Yesterday the Senate added an extra $1 billion in election overhaul funding to the Transportation-Treasury spending bill (HR 2989). This allowed Congress to get back on track to fully funding the law.

Pushing back on President Bush’s budget which requested only $500 million, Senators worked in a bipartisan manner.

The Senate approved the extra funding by a voice vote after agreeing 63-31 to waive a budget point of order raised by Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). Allowing the $1 billion would bust the budget cap that President Bush is trying to enforce.

The original bill authorized nearly $3.9 billion in aid over three years. Congress appropriated about $567 million less in fiscal 2003 than was authorized. The states also have yet to receive $833 million appropriated last year.

Forty-one senators, including one Republican, sent a letter to President Bush yesterday urging him to intervene in the House-Senate Medicare Prescription Drug conference so that negotiators do not produce a deal that Democrats say the Senate would reject.

Most of the protests center on an aspect of the House bill that eventually would require the traditional version of the program to compete with private health plans based on price. Proponents of that competitive arrangement, known as premium support, say that it would encourage people to join private health plans and drive down costs. Critics of the plan predict it would end up costing more for patients who remain in the traditional fee-for-service program.

Democrats stopped short of saying they would filibuster a plan they dislike, but they urged negotiators to avoid premium support and several other contentious provisions that House Republicans want.

The Democrats’ letter to President Bush is a mirror image of a letter that a group of thirteen House conservatives wrote last month to House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois). In that letter, House conservatives vowed to oppose any final Medicare plan unless it contained many of the same provisions that the Democrats pledged to reject.

House and Senate negotiators are working from an outline, prepared by the conference committee’s chairman, House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas (R-California) which embodies most of the preferences of House conservatives and is being resisted even by some Republican senators in the meetings.

Outstanding conference issues include requiring Congress to place unprecedented caps on Medicare spending so that it does not rise above $400 billion during the next decade; tax breaks for younger people to set up saving accounts for their medical bills; and a break with the program’s tradition by which wealthier Medicare patients would be charged more for care.

On October 23, in a surprise announcement, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works announced that an agreement on a highway reauthorization bill has been reached. The Senate EPW Committee has scheduled a markup for November 5th. In a joint statement, Senate EPW Committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member Sen. James Jeffords (I-Vt.), Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee Chairman Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.), and Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee Ranking Member Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said the following:

As we have said throughout the year, completing a 6-year reauthorization of Transportation Equity Act for the 21st century is essential for job creation, economic growth and expansion, and the nation’s infrastructure. We all agree that this legislation is a top priority for this committee, and so we have worked together for several months to find common ground. Today we reached bipartisan agreement on the major issues surrounding the bill and have scheduled a markup for Wednesday, November 5. We expect to move this bill through the EPW Committee with a bipartisan vote, and then proceed to consider it on the Senate floor as soon as Congress returns to work early next year. It is our hope that we can reach agreement with the House before the current extension expires on February 29, 2004 and send a bill to the President’s desk as quickly as possible.

The Senators are hoping to reach an agreement with the House Transportation and Infrastrcuture Committee before the current extension expires in February. The Senate EPW Committee did not divulge the level of funding the bill would provide for highway programs, but the funding level is likley to comply with the $255 billion authorized for highway programs over the next six years in the FY 2004 budget resolution. The highway bill, much like the Administration's SAFETEA proposal, will address highway safety and freight traffic. Also, the issue of minimum funding guarantees for states, a very contentious, will likely not be addressed in the bill, but may be discussed during the markup. Additionally, it remains unclear what provisions were included in the bill to expedite the often cumbersome environmental review process.

Soon after the Senate EPW Committe commences debate on the highway bill, the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee will likely begin work on the transit portion of TEA-21 reauthorization. The Senate Finance Committee also must reauthorize portions of TEA-21, specifically authorizing the spending of Highway Trust Fund dollars. The Hous Transportation and Infrastrcuture Committee has yet not announced a markup date for their bill, but they will likely make their bill public in early December

After more than 8 hours of debate, the Senate, on Thursday, passed the FY 2004 Transportation-Treasury Spending Bill by a margin of 91-3. A conference with the House will likely occur next week.

The $90 billion Transportation-Treasury spending bill would provide $59 billion for the Department of Transportation, including $33.8 billion for highways, $13.2 billion for aviation and $7.31 billion for transit.

There was some doubt as to whether a vote would occur on Thursday because Senate appropriators never agreed to a time limit on debate. Most surprising about the debate was that there were no transportation amendments introduced and there was scant discussion about transportation issues.

To the disappointment of Amtrak supporters, no amendments boosting funding for the railroad were introduced. Such an amendment would have prompted lengthy debate, making it difficult for the Senate to finish consideration of the bill in one day. The Senate bill provides Amtrak with $1.346 billion in funding. Amtrak originally requested $1.82 billion for the current fiscal year. The House bill provides Amtrak with $900 million for the current fiscal year, which is the number the Administration initially proposed. Amtrak President and CEO David Gunn continues to maintain that the railroad would shutdown if Amtrak only receieved $900 million. Amtrak funding will have to be addressed in conference.

The Senate spent most of the 8 hours debating contentious amendments which would eliminate funding to enforce a travel ban to Cuba, suspend a scheduled pay raise for lawmakers and allow certain government jobs to be privatized.

The Bush Administration, in its Statement of Administration policy, announced it supports the overall bill, but has some concerns about certain provisions. The White House opposes the level of highway funding in the bill, which is $4.5 billion more than the President had requested. The Administration feels the increased highway funding is a concern because "it would either break dramatically with the tradition of tying highway spending with Highway Trust Fund revenue, or lead to a gas tax increase, which the administration strongly opposes." Also, like the House bill, the Senate bill eases travels restrictions to Cuba, which the Administration vehemently opposses. Additionally, the White House continues to support $900 million for Amtrak in the current fiscal year. It remains unclear whether the Administration will issue a veto threat to conferees if funding to enforce the travel ban to Cuba is not restored.

Senate leaders have temporarily abandoned the notion of packaging the remaining six spending bills the Senate has yet to pass into an omnibus spending bill. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tennessee), along with Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and committee ranking member Sen. Robert Byrd (D-West Virginia) have decided to invidually consider the remaining six bills. However, there are controversial provisions in some of the remaining spending bills which may delay speedy passage of the bills. If the Senate is pressed for time, Senate leaders will likely opt again for an omnibus spending package to finish work on appropriations before adjourning.

On Tuesdsay, the House passed another continuing resolution and the Senate was originally going to attach their omnibus spending package to the CR. However, Senate appropriators were reluctant to consider an omnibus package with bills that had not already been individually considered by the chamber. Senate Republican leaders are now looking for an agreement with Democratic leaders that will limit debate for each spending bill. Senators Stevens and Byrd are working on an agreement that will limit debate on each bill to one day.

Today, the Senate will consider the Transportation-Treasury spending bill (H.R. 2989, S 1589), even though an agreement establishing ground rules for debate on the spending bills has yet to be introduced. If Senators cannot come to an agreement on debate limits, which is still a distinct possibility, Senate leaders will likely resort to their earlier plan of considering an omnibus spending measure.

Even if some spending bills are passed individually, an omnibus spending bill will likely still be needed for some bills. The FY 2004 Distrcit of Clombia appropriations bill (H.R. 2765, S. 1583) has garnered much attention because of a conetentious provision in the measure that would establish a pilot program in the District for school vouchers. Democrats opposse the school vouchers provision and may filibuster the bill, if the provision is not dropped. Also, in the Commerce-Justice-State spending bill (H.R. 2799, S. 1583), there is a controversial provision overturning an FCC ruling allowing media conglomerates to own television stations reaching a larger national audience. The other three bills of the six that the Senate has not passed include: agriculture (H.R. 2673, S. 1427), foreign operations (H.R. 2800, S. 1426) and VA-HUD (H.R. 2861, S. 1584).

The President’s supplemental spending request for Iraq and Afghanistan heads to conference this week.

The House passed an $86.9 billion spending package on October 17. The Senate passed its $86.5 billion version a few hours later.

Despite personal lobbying by the President, the Senate adopted an amendment by a vote of 51-47 in a motion to force Iraq to repay half the money earmarked for reconstruction. This controversial Senate amendment to make some of the money a loan is expected to fail.

As the bills are reconciled in conference, a final bill is expected to be completed before the Madrid donors conference, as requested by the President.

November 7 is the date circulating for the completion of the 2004 omnibus spending bill, although that date is viewed as optimistic by some on the Hill.

Leaders on the Hill indicate that they have a plan for developing an omnibus that will combine the six fiscal 2004 spending bills that the Senate hasn’t passed yet.

A number of decisions on most of the spending issues will still need to be resolved to complete the omnibus. Also, each of the six spending bills has controversial issues over funding and or policy provisions.

Expected fights include Amtrak funding, media ownership and farm policy. If the District of Columbia appropriations are part of the omnibus, there may be an attempt by the Democrats to filibuster a private school voucher plan.

The current stopgap spending law expires October 31.

Tomorrow, the House is expected to pass two stopgap continuing resolutions – one to keep the government running from November 1-7 and the other to serve later for the bills that the Senate hasn’t debated yet.

The Senate Finance Committee has agreed to discharge S 150, the Internet Tax Non-discrimination Act of 2003. With the decision to discharge the bill, it will go directly to the floor without markup. S 150, sponsored by Senator George Allen (R-Virginia), would make the moratorium on taxation of the internet permanent.

The bill has already been approved by the Senate Commerce committee, but was waiting for action by the Senate Finance Committee, which shares jurisdiction.

The House already approved HR 49, a similar bill.

State and local governments have a number of concerns with S 150, including the fact that the bill changes the definition of internet access to be more expansive.