THIS WEEK ON THE HILL

The Senate reconvened this afternoon after a week recess and will resume its consideration of its six-year, $284 billion surface transportation reauthorization bill (S. 732). Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley and Ranking Member Max Baucus will likely offer an amendment seeking more funding, which could raise the bill's total funding by more than $10 billion. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta reiterated the Administration's promise to veto any bill that exceeds the $284 billion ceiling. A cloture motion to end debate on the bill is expected sometime tomorrow. If cloture is invoked, a final vote on the measure could occur on Thursday, May 12. The current extension on the program will expire on May 31, 2005.

The Senate is also expected to consider the conference report to the $82 billion FY 2005 supplemental appropriations bill (H.R. 1268), providing additional funding for the war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan and other foreign policy priorities. The House passed the measure last Thursday, May 5. The final conference report includes provisions from the REAL ID Act tightening eligibility for asylum and driver's licenses and repealing the negotiated rulemaking process underway to strengthen driver's license and ID card processes.

The House is scheduled to consider the Gang Deterrence and Community Protection Act of 2005 (H.R. 1279), which would create a statute similar to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statue to fight gang violence. The bill would define a criminal street gang as any formal or informal group of three or more individuals that commits two or more gang crimes in two or more separate criminal episodes.

The House is also expected to consider the Faster and Smarter Funding for First Responders Act of 2005. The measure would base first responder grant funding distribution on threat and risk analyses. If the risk assessment determined that a state would receive less than 0.25 percent of the available funds, it would receive at least 0.25 percent. Currently, each state receives 0.75 percent, and the remainder is based on population. H.R. 1544 would give certain border states 0.45 percent of the available funds.

The House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to meet this week to mark up its 302(b) allocations, released last Thursday, May 5, which divide the $843 billion in discretionary spending contained in the FY 2006 budget resolution among the 11 appropriations bills. A copy of the allocations is available on the House Appropriations Committee website at http://appropriations.house.gov/. The committee is also scheduled to mark up its FY 2006 appropriations bills for the departments of the Interior and Homeland Security, and several subcommittees are schedule to mark up their spending bills.

BRAC COMMISSION HOLDS MEETING

Last week, the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission held its inaugural meeting, including the swearing-in ceremony. After the ceremony, commission members heard testimony from Dan Else of the Congressional Research Service and Barry Holman of the Government Accountability Office regarding issues and concerns from previous BRAC rounds of military installation closings. Testimony was also provided by Department of Defense (DoD) officials about the current and long-term threats confronting U.S. national security.

The following individuals are all members of the BRAC Commission: Chairman of the Commission, Anthony Joseph Principi of California, James H. Bilbray of Nevada, Philip Coyle of California, Admiral Harold W. Gehman, Jr., USN (Ret.) of Virginia, Brigadier General Sue Ellen Turner, USAF (Ret.) of Texas, James V. Hansen of Utah, General James T. Hill, USA (Ret.) of Florida,Samuel Knox Skinner, of Illinois and General Lloyd Warren Newton, USAF (Ret.), of Connecticut.

Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld is expected to forward his list of recommended base closures and consolidations to the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission sometime this week.

Bill APPROVED BY HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE TO PREVENT INSURANCE PREMIUM INCREASES FOR NATIONAL GUARD AND RESERVES

The House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity last week approved a measure (H.R. 2046) that would prevent an increase in health insurance premiums when National Guard and Reserves members seek to reinstate their policies upon returning to civilian life. The Service Members Civil Relief Act (P.L. 108-189) ensures that a service member may reinstate his or her policy after returning to civilian life, but it does not protect against premium increases. H.R. 2046 would correct this loophole. The full committee is expected to address the bill sometime this week.

US FOREST SERVICE ANNOUNCES FINAL ROADLESS RULE

On Friday, May 6, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns announced a final rule to conserve and manage inventoried roadless areas within national forests. The rule will allow Governors 18 months to petition the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture to develop regulations to manage roadless areas that meet the specific needs within each state. Once a state has submitted its petition and the secretary accepts it, the Forest Service will work with the state to develop and publish a subsequent state-specific rule that addresses the management requirements set forth in the petition. If a state chooses not to file a petition, inventoried roadless areas within that state will continue to be managed in accordance with the direction set forth in each national forest's land and resource management plan.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) also announced the establishment of a national advisory committee to provide advice and recommendations to the secretary on implementing this rule. The 12-member panel will have 90 days to review each petition submitted by the states. The USDA secretary will then have 6 months to accept or decline the petition. Members of the committee will represent diverse national organizations interested in the conservation and management of National Forest System inventoried roadless areas.

HOUSE PASSES VOCATIONAL EDUCATION REAUTHORIZATION

Last week, the House passed (by a vote of 416-9) the Vocational and Technical Education for the Future Act (H.R. 366), a bill to reauthorize and amend the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act. H.R. 366 would provide states with a 2 percent set aside to fund administrative costs. During floor consideration, amendments were offered to allow local funds to be used for training automotive technicians in alternative fuel technologies; to allow states to use state leadership funds to facilitate the transition of vocational students to obtain a bachelors degree; and to hold harmless Tech Prep funding at fiscal year 2005 levels. All three amendments passed by voice vote.

The Senate passed its version, the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act of 2005 (S. 250), in March by a vote of 99-0. Both chambers are expected to appointment conferees soon.

HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE APPROVES HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS BILL

Last week, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security approved a bill providing $30.85 billion in discretionary funds and $1 billion in mandatory funding for operations and activities of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for fiscal year 2006. This amount represents approximately $1.3 billion more than the President's request. The measure provides $3.6 billion for first responder grants, including:

$750 million for state basic formula grants;
$850 million for urban area grants;
$150 million for rail security;
$150 million for other infrastructure protection;
$600 million for firefighter grants;
$400 million for state and local law enforcement terrorism prevention grants;
$180 million for Emergency Management Performance Grants; and
$200 million for first responder training.

A total of both 10 percent of the state basic formula grant and the urban area grants must be provided to Emergency Medical Service providers. In addition, the measure would provide $2 billion for disaster relief, $5 million for trucking security, and $4 million for hazardous materials truck tracking.

HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE APPROVES INTERIOR APPROPRIATIONS BILL

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies approved a $26.2 billion appropriations bill for fiscal year (FY) 2006. Last year, the bill was funded at $27 billion. The bill includes funding for the U.S. Department of Interior, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and other related agencies. Specific provisions include:

$850 million for the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund, which is $120 million more than the President's request and $241 million less than FY 2005;
$850 million for the Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund, which is 47 million more than FY 2005;
$2.7 billion for Wildland firefighting and the National Fire Plan, which is a $120 million increase from FY 2005;
$1.3 billion for Superfund, which is an $11 million increase from FY 2005;
$317 million for the Department of Interior's Cooperative Conservation Agreement, which is a decrease of $79 million from FY 2005;
$230 million for the Payment in Lieu of Taxes Program; which is $30 million more than the President's request and $3 million more than FY 2005; and
elimination of the stateside portion of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which was funded last year at $91.5 million.

The full committee may mark-up the bill sometime this week.

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