April 26, 2004

 

Senate to Consider Internet Access Moratorium
 
The Senate is scheduled to take up Internet access tax moratorium legislation today, April 26, with debate on a motion to invoke cloture beginning at 2:00 p.m., followed by a vote on the motion at 5:30 p.m.  Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist filed a cloture motion last Thursday to proceed to the Internet Tax Nondiscrimination Act (S. 150) sponsored by Senator George Allen (R-Va) and Senator Ron Wyden (D-Or), after numerous objections were issued against the bill.  States have opposed S. 150 because it would unnecessarily broaden the scope of the original moratorium and take away existing telecommunications tax revenues from state and local governments.  The Congressional Budget Office has determined that S. 150 constitutes an unfunded federal mandate that could cost state governments billions of dollars annually.  The original moratorium expired on November 1, 2003. 
 
Compromise legislation (S. 2084) developed by Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn) and Senator Tom Carper (D-Del) protects existing state revenues while carefully expanding the scope of the moratorium to ensure that all broadband technologies are treated equally.  The compromise language would expire in two years to allow Congress to review changes in the Internet and telecommunications markets including the impact of Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VOIP) services that use the Internet to deliver traditional phone services.
Senator John McCain, Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee also released a proposal last week in an attempt to break the impasse between S. 150 and S. 2084.
 
 
HHS Approves Multi-State Purchasing Pools for Medicaid Drug Programs; Nevada Authorized to Enter Pool
 
On Thursday, April 22, HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson approved plans by five states to pool their collective purchasing power to gain deeper discounts on prescription medicines for their state programs.  The multistate purchasing pool plans approved include: Nevada, Michigan, Vermont, New Hampshire and Alaska. 
While states are not required to offer prescription drugs through Medicaid, all states do.  However, continued escalation in the cost of providing prescription drugs has strained many state Medicaid budgets.  The approval will give states unprecended leverage in negotiating with drug manufacturers for lower prices.  CMS will provide guidance to states on forming new purchasing pools and joining existing purchasing pools.  Once the plan is fully implemented, Nevadans will save up to $5 million a year. With the other states, the pooled purchasing program will cover over 900,000 beneficiaries. 
 
Under the Medicaid law, drug manufacturers, in order to receive federal funding for their drugs, must first enter into discount or rebate agreements with HHS.  The Bush administration has approved 22 state plans to negotiate extra, or supplemental rebates with manufacturers.  States generally achieve negotiated discounts greater than those established by law for Medicaid by relying on a private pharmacy benefit manager (PBN) to negotiate discounts based on a list of preferred drugs established by the state for their Medicaid beneficiaries.
 
All five states approved for the purchasing pool have signed agreements with First Health Clinical Services, Inc., a pharmaceutical benefit manager, to negotiate lower prices on their behalf with manufacturers.  Other PBNs provide similar negotiating services.  Although the states are pooling together their efforts in buying drugs, they will all maintain their own preferred drug lists and exercise clinical oversight of those lists to assure adequate access to needed medicines for their beneficiaries.  Because there are overlaps on the preferred drug lists, pooling across states can lead to larger discounts on certain drugs. 
 
*information taken from HHS press release on Thursday, April 22 -- www.hhs.gov

TEA-21 Update

Congress will not finish work on a six-year reauthorization bill by the end of this week and will need to pass a third highway and transit reauthorization extension to guarantee that federal transportation dollars do not stop flowing to state and local transportation officials. House Majority Leader, Tom DeLay has indicated that he will take up a two-month transportation extension bill this week that would fund TEA-21 programs through June 30. The Senate could decide to accept and approve the new House-passed two-month extension, or it could decide to pass the four-month extension that was passed by the House back in February, which would fund current TEA-21 programs until July 1.

Several Senate lawmakers want to correct a problem in the FY 2004 omnibus appropriations bill dealing with highway earmarks in the next transportation reauthorization extension. Lawmakers failed to fund the highway earmarks outside of each state's formula allocation, the standard practice in past years, and instead counted project earmarks against part of a state's highway allocation. Nevada has a number of projects that were not provided additional obligation limitation under this provision. Attempts to fix the problem were unsuccessful in the last TEA-21 extension.

 

DHS Launches State Emergency Information Sharing Web Page

On April 19th,  the Department of Homeland Security launched the Lessons Learned Information Sharing System (LLIS) on the DHS website. This free service allows state and local emergency officials to trade preparedness tips, training ideas and best practices. This site available only to authorized officials will offer a catalog of peer-reviewed "after action reports" to include: emergency drills, live events, and a nationwide directory of emergency officials and other homeland security-related documents. Learning about the successes and failures of other states practices is another way to further cooperation among the states and strengthens the implementation of Homeland Security practices and projects. LLIS was developed in conjunction with several partnering organizations, including the Chemical, Biological and Arms Control Institute (CBACI), DFI International, and the Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (MIPT).

 

FHWA Launches "Doing the Right Thing" Website
 
A new website showcasing "exemplary ecosystem" transportation projects and initiatives was launched by Federal Highway Administration officials on Earth Day, April 22.  The new site, "Doing the Right Thing: Improving Transportation and Enhancing Ecosystems," showcases eight initiatives in eight states.  FHWA designated these efforts as "exemplary ecosystem initiatives" in 2002 and 2003. 
The site provides "examples of how exemplary ecosystem initiatives in eight states are reducing habitat fragmentation and barriers to animal movement, encouraging the development of more sustainable mitigation sites, stimulating early ecosystem planning, and fostering ecosystem-based research," FHWA said in an introduction on the site. 
Nevada  Department of Transportation's Washoe Lake Wetland Mitigation Area was one of the eight projects highlighted on the new website.  The agency has set a goal of identifying a minimum of 30 exemplary ecosystem initiatives in at least 20 states or Federal Lands Highway divisions by September 2007.  The Website includes links to selection criteria, as well as nomination sheets for additional initiatives.  The 'Do the Right Thing' website can be accessed at: www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/ecosystems
 
 
Preparing America's Future High School Initiative
 
In October 2003, Secretary of Education Rod Paige launched the Preparing America's Future High School Initiative (PAF-HSI).  The initiative is designed to support leaders at the state and local levels in creating educational opportunities that will fully prepare American youth for success in further education and training, as participants in a highly skilled U.S. workforce, and as productive and responsible citizens.
 
A critical component of this initiative will be a series of seven regional high school summits to help state teams work through a create short-and long-term plans for strengthening outcomes for youth, improving high schools and meeting the vision of the No Child Left Behind Act.  Each State's Chief State School Officer, working with the Governor, will choose a team to attend the regional summit.
April 16-17:  Site: Phoenix, Arizona.  State teams from Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah.
 
Information taken from U.S. Department of Education website:  www.ed.gov/highschool
 
 
Floor Schedules:

House:  The House convenes on Tuesday, April 27 to consider three bills under suspension.  On Wednesday and Thursday, the House will consider five additional bills under suspension, as well as H.R. 4181, a bill that would amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permanently extend the increased standard deduction and the 15 percent individual income tax rate bracket expansion for married taxpayers filing joint returns.  The House also could address a temporary extension of surface transportation programs and the FY 2005 budget resolution conference report.
 
Senate:  The Senate will focus on Internet access moratorium legislation and may return to consideration of the Jumpstart Our Business Strength Act (S. 1637) which would repeal the Extraterritorial Income Exclusion (ETI) Act.  The Senate also could address a temporary extension of surface transportation programs and the FY 2005 budget resolution conference report.
 
Key Committee Meetings:
 
Appropriations
 
*House Labor/Health and Human Services/Education Subcommittee will hold hearings on Tuesday, April 27 at 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, April 28 and Thursday, April 29 in 2358 Rayburn House Office Building on global diseases/substance abuse and mental health research and services.
*House Transportation and Treasury Subcommittee will hold hearings on Wednesday, April 28, and Thursday, April 29, at 10:00 a.m., in 2358 Rayburn House Office Building on the Federal Transit Administration and the Highway Administration.
*Senate Commerce/Justice/State Subcommittee has scheduled a Thursday, April 29, hearing at 10:00 a.m., in 192 Dirksen Senate Office Building on intellectual property.
 
DOL Overtime Rules:  The House Education and Workforce Committee has scheduled a hearing on Wednesday, April 28 at 10:30 a.m., in 2175 Rayburn House Office Building on the U.S. Department of Labor overtime pay regulation, with Secretary Chao scheduled to testify.
 
Health:  The Senate Special Aging Committee will hold a hearing on Tuesday, April 27, at 10:00 a.m in 628 Dirksen Senate Office Building on assistive technology for seniors.
 
Homeland Security:  The House Select Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness and Response has scheduled a Wednesday, April 28, hearing at 10:30 a.m., in 2212 Rayburn House Office Building on first responder assistance programs.