head Start reauthorization bills (H.R. 2123, S. 1107) are moving through the
House and Senate. H.R. 2123 is expected to hit the floor on Wednesday. The only
good news is that neither bill contains the state block grant proposal that we
vigorously opposed and that derailed the reauthorization last year. However,
both bills would increase the education and training requirements for all Head
Start staff but without providing sufficient funding to assist programs and
staff meet the higher standards.
House GOP Leaders plan to offer a "charitable choice" amendment to the bill
that would allow religiously-affiliated Head Start providers to discriminate on
the basis of religion when hiring teachers, assistants and other workers. AFSCME,
the National Head Start Association, civil rights, civil liberties and many
religious organizations are lobbying to defeat the amendment.
Without new money for teacher salaries, AFSCME opposes increased
credentialing requirements.
Return to Index
Senate Judiciary Committee Reauthorized the Violence Against Women
Act (VAWA) with Amendment to Provide Men Benefits
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Thursday to reauthorize a law aimed at
combating violence against women, after adopting an amendment that would allow
men to qualify for program benefits under the bill.
Other provisions of the amendment would increase penalties for stalking when
the offender was subject to a protective order and for repeat offenders.
Return to Index
House GOP Insists on Moving Forward to Privatize Social Security
House Republican leaders insisted that they will move forward and bring
legislation to privatize Social Security to the House floor for a vote this
fall. There had been speculation that the Hurricane Katrina crisis would push
GOP plans to move forward on privatizing Social Security off the legislative
calendar for this year. However, House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and Ways
and Means Social Security Subcommittee Chairman Jim McCrery (R-LA) said at a
news conference that Social Security remains on the GOP's agenda and that
"Social Security is not off the table for this year but only slightly delayed."
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Mini Debate on Campaign Finance Likely in Senate Next Week
Late next week, the Senate is expected to take up the bill (H.R. 3058) that
funds the Departments of Transportation, Treasury and several other federal
agencies. Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Russell Feingold (D-WI) will offer an
amendment to strip a narrow but harmful campaign finance provision from the
bill. AFSCME is lobbying in support of the McCain-Feingold amendment.
Earlier this summer, the Senate GOP leadership tucked the campaign finance
provision into (H.R. 3058) over the objections of Democrats. The provision would
allow leadership political action committees (PACs) to make unlimited transfers
of funds to national party committees, such as the Republican National Committee
or the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
AFSCME opposes the leadership PAC provision in H.R. 3058 because it
circumvents the current limits on the amount that wealthy individuals and PACs
can give in support of a federal officeholder's campaign. Under the provision,
contributions to a lawmaker's leadership PAC could be transferred to a party
committee to be used for the lawmaker's own campaign. Currently, a lawmaker
cannot use funds raised by his leadership PAC for his/her own election. The
ultimate result of the provision is to allow wealthy contributors to play an
even greater role in elections and to further dominate the policy making process
at the expense of the needs and concerns of ordinary Americans. In addition,
because the party that controls Congress is able to raise more money for
leadership PACs, the provision creates a fundraising advantage for the party in
power.
Return to Index
Law Enforcement Amendments to Justice Spending Bill
During the Senate debate on the FY 2006 Commerce-Justice-Science spending
bill (H.R. 2862), four amendments were adopted that would assist law enforcement
officers in combating the growing methamphetamine epidemic in the country. The
following amendments were adopted:
- Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) amendment that earmarks $2 million for grants
for methamphetamine prevention education programs in elementary and
secondary schools;
- Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO) amendment to establish a Methamphetamine Task
Force within the Drug Enforcement Agency;
- Sens. Jim Talent (R-MO) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) amendment that
incorporates the text of the "Combat Meth Act of 2005" (S. 103)
- and Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and George Allen (R-VA) amendment that
provides an additional $19.9 million for the Methamphetamine Hot Spots
program.
Other amendments that were adopted effecting law enforcement and corrections
officers are:
- Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) amendment that would waive the state match
requirement under the Bulletproof Vest Partnership grant program for
purposes of replacing defective vests;
- Sen. Mark Dayton (D-MN) amendment that increases funding for Justice
Assistance Grants by $275 million.
Return to Index
Annual Survey Finds Decline in Employer-Based Health Insurance as
Coverage Cost Increases Slow but Still Outpace Inflation
Only 60 percent of public and private employers offered health care coverage
to their workers in 2005, down significantly from 69 percent in 2000 and 66
percent in 2003, according to the
2005 Employer Health
Benefits Survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Health
Research and Educational Trust. While premium increases were two percentage
points lower in 2005 as compared to 2004 (9% vs. 11%), they continue to outpace
inflation and wage growth. In 2005, the annual premiums for family coverage cost
more than the gross earnings for a full-time minimum wage worker.
Return to Index
September Marks 8th Year Without an Increase in the Federal Minimum
Wage
In an unhappy anniversary, the federal minimum wage has remained stuck at
$5.15 an hour since September, 1997. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
and the Economic Policy Institute report the following disheartening statistics:
- The minimum wage is at a 56-year low relative to the average private
sector wage.
- The purchasing power of the minimum wage has deteriorated by 17 percent
over the past eight years.
- Since the inception of the minimum wage, there has been only one other
period (from 1981 to 1990) in which the minimum wage has remained unchanged
for more than eight years.
AFSCME, along with the AFL-CIO, its member unions and other allies, has been
waging annual battles in Congress for an increase in the federal minimum wage.
Thus far, the Republican leadership has defeated our efforts.
Return to Index
Intergovernmental Relations — Update
The following is a periodic report on the activities of state and local
government interest groups and other advocacy organizations.
- More Than One Million Kids Could Lose Medicaid Coverage Under NGA
Proposal — Between 500,000 and 1.4 million children would lose health
coverage under the National Governor's Association (NGA) proposal for
reducing Medicaid costs, according to a
study
released this week by PICO, a national network of faith-based community
organizations. The NGA's proposal to Congress would increase co-payments,
premiums and deductibles currently covered by Medicaid, which would deter
many families from seeking needed health care. "It's hard to make sense of a
reduction of a program that would provide a safety net for children, who are
the most vulnerable in the country," said Roy Riley, president of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church Conference of Bishops. PICO is urging lawmakers
to stop cuts through budget reconciliation that would reduce federal
Medicaid spending while our country is still reeling from Hurricane Katrina.
AFSCME and countless others are urging Congress to completely cancel these
cuts.
Return to Index
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