AFSCME Legislative Report
AFSCME LEGISLATIVE REPORT
September 28, 2007
In this issue:
House and Senate Approve Children's Health Bill By Large Bipartisan Margins
This week, the House and Senate passed legislation to continue and expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) by wide, bipartisan margins. The House approved the bill by a vote of 265-159, with 45 Republicans joining all but eight Democrats in support of the bill. In the Senate, the bill was approved by a vote of 67-29, with 18 Republicans voting in favor of the bill. Following the Senate vote Thursday evening, the White House issued a statement reiterating the President's opposition to the bill, giving no hint that the President is reconsidering his threat to veto the bill. While there is enough support in the Senate to override a veto, there is not yet enough support in the House. In order to prevent the program from lapsing on September 30, the House and Senate approved a temporary extension of SCHIP at current spending levels through November 16.
(Barbara Coufal- bcoufal@afscme.org)
How You Can Help Kids!
Send an e-mail to President Bush.
Urge him to sign the children's health insurance bill.
Go to AFSCME's web site at www.afscme.org and take action to protect children.
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Congress Passes Stopgap Spending Bill
The House and Senate passed legislation (H.J. Res. 52) that would keep federal agencies and programs operating at the current year's spending levels through November 16. The measure is needed to keep the government from shutting down since the new fiscal year starts on October 1, and none of the 12 annual spending bills have been signed into law. Slowing the process down has been President Bush's threat to veto many of the spending bills because they provide a total of $23 billion in increased funding beyond the President's budget request. Added to the stop-gap spending measure is additional money for the war in Iraq (a larger request for continued operations will be dealt with later), an extension of SCHIP, continuation of various aviation-related taxes that fund Federal Aviation Administration operations, and continuation of the Trade Adjustment Assistance program.
(Ed Jayne- ejayne@afscme.org)
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House Committee Approves Timber/County Payments Bill
On September 26, the House Committee on Natural Resources approved The Public Land Communities Transition Act of 2007 (H.R. 3058), legislation that will provide four years of payments to rural counties and schools by fully funding the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program. The PILT program provides federal payments to rural local governments to compensate them for the taxes they lose by having the non-tax paying federal government as a large local landowner. The money received from this program is a huge part of the budget for forest counties all across the country. The legislation also creates a new "transitional payments" program for counties that are located in national forest lands using a formula that is based on timber receipts.
(Cynthia Bradley- cbradley@afscme.org)
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Bill to Protect Public Hospitals' Funding Introduced
The Public and Teaching Hospital Preservation Act (H.R. 3533), introduced by Reps. Eliot Engel (D-NY) and Sue Myrick (R-NC), would block the Bush Administration from implementing $5 billion in Medicaid cuts to publicly operated safety-net hospitals. The Administration's rule is scheduled to go into effect May 2008. Unless blocked, the regulation would mean, for example, that California's providers could lose $550 million. Illinois facilities could lose $623 million annually. A Senate bill is also expected to be introduced.
(Linda Bennett- lbennett@afscme.org)
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House Food Stamp Privatization Provision Attacked
In a recent speech marking the 30th anniversary of the Food Stamp Act, Acting Agriculture Department Secretary Chuck Connor took aim at the House provision clarifying the longstanding federal requirement that states use civil service employees to conduct the eligibility determination process. Meanwhile, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels continues to aggressively seek support among the governors for a position opposing the provision. So far, the National Governors Association (NGA) has declined to take a position.
(Nanine Meiklejohn- nmeiklejohn@afscme.org)
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Senate Commerce Committee Postpones Mark-Up of Internet Tax Moratorium
The Senate Commerce Committee postponed its scheduled mark-up of the bipartisan "Internet Tax Freedom Extension Act" (S. 1453), mostly because committee members could not agree on the moratorium's duration. The compromise legislation, which is supported by a large coalition of state and local groups including the NGA and AFSCME, would extend the existing tax moratorium on Internet access by four more years. The committee is expected to reconvene before the current temporary moratorium expires on November 1, 2007. On the House side, Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) introduced a strong bill that includes a four-year extension of the moratorium.
(Marc Granowitter- mgranowiter@afscme.org)
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AFSCME Department of Legislation
Phone:
202/429-5020 or 800/732-8120
Fax: 202/223-3413
E-mail:
legislation@afscme.org
Website:
http://www.afscme.org/
Produced by
Union Labor
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