Period ending July 27, 2007
CONGRESS
Transportation and Housing Spending Bill Clears House
Earlier this week, the House, rejecting a series of amendments to the
transportation and housing spending bill that would have eliminated funding for
many of the programs important to cities and towns, passed H.R. 3074 by a vote
of 268 - 153. The bill, which exceeds the President's budget request by more
than $4.1 billion, would provide $104.4 billion for transportation and housing
programs. The Senate Appropriations Committee adopted its transportation and
housing spending bill, S. 1789, earlier this month; that bill would provide
$104.6 billion for transportation and housing programs and awaits action by the
full Senate. (Mike Wallace, wallace@nlc.org, 202.626.3025, Leslie Wollack,
wollack@nlc.org, 202.626.3029)
Labor-HHS Spending Bill Passes House and Awaits Action in Senate
Last week, the House adopted a bill to fund the Departments of Labor, Health
and Human Services, and Education (H.R. 3043) by a vote of 276 -- 140. Under
the bill, Title I schools, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program or
LIHEAP, and pandemic influenza preparedness would see funding increases, while
unobligated funds for the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) program would be
rescinded. NLC sent a letter supporting the funding increases and opposing
cuts to WIA to Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey (D-WI) and Ranking
Member Jerry Lewis (R-CA). (To view a copy of the letter, click here.)
The Senate is scheduled to vote on its version of the bill (S. 1710) before the
August recess. The Senate bill would increase funding for Title I programs,
the National Institutes of Health, community and rural health centers, LIHEAP
and pandemic influenza preparedness, but would not rescind WIA funds.
The White House has threatened to veto either version of the bill because they
exceed the President's budget request. (Neil Bomberg, bomberg@nlc.org,
202.626.3042)
Senate Begins Debate on Homeland Security Spending Bill
Earlier this week, the Senate began debate on S. 1644, the FY 08 Homeland
Security spending bill. The $37.6 billion spending bill exceeds the
President's request by $2.3 billion, and the House-passed version, H.R. 2638,
by $177 million. Both the House and Senate versions of the funding bill
include funding for local emergency responder programs and interoperable
communications grants. In a rare bipartisan agreement on an immigration issue,
an amendment that would add $3 billion in emergency spending for border
enforcement was approved 89-1.
The Senate bill would provide $1.8 billion more for state and local
first-responder grants than the President requested. The bill would provide
$400 million for port security grants, which is equal to the proposed funding
in the House bill and $190 million more than the President requested. It would
provide $820 million for urban area security grants, which is $20 million more
than in the House bill and the President's request. The bill would fund rail
and mass transit security grants at $400 million, which matches the House bill
and is $225 million more than the President requested.
The President has threatened to veto the bill because it exceeds his budget
request. (Leslie Wollack, wollack@nlc.org, 202.626.3029)
Three Percent Withholding Requirement Implementation May Be Delayed One Year
On July 18, the House Ways and Means Committee approved the Tax Collection
Responsibility Act of 2007 (H.R. 3056). The bill includes language that would
delay for one year implementation of a requirement that the federal, state and
local governments withhold contractor and vendor fees for tax collection
purposes. Current law requires that, starting December 31, 2010, governments
spending more than $100 million per year on purchases of goods and services
must withhold three percent from all payments to contractors and vendors and
remit those funds to the Internal Revenue Service to be applied toward the
contractors' and vendors' federal income tax liabilities.
Under H.R. 3056, the implementation of that requirement would be delayed to
December 31, 2011. This bill also directs the Department of the Treasury to
study the impact of the withholding requirement and issue its findings within
six months of the Act's enactment.
NLC, along with several national associations, sent a letter to Chairman
Charles Rangel (D-NY) and Ranking Member Jim McCrery (R-LA) supporting the
one-year delay and urging that the provision ultimately be repealed. (To view
the letter, click here.) (Christina Fletcher Loftus, 202.626.3173)
Public Safety Collective Bargaining Bill Passes the House
Last week, the House passed H.R. 980, the Public Safety Employer-Employee
Cooperation Act of 2007. (To view the bill, click here.) This collective
bargaining legislation interferes with state laws, violates federalism
principles, and may be unconstitutional. NLC, along with other national groups
and the State Municipal Leagues, will continue to work in opposition to the
bill as it moves to the Senate. (Neil Bomberg, bomberg@nlc.org, 202.626.3042)
House Committee Holds Hearings on Clean Water Restoration Act
Last week, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water
Resources and Environment held two hearings on the status of the nation's
waters, including wetlands that come under the jurisdiction of the Federal
Water Pollution Control Act.
Earlier this year, Rep. James L. Oberstar (D-MN) introduced H.R. 2421, the
Clean Water Restoration Act of 2007, which is an attempt at a legislative fix
to the recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions impacting federal regulatory
jurisdiction over the nation's waters. The bill, which has 168 co-sponsors,
would change the language in the Clean Water Act by striking the definition of
"navigable waters" and all references to the term, and replace it with a new
definition of "waters of the U.S." Proponents of the bill argue that the
original intent of the Clean Water Act was to protect all U.S. waters, and
believe that the law should extend to all upstream tributaries. Opponents argue
that the bill oversteps Congressional bounds and usurps local and state
authority over water bodies within their boundaries. NLC has not taken a
position on the legislation. (Leslie Wollack, wollock@nlc.org, and Carolyn
Berndt, berndt@nlc.org, 202.626.3101)
House Passes Section 8 Reform Bill
H.R. 1851, the "Section 8 Voucher Reform Act," passed the House, 333-83. The
Section 8 voucher program, the largest federal low-income housing program,
provides rental assistance for eligible families. The bill makes several
modest reforms to the program aimed at making Section 8 funding stable and
efficient. Among them, the bill requires HUD to use better housing-cost data
to determine the distribution of Section 8 funds. Also, the bill provides
incentives to public housing agencies (PHAs) that utilize greater amounts of
their Section 8 funds. These PHAs would receive additional funds that are
recaptured from those PHAs that fail to meet utilization thresholds. The final
provision of the bill expands the "Moving-to-Work (MTW)" program from 25
participating PHAs to 80. Under MTW, HUD can waive particular rules governing
the Section 8 program for participating PHAs. The waivers create the necessary
flexibility for encouraging innovative programmatic strategies, such as
coordinating benefits from multiple programs like Section 8 and Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). H.R. 1851 currently awaits action in the
Senate. (Mike Wallace, wallace@nlc.org, 202.626.3025)
House Passes Pair of Bills Aimed at Rural Housing
The House passed H.R. 1980, the "Housing Assistance Council Authorization Act,"
and H.R. 1982, the "Rural Housing and Economic Development Improvement Act."
Both bills are aimed at improving rural housing development. H.R. 1980
authorizes Congress to annually fund the Housing Assistance Council, a national
housing assistance group specializing in the development of housing for working
low-income rural families.
H.R. 1982 rejuvenates funding for the Rural Housing and Economic Development
program, which is the only exclusively rural housing program administered by
the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The program provides
competitive grants to support housing and economic development programs across
the country. Although the Senate has yet to consider either bill, House
appropriators decided to provide funding for both programs in FY 2008.
However, with the threat of a Presidential veto looming for nearly all domestic
spending bills, the ultimate amount of funding is far from certain. (Mike
Wallace, wallace@nlc.org, 202.626.3025)
Senate Commerce Committee Passes Broadband Legislation
On July 19, the Senate Commerce Committee approved legislation, S. 1492,
intended to produce a more accurate picture of the U.S. broadband market. In
addition to directing the FCC to improve its definitions of broadband and to
enhance broadband providers' reporting requirements, the bill authorizes a
five-year $200 million grant program to be used to support state-level
initiatives to map current broadband availability and identify barriers to
broadband deployment. This portion of the legislation is modeled on the
"Connect Kentucky" program, Kentucky's comprehensive plan to accelerate
technology growth, which will result in that state achieving full broadband
coverage by the end of 2007. (Christina Fletcher Loftus, loftus@nlc.org,
202.626.3173)
SCHIP Proposal Moves Forward in the Senate
Last week, the Senate Finance Committee approved legislation to reauthorize
SCHIP, the State Children's Health Insurance Program, for an additional five
years. The Senate bill would increase funding for SCHIP by $35 billion to $60
billion over five years, reach millions more children than the current program,
provide coverage to women who are pregnant, and substantially reduce the number
of uninsured children.
The House is expected to begin considering its own version of the bill soon.
The House bill would increase funding for SCHIP by $50 billion to $75 billion
over five years. Like its Senate counterpart, coverage would be extended to
include children whose families are not eligible for Medicaid but within 300
percent of poverty, and provide coverage to women who are pregnant. The bill
also would allow states to cover children who have "aged out of the program."
Both proposals, which rely on an increase in the tobacco tax to pay for the
additional spending, have drawn veto threats from the White House. (Neil
Bomberg, bomberg@nlc.org, 202.626.3042)
THE COURTS
Local Governments File Brief with Court Blasting FCC Video Franchising Order
On July 18, NLC, along with other local government organizations, filed a Brief
with the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in support of its request that the
Court overturn the video franchising Order issued by the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) in March.
In the Brief, the groups argue that the FCC lacked statutory authority, acted
in an arbitrary and capricious manner, and violated public notice requirements
when it issued its Order. The groups also assert that the Order would severely
restrict the ability of local governments to protect their citizens,
rights-of-way, community channels and public safety networks. In addition, the
groups argue that the Order could lead to lost revenues and control over public
rights of way, as well as loss of cable services to many governmental buildings
and schools. (To view the Brief, click here.)
On July 24, the Court denied the groups' separately filed motion requesting
that the Court block the Order from going into effect until after it makes a
final determination on the lawsuit. According to the Court, the groups may
renew their motion for a stay with the Court after a ruling on the stay by the
FCC. (Christina Fletcher Loftus, loftus@nlc.org, 202.626.3173)
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