AFSCME Legislative Highlights
Legislation Department
May 12, 2006
Congress — Week ending May 12
House fails to pass budget — AGAIN. House and Senate approve massive new tax cuts for wealthy. Senate rejects flawed health bill.
In this issue:
Budget Pulled Again as GOP Moderates Feel the Heat from Their Constituents
AFSCME and our allies' phone calls to members of Congress and in-district events are working! House Republican leaders gave up on bringing to a vote this week their shameful, unfair, and inadequate budget resolution for fiscal year 2007 (H.Con.Res. 376). House Republican moderates, led by Rep. Michael Castle (R-DE), are literally running scared, worried that a vote in favor of a budget resolution that cuts domestic discretionary spending programs by $10.3 billion in FY 2007 and $167 billion over five years will hurt their reelection prospects in November. They are negotiating with their leadership for an additional $3.1 billion for domestic programs. This is the second time in the past month that the House GOP leadership has had to pull the plug on a vote because they could not muster a majority.
The House budget resolution - which would force cuts to our nation's most important priorities including health care, education, child care, housing, and nutrition assistance, and shift costs to state and local governments — is particularly shameful in light of the $70 billion tax cut bill both houses of Congress passed earlier this week. That legislation, which includes an extension of the 15 percent maximum rate on capital gains and dividends income until 2010, will save millionaires $42,766 per year, while middle-income taxpayers will receive an average tax cut of $20.
It is possible that the House leadership will try again next week to bring the budget resolution to a vote. If they fail to get it passed, it would be the first time in 30 years that the House did not adopt a budget resolution.
Those who sent letters, emails, made calls and attended events are to be congratulated for making sure your voices are heard by your members of Congress in opposition to this harmful budget package.
PLEASE KEEP THE HEAT ON!
CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AND ASK THEM TO OPPOSE THE SHAMEFUL BUDGET.
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Congress Approves $69 Billion in Tax Cuts
After a year of debate and delays, the House and Senate finally voted — largely on party lines — to approve the FY 2006 Budget Reconciliation Tax package. This $69 billion package contains the controversial tax breaks for capital gains and dividend income sought by President Bush which benefits millionaires at a cost of $20.5 billion. Even though these tax breaks under current law do not expire for another two years until 2009, congressional Republican leaders insisted on including this extension now. As a result, the package included just a one-year patch for relief under the Alternative Minimum Tax and dropped popular tax credits for workers, including: (1) school teachers buying classroom supplies out of their own pocket; (2) families paying college tuition; and (3) employers hiring employees moving from welfare-to-work. In addition, although large oil companies continue to reap record windfall profits, Republican leaders dropped the plan to require them to pay their fair share of taxes.
Given these inequities, the Tax Policy Center estimates that under this bill taxpayers earning $40,000-$50,000 would receive an average of $47, and taxpayers earning more than $1 million would receive an average of $42,766.
The House voted 244-185 for the tax breaks with only 15 Democrats voting yes and two Republicans voting no. The Senate voted 54-44 in favor of the bill, with three Democrats voting yes and three Republicans voting no.
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Senate Rejects Flawed Health Care Bill
In a victory for workers and consumers, the Senate rejected the "Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act" (S. 1955) on Thursday. The bill was scuttled by a vote of 55 to 43. The vote that took place was on a procedural motion that required 60 votes to succeed.
AFSCME strongly opposed S. 1955 because it would have overridden state patient protections, including coverage for child immunizations and check-ups, mammograms, prostate and cervical screenings, emergency and maternity services, diabetic supplies and other vital services. The bill would also have driven up the cost of comprehensive coverage on which working families rely. The vote was along party lines with only one Republican voting against the bill - Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) — and only two Democrats voting for the bill - Sens. Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA).
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Senate Leaders Reach Agreement to Re-start Immigration Reform Debate
Senate leaders have cleared the way for a freewheeling debate on immigration that would begin on Monday, May 15 and is likely to continue for the two weeks leading up to the Memorial Day recess. Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) and Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced that they will launch a "no-holds-barred" floor debate over immigration legislation addressing border security, a temporary guest worker program and a path to legalization for millions of undocumented immigrants already in the United States. Frist and Reid reached agreement on the appointment of Senate conferees to negotiate a final bill with the House, which passed its own immigration measure last December. There is not an agreement about number of amendments that can be offered but we do expect that Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) will offer an amendment to strike the entire guest worker program.
The proposal to offer a path-to-legalization for undocumented workers who are already residing in the U.S. that will be in the Senate bill will be the compromise crafted by Sens. Mel Martinez (R-FL) and Chuck Hagel (R-NE) that would divide the undocumented into three groups. Those who have been here more than five years (estimated to be about seven million) would be able to remain in the U.S. and eventually earn citizenship; those who have been here less than five years but more than two years (an estimated three million) would have to physically leave, and then re-enter, the U.S. in order to get a temporary visa to work and be eligible for a green card based on availability; and those who have been here less than two years (about one to two million) would have had to return home and go through normal channels if they want to return.
A recent New York Times-CBS poll found considerable opposition to the strict immigration measures being pressed by conservative Republican leaders in the House. About 60 percent of respondents said they favored the plan that would permit illegal immigrants who had worked in the U.S. for at least two years to keep their jobs and apply for citizenship. Just 35 percent endorsed the view that illegal immigrants should be deported and two-thirds opposed building a 700-mile fence along the United States-Mexican border.
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AFSCME Corrections Leadership Lobby for Bulletproof Vests and Correctional Health
Corrections officers from across the country gathered in Washington, DC for "Correctional Officers Week" to honor officers who died in the line of duty and to lobby for the AFSCME Corrections United legislative agenda. Two bills in the House were the focus of their lobbying. The Wayne 'Cotton' Morgan Bulletproof Vest Act, named for the Tennessee AFSCME leader who was killed transporting a violent criminal to court, would eliminate the state matching requirement for federal funds for the purchase of armored vests. The Office of Correctional Public Health would establish an office within the Department of Health and Human Services that would be devoted to improving the health of inmates and correctional personnel.
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AFSCME Rallies to Call for Extension of Medicare Drug Deadline
AFSCME International Vice President and President of Local 1199, Henry Nicholas and 200 AFSCME retirees joined Democratic congressional leaders in calling on President Bush to extend the deadline for seniors to enroll in The Medicare Prescription drug program. The Bush Administration has botched implementation of the prescription drug law, and millions of seniors have been unable to navigate their way through the confusing sign-up process. Now, with millions still not signed up for the confusing program and the enrollment period set to expire on Monday, many lawmakers are urging the Bush Administration not to charge seniors for their own incompetence.
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House Committee Approves Voting Rights Act
The House of Representatives approved legislation on May 10 that would extend provisions of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). The legislation, "The Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006" (H.R. 9) was named for three famed heroines of the civil rights era. The legislation seeks to continue three expiring provisions of the law: section 5, which requires states and localities with a history of voting discrimination to get pre-approval before making changes in their election procedures; section 203 which requires counties to provide language assistance where more than five percent of the citizens are not English speaking; and, sections 6-9, which require the Department of Justice to send federal examiners and observers to monitor elections where there is evidence of voter intimidation.
By a near unanimous vote, the committee sent the VRA to the floor for a vote by the full House. Rep. Steven King (R-IA) was the only member of the committee to vote against the VRA. He was also unsuccessful in stripping from the landmark legislation the requirement that multilingual ballots be provided for those with limited English proficiency. The panel defeated King's motion 26 to 9, with only Republican members supporting his effort.
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Senate Committee Approves Controversial Judicial Nominee
Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals was approved along party lines by the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 11 with Republicans voting in favor of the nomination and Democrats opposing.
AFSCME and other organizations oppose Kavanaugh's nomination sharing the view that he is not qualified to serve in a lifetime appointment to the second most important court in the country. The decisions coming out of the D.C. Circuit have a direct and profound impact on the lives of millions of working men and women across the U.S. The D.C. Circuit is the court that most often reviews rules and decisions issued by federal agencies in the area of worker protections, civil rights and other concerns.
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AFSCME Fights for Right to Quality, Affordable Child Care at Congressional Briefing
Bonnie Caldwell, a member of AFSCME's United Child Care Union spoke at a congressional briefing on May 11 to release the Work and Family Bill of Rights. This Bill of Rights is a call to action to create policies that support working families who often struggle to balance the demands of work and family care. She spoke about the right to quality, affordable child care.
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AFSCME New Mexico Activists Urge Congress to Vote No on Repeal of Estate Tax
AFSCME New Mexico activists joined with state legislators, religious leaders and child advocates from across the state met outside Rep. Heather Wilson's (R-NM) office in Albuquerque on Wednesday, May 10, urging the her to vote no on repeal of the estate tax. Congress is expected to vote on estate tax issue later this month.
Eighteen families worth almost $200 billion, including the Walton family, have mounted a relentless, years-long campaign to repeal the estate tax, a move that would grant multi-million dollar tax breaks to the wealthy while pushing a larger tax burden on to middle class families and forcing cuts to vital public services.
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AFSCME Missouri Activists Speak Out Opposing Budget Cuts
AFSCME Council 72 activists joined with Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-MO), and education leaders at a press conference focusing on how Rep. Jo Ann Emerson's (R-MO) support of the Bush budget cuts will have a devastating impact on Missouri schools.
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Members of Congress Asked to Oppose Harmful Budget Cuts
AFSCME Council 76 activists and the Emergency Campaign for America's Priorities (ECAP) and other advocacy groups held a press conference Thursday, May 11 to urge Rep. Bob Beauprez (R-CO) and the Colorado delegation to oppose the budget cut bill pending in the House. An analysis of the impact of the proposed funding cuts on Colorado was released at the event.
In addition, AFSCME Wisconsin activists held a press conference calling on Rep. Mark Green (R-WI) to vote against the budget cuts.
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