AFSCME Legislative Report
September 30, 2005
AFSCME LEGISLATIVE REPORT
Congress — Week ending September 30
Roberts confirmed as the Chief Justice. Tom DeLay indicted. Medicaid Katrina relief still stalled.
In this issue:
Senate Votes to Confirm Judge Roberts as Chief Justice to the Supreme Court
By a vote of 77-22, the U.S. Senate confirmed Judge John G. Roberts to be the next Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Judge Roberts sailed through the Senate Judiciary Committee even though he failed to answer reasonable questions or to distance himself from his past record of opposing civil rights, women's rights and worker rights. All eyes are now on who President Bush will nominate to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor who announced her intensions to retire in October.
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Pattern of Corruption Continues as DeLay is Indicted
The blockbuster of the week was the announcement by a Texas grand jury of the indictment of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) on charges of conspiring to violate state campaign finance law. The sudden announcement caused a major eruption in the usually tight knit House Republican caucus. Not only was DeLay forced to step aside as Majority Leader, but there was major confusion over the naming of his successor. House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) first let it be known he wanted Rep. David Dreier (R-CA) to "temporarily" replace DeLay, but when right-wingers objected, Hastert was forced to elevate Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO), the previous Majority Whip, into the number two job.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said, "The criminal indictment of Majority Leader Tom Delay is the latest example that Republicans in Congress are plagued by a culture of corruption at the expense of the American people." In addition to the DeLay case, the top White House procurement officer, David Safavian, was arrested for making false statements and obstructing a federal investigation related to a golf trip paid for by celebrated Republican lobbyist, Jack Abramoff, a close ally of Majority Leader Tom DeLay. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also voted to investigate Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) on charges of possible insider trading over his sale of stock in his family's hospital corporation. All this, of course, was going on as Congress continued its investigation into the Bush Administration's handling of the Hurricane Katrina disaster and disturbing testimony was given this week to Congress by former Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Director Michael Brown, who has now been hired by FEMA as a consultant to review the government's response to the hurricane.
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Medicaid Proposal for Katrina Relief May Be Altered
Unable to move his Medicaid hurricane relief bill through the Senate, Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, is negotiating with conservative Republicans who oppose the bill because of the cost. Grassley is considering designating some of the money that has already been approved for FEMA to be used on the provisions in the Medicaid package. Grassley is also meeting with the Administration, which continues to oppose the bill.
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Support Continues to Grow for National Medicaid Relief as Bush Administration Offers Band-Aids
Joining the nation’s governors and states’ health directors, along with AFSCME and a host of health care advocates, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) sent a letter to Capitol Hill late last week supporting the Emergency Health Care Relief Act of 2005 (S. 1716), cosponsored by Sens. Grassley and Max Baucus (D-MT). NCSL noted that the bill provides states with the tools they need to assist Hurricane Katrina victims because it is comprehensive, including expanded Medicaid coverage for health care and mental health services, as well as additional substance abuse services, cash assistance and extended unemployment benefits. “It’s a superior package of benefits . . . It would help us ensure that we can provide care to the people coming into the states,” said Joy Wilson, NCSL health policy staff.
Adding to support for this approach, a report released this week by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies found that expanding Medicaid causes state and federal spending increases, which in turn stimulates the economy as more goods and services are being purchased by the government. Without federal action, the amount of the federal contribution to Medicaid will actually decrease in FY 2007 for most states, according to an Issue Brief released this week by the Federal Funds Information for States.
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Congress Takes Up Stop Gap Funding Bill
The House passed a short-term stop gap spending bills that will keep the government operating into the new FY 2006 that starts on October 1 since action has not been completed on nearly all of the FY 2006 spending bills. The temporary funding measure will continue funding for departments and programs through November 18th. One notable aspect about the funding measure is that it funds agencies and activities at the lower of the current rate (FY 2005), the House- or Senate-passed FY 2006 appropriations levels. Although past continuing resolutions have contained this language, it has not been done recently. This will mean a reduction in funding for many key AFSCME programs. The Senate is expected to pass the bill today.
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Appropriators Stiff First Responders on Homeland Security Spending Bill
On Thursday, a “conference” of selected members of the Senate and House Appropriations Committees met to resolve differences in the spending bills passed by each body to fund the Homeland Security Department and its programs. The negotiations yielded a final bill that makes significant cuts in grants to state and local governments for first responders, as compared to the amounts enacted in last year’s spending bill. Spending for specific first responder grants is detailed below.
- $765 million for Urban Area Grants – a cut of $255 million;
- $550 million for basic grants to states – a cut of $550 million;
- $655 million for firefighter grants – a cut of $60 million; and
- $400 million for local law enforcement terrorism grants – representing no change.
During the negotiations, Rep. David Obey (WI), ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, proposed increases in funding for first responders. GOP leaders, who outnumbered Democratic leaders on the conference, rejected the increases. The bill now goes to the House and Senate for a final vote.
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Paying for Katrina Relief
Congress has already approved $62.3 billion in emergency assistance for the Gulf Coast region, and more is on the way, as relief efforts could top $200 billion. Senate Republican leaders have called on President Bush to use his administrative authority to "reduce unnecessary and low priority federal expenditures." In addition, Senate Republican leadership unveiled a plan to defray some of the emergency spending costs for hurricane relief efforts. The plan directs all Senate committees to look for possible savings within their jurisdictions, in addition to $34.7 billion in mandatory spending cuts required through the reconciliation process.
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Congress Passes "National Emergency Grant" Expansion to Respond to Katrina
Congress has approved and sent to the White House legislation that would expand the authority for the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) National Emergency Grant (NEG) program to create short term jobs in areas impacted by Katrina and in states that are hosting Katrina victims.
For the first time in decades, the program has been modified to permit the creation of public service employment for up to one year. WIA has worker protections relating to wages, benefits and displacement that would apply. Unfortunately, there are no health and safety standards for public sector work in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, but we were able to get a provision permitting funds to be used for safety equipment for people working in the areas destroyed by the hurricane. In addition, we were able to ensure that state and local officials will have a role in designing the projects. As originally proposed, the Administration would have had considerable freedom to award any contracts it wanted.
At the moment, it is unclear how the expanded program will be funded since DOL actually has committed more money than it has available for NEG projects.
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TANF Extension Passed; Katrina Relief Policy Penalizes Poor on TANF Before Hurricane
As part of a Katrina relief package Congress several weeks ago approved and sent to the President a 20 percent increase in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds for states affected by Hurricane Katrina and authority for a program providing four months of benefits to individuals qualifying for assistance as a result of the hurricane. TANF work rules and the lifetime limit on assistance are waived for people receiving this temporary aid but not for individuals on TANF before the hurricane. The legislation also extended the TANF block grant through December but allowed authority for the transitional Medicaid program to expire.
In response to this package which was dictated by House leaders, the Senate this week approved additional legislation that would extend the TANF block grant and transitional Medicaid until the end of March 2006. The legislation also provides 14 months of TANF relief assistance to victims of Katrina, who would not be subject to the TANF time limits and work requirements, regardless of whether they were TANF recipients before the hurricane or enrolled after it struck. The House of Representatives went into recess before acting on the package, however. Return to Index
No Child Left Behind Rules Eased
Under pressure from hurricane-stressed states, the Department of Education announced that the agency will relax academic accountability standards under the administration's signature education initiative for one year. This will allow schools affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita to recoup without facing penalties for poor annual assessments.
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Unemployment Benefits Extension for Katrina Victims Still Waiting for Action
Legislation that would provide additional weeks of unemployment benefits and federal funds to pay for them stalled this week. In the Senate, the dispute over the best way to provide health coverage for Katrina victims held up legislation that also includes a 13-week federal extension of regular unemployment benefits. And, although there appeared to be emerging agreement in the House Ways and Means Committee on an unemployment benefits extension, the House leadership failed to clear the way for the plan to be taken up on the House floor.
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Congress Passes Hurricane Relief Bill for Higher Education
A bill to help higher education institutions and students in the Gulf States hit by Hurricanes Rita and Katrina was passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate. It has now been sent to President Bush for his signature.
The bill, authored by Rep. Bobby Jindal (R-LA), provides flexibility and support for campus-based student aid programs at institutions hit by the hurricanes and those enrolling displaced students. The Natural Disaster Student Aid Fairness Act (H.R. 3863) was unanimously approved by voice vote. The bill gives the Education Department an extra year to reallocate unspent program funds. That way, the Department would have more time to evaluate the financial circumstances of the institutions and direct the money where it's needed most. It also allows reallocated funds to be targeted to institutions in the affected region and to those enrolling displaced students.
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House Hearing Considers Legislation to Reduce States' Ability to Tax Corporations
The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the Republican-sponsored "Business Activity Tax Simplification Act" (H.R. 1956), which restricts states' authority to develop their own tax systems and enables corporations to more easily avoid taxation. AFSCME opposes H.R. 1956 because it would restrict states' ability to tax corporations and broaden loopholes and expand tax avoidance. The Chair of the Multistate Tax Commission, Joan Wagnon, testified in opposition to this legislation.
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Manager's Amendment to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Passes and Compromises Services for Racial and Ethnic Populations
The House passed legislation (H.R. 3402) this week that would reauthorize Justice Department spending through FY 2009, and weaken language regarding help for minority victims of domestic violence. The bill would reauthorize provisions of a 1994 law aimed at reducing violence against women. However, language to provide adequate services to meet the needs of victims of domestic and sexual violence from racial and ethnic communities was stripped from VAWA in the manager's amendment. This language is important because many victims in racial and ethnic communities are not now receiving the services they desperately need. All victims of domestic and sexual violence must have access to counseling, legal advocacy, emergency assistance, and other aid they require to keep themselves and their children safe.
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AFSCME Public Safety Officer Agenda Gets Boost
One of the legislative priorities on AFSCME's Public Safety Officer Agenda received a boost when an amendment to the Department of Justice reauthorization (H.R. 3402) by Rep. Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY) to expand the federal ban on fake police badges to include uniforms was adopted. Rep. Slaughter's bill, The Badge and Uniform Security and Trustworthiness Act of 2005 (H.R. 3604), is one of the priorities outlined in AFSCME's legislative agenda for public safety officers, which includes police and corrections officers. The legislation also directs the United States Sentencing Commission to assure that the sentence on a defendant who is convicted of a federal offense while wearing or displaying insignia and clothing reflects the gravity of the aggravating factor.
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Intergovernmental Relations — Update
The following is a periodic report on the activities of state and local government interest groups and other advocacy organizations.
- Governors support bipartisan education rescue package — The National Governors Association (NGA) has added its support for the bipartisan approach to comprehensive post-Katrina education relief contained in the Sens. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) and Michael Enzi (R-WY) package. In particular, the NGA is “very supportive” of additional federal education funding, including full reimbursement based on the average per pupil expenditure in the state, adjusted reimbursement rates for special education, greater access to Head Start and higher education, and temporary relief for post-secondary education. (Among other provisions, the Kennedy-Enzi bill authorizes an additional $112 million for the Child Care Development Block Grant and $45 million for Head Start.) The governors have suggested a few changes and clarifications to the legislation, including ensured reimbursement for every displaced K-12 student, increased special education reimbursement, and ensured assistance to institutions that accept displaced students. The NGA has also urged Congress to approve an education rescue package as expeditiously as possible.
- NACo announces Gulf Coast relief package — The National Association of Counties (NACo) announced its Agenda for Immediate Gulf Coast Relief, which calls for no less than $300 billion in federal assistance to counties to enhance critical infrastructure and key resources in the affected areas. NACo supports enhanced coordination between local governments and the private sector to ensure the preparedness of states and localities and to protect vital physical and economic infrastructure. NACo specifically seeks to increase funding to strengthen infrastructure for transportation and drinking water and wastewater. NACo seeks at least $1.5 billion for CDBG and HOME housing services, $500 million to enhance post-Hurricane public health response, and $1.1 billion for additional funding and flexibility for Social Services Block Grant Program.
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Sign up now for the AFSCME e-Activist Network!
Signing up is your ticket to staying informed and making a difference! You
will receive informative updates on issues that are important to working
families. Plus, the AFSCME e-Activist Network allows your voice to be heard by
giving you the capability to send e-mails and faxes to the decision makers on
issues you care about most!
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