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Legislative Network Alerts Alert Number 146 December 15, 2005 For Your Information 1. The WIA Watch; 2. House Passes Labor-H Approps. To: Members of the Legislative Network From: Patricia Leahy, Director of Governmental Affairs For those who read on the run, this Washington Wire addresses two issues of importance to the National Rehabilitation Association membership: An update on the status of the Senate Workforce Investment Act (WIA) bill; and secondly, the passage yesterday by the full U.S. House of Representatives of the Conference Report the Labor-HHS-Ed Appropriations bill. As you are already aware, the Senate WIA bill has been stalled from coming to the Senate Floor because a 'hold' has been placed on the bill. We are now hearing rumors -- and they are just that -- rumors -- that there may be yet a second 'hold' being placed on this bill by another Senator, which could delay even further the Senate WIA bill from coming to the Senate Floor under Unanimous Consent (UC). Unanimous Consent, as you may know, is a legislative procedure by which no amendments are permitted to be offered on the Floor. While the House WIA bill, which the National Rehabilitation Association opposes, passed its Floor sometime ago, the Senate WIA bill has not. Until BOTH bills pass their respective Floors, a Conference between the two bills cannot occur. With time running out on the First Session of the 109th Congress, it is very unlikely that the Senate bill will reach its Floor this Session. Conference Reports must be identical and cannot be amended on the House or Senate Floors. Since this is the First Session of the 109th Congress, both WIA bills will simply 'roll over' to the Second Session, retaining their respective bill numbers and be taken up again when the Second Session begins, which is anticipated at this time to commence sometime in late January or very early February. The Federal government is operating under a Continuing Resolution (CR) which runs through midnight, Saturday, December 17, 2005. Members of Congress are anxious to return to their Districts/States for the December/January recess and are hopeful to do so by Friday or Saturday of this week. There is a slight possibility that Members of Congress may be in session early next week (in which case they would have to pass a short-term CR), but that possibility is very unlikely at this time. Turning to the appropriations process, last evening, the full U.S. House of Representatives passed the Conference Report to accompany the Labor-HHS-Ed appropriation. The Conference Report, which passed by a razor-thin margin of 2 votes (215-213), is numbered House Report 109-337. It is expected that the Senate will take up the Conference Report on the Labor-HHS-Ed bill sometime late today, or more probably, on Friday. Although the Senate is expected to approve this Conference Report, there are many hurdles to overcome and debate is expected to be spirited, as it was during the House deliberations on the bill. Regarding the funding status of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, Title I received the annual Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA). Funding cuts were sustained at the same level as previously recommeded, however, in the Supported Employment, Training and Demos, and Projects with Industry (PWI) categories. These funding cuts are the same funding cuts that were recommended in the appropriations bills. There is still a good possibility that in addition to the discretionarily-funded program cuts made in the appropriations bills that an across-the-board funding cut could be made in all programs, including mandatorily-funded programs. One additional, relevant item. Look for the Defense Appropriations bills (Conference Report) as a vehicle for a number of controversial issues. The Defense Appropriations bill is a must-pass bill and an attractive vehicle on which to attach a number of controversial items. We are attaching for your information the link to the funding charts for all Education, Labor and HHS programs. That link is: Relatedly, we are furnishing you the Congressional Quarterly (CQ) bill analysis of the Conference Report as it was passed by the full U.S. House of Representatives on December 14, 2005. All information on timelines referenced in this legislative report are current as of this time and date. HR 3010 CQ BILL ANALYSIS Sponsor: Regula (R-Ohio) Introduced: June 21, 2005 Official Title: An original bill making appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2006, and for other purposes. Brief Title: Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006 CQ BillAnalysis Brief: By Kate Barrett and Bill Swindell, CQ Staff Reflects House adoption of revised conference report on Dec. 14, 2005. Synopsis HR 3010 - the largest of the fiscal 2006 appropriations bills - would provide more than 600 billion for the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS) and Education, as well as other related government agencies such as the Social Security Administration. Highlights Under the revised House-Senate conference report (H Rept 109-337), the bill would appropriate 602 billion for the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS) and Education, as well as other government agencies such as the Social Security Administration. More than three-quarters of the money would be allocated for mandatory spending for Medicaid, Medicare and other entitlement programs; 142.5 billion would be allocated for discretionary spending. The Senate had called for a total of 141.5 billion in discretionary funds, while the House had favored 142.5 billion in discretionary funds. The revised conference agreement called for boosting rural health spending by 90 million over the initial conference agreement. The bill would provide 9 million for a rural health research and policy program that funds eight regional centers and produces policy papers on rural health care issues. It also would provide 39 million for a rural health grant outreach program that provides three-year flexible grants to communities. Area health education centers would receive 29 million to help recruit and retain health professionals in underserved areas. The bill would provide mandatory spending of 53.6 billion, agreed to in the House and Senate versions of the bill, to fund the new Medicare prescription drug benefit slated to begin in January 2006. In addition, under the revised agreement the bill would include nearly 840 million in discretionary spending to fund the implementation of the new benefit, which would permit coverage for erectile dysfunction drugs. Under the agreement, the bill would appropriate 56.5 billion for the Department of Education's discretionary spending budget, which is 476 million more than the administration's request. Pell grants would see a 6.6 percent increase under the conference agreement. Funding for that program would increase by 812 million over the fiscal 2005 level, and would continue the maximum Pell grant award at its current 4,050 level. Conferees agreed the bill would also include 4.3 billion to eliminate the shortfall that has accumulated in the program over the past several years, as called for in both the House and Senate-passed bills. The measure would also provide 28.6 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), 253 million more than the current level, and 107.7 million more than the administration's request. That sum is 111 million more than passed in the House bill and 797 million less than passed in the Senate bill. The revised conference agreement contains no earmarks for local programs, such as those for specific colleges and universities, as was the case in the House- and Senate-passed versions of the bill. Earmarks have traditionally been added in conference negotiations to help ensure passage, but this year House conferees insisted the final product include no earmarks, and they prevailed. The measure would appropriate 2.2 billion for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), the amount called for in the Senate bill and 176 million more than the House bill. That total includes 2 billion for formula grants and 183 million for emergency contingency funds. The HHS vaccine pandemic preparedness fund would receive 64 million in fiscal 2006. Labor Department Highlights The Labor Department would receive 14.8 billion, which is 37 million less than the House bill and 193 million less than the Senate bill. The agreement also would appropriate 865.7 million for adult job training, as called for in the House bill, versus the 893.6 million called for in the Senate. It would also call for the Senate level of 1.5 billion for the dislocated worker program, funds that states could use for rapid-response assistance to help workers affected by mass layoffs and plant closings. That amount is nearly 71 million more than was called for in the House version of the bill. The conference-approved bill also would appropriate 1.6 billion for the Job Corps, the amount approved by the Senate and slightly more than approved by the House, and would allocate the House level of 950 million for the youth training program. The agreement also would provide: - 80.6 million for the Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers Program; - 436.7 million for a program that provides part-time employment in community-service activities for unemployed, low-income people aged 55 and older; - 415.2 million for the Employment Standards Administration, which enforces federal regulations intended to protect workers; - 966.4 million for federal unemployment benefits and allowances; - 3.4 billion to operate state unemployment-insurance and employment-services programs; - 1.1 billion for the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, as was appropriated in the Senate and House versions of the bill, and 232.3 million for the special benefits account for disabled coal miners in addition to the funding for that account that was advance appropriated last year; - 477.2 million for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), approximately the same amount as called for in the Senate and House bills. Health and Human Services Highlights The Health and Human Services (HHS) Department would receive a total of 474.1 billion, including 403.8 billion in fiscal 2006 appropriations, 67.1 billion in advance fiscal 2007 appropriations for certain HHS programs and 3.2 billion from trust funds. The measure would provide 25 percent more money than the fiscal 2005 bill for HHS, due entirely to increased mandatory spending, namely for Medicare and Medicaid. Mandatory spending, the majority of the funding, includes those programs, as well as payments to states for foster-care and adoption programs. Only 63.4 billion of HHS money would be reserved for discretionary spending. The Senate version had called for a 484.3 billion total, while the House had called for 473.9 billion. The bill would provide 177.7 billion for payments to the Medicare Trust Funds to offset those Medicare costs not paid by payroll taxes or premiums, including costs of the new Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit. Part of this amount is for the federal subsidy of Medicare, Part B, which pays for physicians' services and part is for the new prescription drug benefit. The agreement would appropriate 157 billion in grants to states for the federal share of Medicaid costs. It also would appropriate 2.4 billion to fund activities countering bioterrorism, whether through appropriations to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to the Health Resources and Services Administration for hospital preparedness or to the NIH for chemical, nuclear and radiological research. The bill would also include 63.6 million for the public health and social services emergency fund, none of which would be targeted for influenza preparedness. The CDC would be provided with a program level of 6.2 billion, slightly more than was called for in the House version, including 1.6 billion for terrorism preparedness and response. The Senate bill had appropriated 6.3 billion for the CDC. The agreement would prohibit the use of funds in the bill to pay for abortions or to pay for health-benefits coverage offered by a managed-care provider or organization that includes coverage of abortion. Prohibitions would not apply in cases of rape or incest, or if an abortion is necessary to save the life of the woman. The measure would also prohibit funds from going to any federal agency or program, or state or local government, if that agency, program or government discriminates against any health care entity on the basis that the health care entity does not provide, pay for, provide coverage of or refer for abortions. The agreement would provide 6.9 billion in fiscal 2006 for the Head Start program, an amount less than the sum called for in both the House and Senate bills. That total includes 5.5 billion in 2006 funds and 1.4 billion in advance appropriations from a prior year, as well as 1.4 billion in advance fiscal 2007 appropriations. Conferees also agreed to 3.4 billion for substance-abuse and mental-health programs, including 893 million for mental health, and 2.2 billion for substance abuse treatment. The bill would also provide: - 2.1 billion for the Ryan White AIDS programs; - 636.8 million for the community-services block grant to provides grant to states, territories and Indian tribes for services to meet the employment, housing, nutrition, energy, emergency-services and health needs of low-income people; - 1.8 billion for community health centers, migrant health centers, health care for the homeless, and public-housing health service grants; - 1.7 billion for the Social Services Block Grant; - 2.1 billion for the child-care-and-development block grant; - 4.9 billion for payments to states for foster-care and adoption assistance; - 1.4 billion appropriated for programs administered by the Aging Administration; - 286 million for the Title X family-planning program, specifying that none of the funds could be used for abortions or for political advocacy. It also stipulates that pregnancy counseling be non-directive; - 100 million for the Global Fund for AIDS Department of Education Highlights In addition to 56.5 billion in discretionary spending for the Education Department, the bill would provide 7 billion in mandatory spending that would include 2.7 billion for the vocational rehabilitation program, and 4.3 billion to pay off the accumulated funding shortfall in the Pell grant program. The Senate and the House had both approved a 63.7 billion funding level. Further addressing student financial aid, conferees agreed to appropriate 15.1 billion in discretionary spending for federal aid programs, distributed as follows: 13.2 billion for the Pell grant program, which would not include any funding for the program for enhanced Pell grants for state scholars, for which the administration requested 33 million; 778.7 million for Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants; 990.3 million for work study programs; 66.1 million for Perkins loans, all of which is for loan cancellations; and 65.6 million for the Leveraging Educational Assistance Program (LEAP), which provides a dollar-for-dollar match to states to provide need-based grants and work-study assistance to eligible postsecondary students. The total financial aid funding is approximately in line with the Senate version of the bill and a reduction of 206 million from the House spending level. The Senate had approved 13.2 billion for Pell Grants and the House had favored 13.4 billion, with a maximum grant award raised to 4,100. The agreement also would provide a total of 14.6 billion, a middle ground between the amounts called for in the House and Senate, for the Title I Education for Disadvantaged Children program. The bill's total for Title I programs would include 12.8 billion for grants to local school districts, but does not include the administration's request of 1.2 billion for the high school intervention program, which has not been authorized. The Senate approved 14.5 billion for Title I programs, which was almost 200 million less than the House approved. Like the House and Senate bills, the measure would appropriate 170.6 million for rural education, maintaining the current funding level. It also would appropriate: - 1.3 billion for vocational education, as favored in House and Senate versions of the bill; - 2.9 billion for state grants to improve teacher quality; - 184 million for Math and Science Partnership grants. The Senate approved 178.6 million for the program; the House voted to appropriate 190 million; - 991.1 million for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program, which funds after-school and before-school centers for children; - 275 million for the educational technology state grants program. The Senate called for 425 million, while the House approved a 300 million appropriation; - 100 million for the state grants for Innovative Education, also known as the 'education block grant;' - 350 million for the Safe and Drug-Free Schools state grant program; 675.8 million for the English Language Acquisition program; 11.8 billion for educating children with disabilities; - 2.7 billion for state grants that support vocational rehabilitation programs for the physically and mentally handicapped; - 585 million for adult education, as called for in the House bill and 3.2 million less than agreed to in the Senate. Other Highlights Under the agreement, the bill would provide a total of 49.2 billion for various related agencies, the bulk of which, 47.1 billion, would be provided for the Social Security Administration. The measure would also provide an advance fiscal 2008 appropriation of 400 million for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), as passed in both the Senate and House bills. The CPB would receive 400 million in fiscal 2006, which was advance appropriated in previous years. The bill also would provide 30 million for digitalization and 35 million for satellite interconnection. The conference committee-approved bill also would appropriate: 252.3 million for the National Labor Relations Board; 316.2 million for domestic volunteer service programs, including 96.4 million for the Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) program and 219.8 million for senior volunteer programs; and 520.1 million for national and community service programs, including 267.5 million for AmeriCorps grants. Background The House adopted the conference report accompanying HR 3010 on Dec. 14, 2005, two days after conferees reached a revised agreeement. Conferees decided to boost rural health spending by 90 million and deleted a provision that would bar Medicare coverage of erectile dysfunction drugs. The added funding was offset by cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services' vaccine pandemic preparedness fund, as appropriators are expected to attach as much as 4 billion in emergency flu preparedness spending to the fiscal 2006 Defense spending instead. On Nov. 17, 2005, the House-Senate conference agreement on the Labor-HHS-Education spending bill was rejected on the House floor in a 209-224 vote, throwing into doubt the manner in which lawmakers would proceed with the largest annual appropriations bill of the year. Charging that the agreement would shortchange critical rural health programs and school programs, 22 House Republicans led the revolt against the conference report, and no Democrats voted for the measure. House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said GOP leadership did not know prior to the vote that it would be defeated, and leadership held the vote open, unsuccessfully, for 36 minutes to lobby members. House GOP leaders said the defeat was the result of a variety of issues. Appropriations Chairman Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., said part of the problem was the lack of earmarks in the bill. He added that tight constraints on health and education programs were 'too much for many to swallow who tend to live on more spending.' Appropriators noted they were further pinched by having to provide about 900 million not included in last year's discretionary total in order to implement the new Medicare prescription drug benefit. During the past two fiscal years, those costs were not funded through appropriations, but were paid from mandatory spending under the 2003 law that created the program. House Majority Leader Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said some members objected to a provision in the bill that would rename the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters as the Arlen Specter Headquarters and Emergency Operations Center, and would name the agency's communications center as the Thomas R. Harkin Global Communications Center. Blunt said naming government facilities after sitting members of Congress is a violation of House rules. Budget pressures were tight on the bill because its provisions cover a wide range of programs across many government agencies, including the Social Security Administration, Medicare and No Child Left Behind programs. A huge 29.7 percent jump in mandatory spending, fueled in large part by an unexpected ballooning of costs in the Medicare prescription drug plan - initially estimated to cost 400 million over 10 years, but which cost 54 billion for fiscal 2006 - combined with billions in government revenue lost through tax cuts, put many popular domestic programs under the knife in the 109th Congress. The bill's legislative journey began in the spring. On June 16, 2005, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce approved the bill. On June 24, after two days of floor consideration to address a slew of amendments both on and off the floor, the House passed the bill 250-151. On the other side of the Hill, Senate appropriators had elected to fight their spending battles on the floor, rather than in committee. In committee the bill sailed through without significant alteration or amendment. Senators squeezed in a 1.1 billion increase for the NIH when the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the 604.4 billion spending bill. The increase for NIH was the work of Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., chairman of the Senate Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee, who used accounting maneuvers and funding shifts to boost spending for medical research. Specter has been a top supporter of increasing medical research funding, but the issue has taken on greater personal resonance after he announced in February 2005 he is battling an advanced form of Hodgkin's disease, a cancer of the lymphatic system. Just before the bill was considered on the Senate floor, its chances for passage swelled when Specter announced at the last minute he was abandoning plans to attach a provision to it to expand federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. The Senate took up consideration of HR 3010 on Oct. 21, 2005, and completed action on Oct. 27, 2005. On the floor, senators adopted an amendment to provide nearly 8 billion in emergency funding to combat the avian flu. The proposal was designated as emergency spending, which allows the money to be allocated without offsetting cuts and is not counted against the bill's discretionary spending cap. Meanwhile, the Senate defeated several Democratic amendments that would have added more than 13 billion for politically popular education and health programs. An amendment by Jack Reed, D-R.I., that would have provided 2.9 billion to LIHEAP fell six votes short of approval. The program subsidizes heating and cooling expenses for people who cannot afford them. As conferees attempted to hammer out the differences in House and Senate bills the week of Nov. 14, 2005, heating subsidies and flu funding remained in the spotlight as issues of contention. With the cost of heating a home in the winter of 2006 expected to go up 32 percent, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, senators remained insistent on providing 2.2 billion for heating subsidies, to be classified as emergency funding that would therefore not be included in discretionary totals. The 2.2 billion amount provided for LIHEAP in fiscal 2006 is the same amount as fiscal 2005, but about 200 million more than the House bill. The House bill contained no similar provision for avian flu emergency funding and that lack of funding won out in conference. That funding will likely be addressed in the Defense appropriations bill instead. One of the toughest issues for conferees to resolve also hinged on abortion. The House bill advocated blocking federal agencies, states and localities from receiving federal funding for all programs covered under the spending bill if they require health care workers, providers, facilities or insurance companies to provide, pay for or refer abortion services. The Senate version would apply the funding ban to the federal government, states and localities only if they require health care professionals to provide, assist or train others to perform abortions, but not for referral or payments. The conference also rejected a Senate plan to shift 3.3 billion in mandatory Supplemental Security Income payments into the first days of fiscal 2007, a bookkeeping maneuver that would have boosted discretionary spending by 2.5 billion more than the House bill. Specter used the extra funding to increase spending for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by 1.1 billion for fiscal 2006 - a 3.7 percent boost - for an overall total of 29.4 billion. Quickly after the House rejected the conference agreement in its entirety, and with time running out before Thanksgiving recess, senators on Nov. 18, 2005, decided to reopen negotiations. Before doing so, they voted to instruct their conferees to insist that the conference retain the level of NIH funding passed in the Senate bill, and insist on at least 2.13 billion for heating assistance. On Dec. 7, 2005, the House announced it was again appointing conferees as well. Lawmakers that day said they were optimistic that with just a few changes to the conference report, they could secure the House votes necessary for adoption, enabling the bill to pass on its own. Outlook On Dec. 14, 2005, the House adopted the revised conference report accompanying HR 3010, a month after the chamber's rejection of the first. The Senate also is expected to vote on the revised conference report before recessing for the holidays. |
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