This week, the House will consider its tax reconciliation package (H.R. 4297), which calls for tax cuts totaling $56.1 billion over five years. A vote on the measure is expected by the end of the week. The Senate passed its version before adjourning on Friday, November 18 ($57.76 billion). The two bills are different in the sense that the House bill include a two-year extension of the 15 percent capital gains and dividends rates; an alternative minimum tax patch is found in the Senate version and not in the House; and finally, the Senate version includes hurricane reconstruction provisions, charitable incentives, and reforms not included in the House bill.

In addition, both the House and Senate need to resolve differences in their spending reconciliation packages including provisions concerning Medicaid, Medicare, student loans, child support enforcement, drilling in Alaska's Artic National Wildlife Refuge and food stamps. The Senate reconciliation package (S. 1932) calls for $35 billion in savings over five years while the House bill (H.R. 4241) calls for $49.9 billion in savings.

Two conference reports also remain to the FY 2006 appropriations process. The Labor, Health and Human Services and Education bill (Labor-HHS-Ed) and the Defense need to be finalized. The House was unable to pass the Labor-HHS-Ed conference report two weeks ago and both chambers called for the conference committee to reconvene. Appropriators appear to have ruled out including the measure in an overall omnibus package, but House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-CA) has suggested that if an agreement is not reached, the bill's programs could be funded through a year-long CR (continuing resolution). The Defense spending bill may serve as the vehicle for a "catchall" package that could include the President's request for emergency avian flu funding and his plan to rescind and reallocate funds to provide additional hurricane disaster aid. Another funding issue that remains to be addressed is a proposal by House Republican leaders calling for an across-the-board spending cut of 1 percent or 2 percent for all discretionary programs.

Immigration reform legislation is expected to be marked-up by the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday, December 8, with House floor action tentatively scheduled for next week. Although the House bill is expected to only address enforcement issues, both the Administration and major Senate proposals intend to tackle more comprehensive immigration reform, including a temporary worker program.

House. The House convenes tomorrow to consider 18 measures under suspension. They will also consider the Stealth Tax Relief Act of 2005 (H.R. 4096), the Tax Revision Act of 2005 (H.R. 4388), the United State-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act (H.R. 4340) and the Tax Relief Extension Reconciliation Act (H.R. 4297).

On November 15, Nevada received $850,000 from the National Governors Association (NGA) as part of the organization's High School Honor Grant funding. Nevada was approved for funding in all three phases of the grant that we applied for, which includes: Expansion of Advanced Placement Participation, Turning Around Low Performing High Schools, and Developing a Statewide Longitudinal K-12 Data System.

The grant will be administered by the Nevada Department of Education. The NGA Center's Honor States Grant Program is a $23.6 million, governor-led initiative to improve high school and college-ready graduation rates in 26 states. Phase Two of the program is designed to help states implement targeted high school reform initiatives that can improve high school graduation and college readiness rates. For more information and a copy of the press release, please visit: http://gov.state.nv.us/pr/2005/PR_2005-11-15NGAGrant.htm

Last week, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist announced the Senate schedule for the second session of the 109^th Congress. The chamber is scheduled to convene on Wednesday, January 18, 2006, with Friday, October 6, 2006, set as its adjournment target date. The schedule calls for the following recesses in 2006:

U.S. Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings sent a letter to chief state school officers providing further details on the Department of Education's new growth model pilot program for states. The program would essentially allow states to submit proposals for pilot systems measuring student adequate yearly progress or AYP on state academic standards to meet No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requirements. The Secretary's letter outlines the application procedure as well as required components of a pilot growth model (includes an explanation of the seven core principles of NCLB that must be evident in any growth model proposal). Although the pilot program is designed for growth models, the Dept. of Ed also provides information on how states may use an index to calculate AYP, as opposed to a growth models.

The deadline for states to submit proposals is February 17, 2006. The approval of a growth model applies to the accountability system during the 2005-2006 school year and is subject to a review a the end of that school year.

For a list of this week's federal grant notices, please visit our website at: www.nevadadc.org