Congress is returning to work on April 20 after a one-week recess for the Senate and a two-week break for the House. We thought this would be a good time to take a snapshot of where things stand on some issues of interest and look ahead to how they may be dealt with the in weeks ahead.
Appropriations
Lawmakers are expected to adopt a budget resolution shortly after they return from Easter break on April 19. Discretionary spending will likely be targeted at $821 billion. Meanwhile, the appropriations subcommittees continue hearings through May on the President’s budget requests and will receive their budget allocations in preparation for writing the 13 appropriations bills. Leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have been advising a slow mark-up process, predicting that most--if not all the bills--will be wrapped into an omnibus appropriation to be enacted sometime after the November election.
The VA, HUD bill and the Labor, HHS, Education bill are considered most likely to feel the budget pinch. Education initiatives will fare better than Labor programs. HUD and EPA are also predicted to experience restrained spending. Despite harsh criticism of Congressional earmarks for specific projects and programs, Congress is expected to include earmarks in the final bills, although competition will be fierce as the demand for earmarks continues to grow and budget constraints tighten. Don’t expect final action on earmarks until the end of the process—November at the earliest.
Transportation
With both Houses of Congress in spring recess, staffs are not doing any work to reconcile the House and Senate surface transportation reauthorization bills. In fact, House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Don Young (R-Alaska) has told his committee staff that they are not to meet with Senate staff until his return to Washington, D.C. on or after April 26. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-South Dakota) favors a pre-conference on the reauthorization bill, which he feels will ensure minority participation. Recently, Senator Daschle has been dismayed at what many Democrats feel are attempts by Republicans to exclude them from all conference committees. For months, Daschle has fought attempts by Republicans to shut out Democrats in conference and has even issued threats to block certain conference committees from considering legislation. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tennessee) opposes a pre-conference on the basis that Democrats would only use such an occasion to stall negotiations until their demands were met. However, Daschle maintains that a pre-conference is the only mechanism to guarantee Democrats a voice in the entire process.
The current extension of the program runs through April 30, and it is certain that another extension will be required. Another extension will again drop the bills' costs, but almost certainly not enough to appease the Administration, which has threatened to veto any bill larger than $256 billion.
Welfare Reauthorization
The prospects for passage of welfare reauthorization this year looks slim. The administration and its congressional allies had hoped to use the reauthorization of welfare law to impose tougher work rules on welfare recipients and implement a new marriage initiative. Instead, Republican leaders suspended debate on the reauthorization package after their motion to invoke cloture on the measure was nine votes short of the 60 needed to proceed.
During consideration of the welfare bill, Democrats refused to allow a final vote unless Republicans agreed to a voice vote on an amendment to increase the minimum wage. Democrats also attempted to attach other amendments that would extend supplemental federal unemployment benefits, and an overtime proposal.
An amendment to provide $6 billion in additional child care funding over the next five years was adopted during Senate floor consideration. This amendment offered by Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) gave senators from both parties a chance to make a statement in favor of children and families in an election year.
Congress has extended the existing program through June 30 and a further extension is beginning to look like a likelihood.
Workforce Investment Act
It looks like the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) is in permanent limbo. Congress is near the end of the rewriting and reauthorizing of the 1998 law which consolidated more than 60 programs into block grants allocated to the states. It also allowed workers to use vouchers for training and education and established one-stop career centers.
Senate Democrats have not allowed the legislation to go to Conference with the House because they fear that they will not have any input on the final bill. So while the Senate and the House have passed their respective versions of the reauthorization bills, but it appears that larger issues are preventing conferees from being names. Last Monday, President Bush, in a speech in North Carolina and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tennessee) called for conference to proceed.
Special Education (IDEA)
Senate Majority Leader Frist has announced that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) reauthorization should be coming to the Senate floor in early May. The reauthorization has passed the House and out of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions last year. In the Senate, the legislation has been developed in a bipartisan manner - but there still may be some contentious issues on the disciplining of an IDEA student and funding levels. Senate majority staff is commited to getting to conference as that's where they are going to iron out these issues. But the House has indicated that if the Hagel-Harkin amendment which calls for mandatory full funding is in play - they will not name conferees.
This is one piece of major legislation that appears ready for enactment this year.
Reconsideration of Medicare Prescription Drug Bill
Congress is facing increased pressure on two fronts to reconsider the recently passed Medicare prescription drug law. First, because of rising drug costs, lawmakers are being asked to take a second look at allowing the importation of drugs from other countries into the U.S. Second, lawmakers are demanding answers from the Administration over reports that the Administration purposefully withheld the true costs of the prescription drug benefit to Medicare.
Lawmakers are looking at legislation to allow consumers to import U.S. approved prescription drugs from other countries. Still undecided is whether to allow imports from Canada only. Senate Majority Leader Frist (R-Tennessee) has said that the Senate would begin a process for developing proposals to permit the safe importation of drugs if they were approved by the FDA.
Democratic lawmakers were also upset over recent revelations that an administration’s actuary’s job was threatened if he revealed the estimates of the costs of adding a prescription drug benefit to Medicare. Senate Democrats have asked President Bush what information he had about the costs of the bill before Congress voted.
The cost of the Medicare bill – estimated originally by the Congressional Budget Office at $400 billion over 10 years when it passed has sparked an outcry from both conservative Republicans and Democrats when the administration released new estimates that the overhaul would cost $139 billion more than congressional estimates.
While this issue will generate a lot of talk in the coming weeks, it is unlikely it will be the subject of serious legislation this year.
Auto-Enrollment for Prescription Drug Card
In order to enroll Medicare beneficiaries quickly in the new discount drug card program, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is working with states that have pharmaceutical assistance programs for seniors to possibly enroll participants automatically. CMS is also looking at ways to enroll individuals in the low-income assistance portion of the prescription drug card program. Beneficiaries who meet income and other eligibility standards receive $600 in drug assistance on their cards in both 2004 and 2005.
Enrollment in the program begins in May 2004 and use of the cards begins in June.
Higher Ed
There is a remote possibility that Higher Education Act may come up for reauthorization this year. The House has already taken action on Higher Ed. They divided the Act into separate bills by title. Most of the titles have been passed except for the more contentious one - Title 4 which relates to Pell Grants and Student Aid. A bill has not been introduced in the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions as of yet. There is a move to have the Committee introduce a bipartisan bill. With the President proposing a time limit for eligibility for Pell Grants, there may encourage to take action.
Water Resources Development Act (WRDA)
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee expects to markup amendments to the WRDA in May. WRDA authorizes the water resource projects and programs conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, including flood control, environmental restoration, harbors, and certain types of infrastructure. The schedule will be determined by the reauthorization of the surface transportation bill (TEA 21 reauthorization), which will be in a conference committee involving many of the same staffers over the next several weeks. The House passed its version of the bill (H.R. 2557) last year. WRDA amendments are usually adopted every two years, but the last reauthorization was in 2000.
Other issues will be popping up from time to time and we will keep our friends and clients posted on developments as they do.