Weekly Update


TUESDAY, JUNE 27, 2006
COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION BILL UNLIKELY House GOP leaders toughened their stance in opposition to the Senate passed immigration bill that includes provisions that would pave the way to citizenship for millions of undocumented workers. Plans to hold a series of hearings around the nation are set to begin in August on the Senate-passed immigration legislation. The hearings will take place in California, Arizona and Texas. In a countermove, the Senate Judiciary Committee is planning its own hearings beginning with one July 5 in Pennsylvania. Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), chairman of the panel, said he would examine issues such as the need for a guest worker program. How the battle plays out this summer and fall will determine how the government deals with immigrants, both legal and undocumented. The outcome could swing votes in the midterm elections. The Senate bill, S. 2611, (passed last month) differs greatly from the immigration enforcement bill, H.R. 4437, that passed the House last December. Both bills include provisions that would bolster border enforcement and require employers to verify the work authorization of employees, however, the House bill addresses border enforcement first and foremost and does not include a path to eventual citizenship for illegal immigrations. The House Republican Leadership recently outlined a "statement of principles," containing a list of 5 principles to be reflected in immigration reform legislation. SENATE PASSES DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION Last week, the Senate passed (by a vote of 96-0) its $517.5 billion FY 2007 Department of Defense (DoD) authorization measure (S. 2766). Democratic efforts to include provisions to begin a withdrawal of U.S. troops was rejected on two different accounts. The Senate voted 86-13 to reject a proposal by Senator John Kerry (D-MA) that would have ordered Bush to bring most of the troops home within 13 months. Another Democratic measure, a nonbinding call on Bush to begin a troop drawdown by December, also failed 60-39. The legislation includes a provision that would empower the National Guard within the Pentagon by giving the Chief of the National Guard Bureau a fourth star; making the deputy of NORTHCOM a National Guard Member; improving lines of communication within the Department of Defense for contingency operations, disasters, and military operations other than war; and providing authority to identify gaps between federal and state capabilities in response to emergencies and to validate requirements of the state with respect to military assistance to civil authorities. The Senate also voted 98-0 to pass an amendment that would add $45 million for missile defense testing programs in reaction to the threats by North Korea to test long-range missiles. The measure now heads to conference with the House-passed version (H.R. 5122). HOUSE PASSES ESTATE TAX LEGISLATION Last week, the House approved the Permanent Estate Tax Relief Act of 2006, by a vote of 269 to 156. H.R. 5638 permanently exempts (effective January 1, 2010) income up to $5 million for an individual and $10 million for a couple (indexed for inflation), and taxes remaining assets at 15 percent (the same rate as capital gains are taxed). It also taxes estates above $25 million at 30 percent, which is twice the capital gains tax rate. H.R. 5638 reunifies the estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer taxes, repeals the deduction for state estate taxes, and maintains a "stepped-up" basis for inherited property by repealing the modified carryover basis rules. In addition, it creates a new 60 percent deduction for qualified timber capital gains. SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE APPROVES AGRICULTURE APPROPRIATIONS BILL The Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously approved the FY 2007 agriculture appropriations bill. The measure sets total spending at $94.58 billion and discretionary spending at $18.2 billion, which is higher than the House-approved mark of $17.81 billion and the FY 2006 funding level of $16.78 billion. http://appropriations.senate.gov/ Funding levels include: $1.9 billion for the Food and Drug Administration; $900.4 million for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service; $107.2 million for pandemic influenza preparedness; $3.427 billion for farm loans; $2.42 billion for agricultural research and extension programs; $973.4 million for conservation operations under the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS); $5.029 billion for federal rural housing loan authorization; $715 million for the Rural Community Advancement Program (RCAP); $37.9 billion for the Food Stamp Program; $5.26 billion for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); and $179.37 million for the Commodity Assistance Program. The committee accepted amendments that provide $3.5 billion for emergency disaster assistance to farmers affected by adverse weather conditions and call for easing of restrictions on agricultural travel to Cuba, as well as a sense of the Senate resolution urging Japan to reopen its border to U.S. beef. This week, the Senate Appropriations Committee has planned subcommittee mark-ups for Interior-Environment; Homeland Security; and Energy-Water spending bills. The full committee mark-ups for these bills will occur on Thursday. The Committee plans to have all of its bills out by July 20. SENATE BUDGET COMMITTEE APPROVES BUDGET REFORM PACKAGE Last week, the Senate Budget Committee approved (by a vote of 12-10) a budget process reform package, the Stop Over-Spending Act of 2006 or S.3521, which defines goals for deficit reduction, includes enforcement mechanisms to slow the growth of both entitlement and discretionary spending, and provides line-item rescission authority for the President. The measure places statutory caps on discretionary spending, to be enforced through sequestration, as well as authority for a federal entitlements sequestration if budget goals are not met (enforcement would begin in 2012); calls for biennial budgeting; and creates commissions to study ways to slow the growth of entitlement programs and to identify unnecessary federal programs for elimination. The entitlement commission would be charged with determining Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security solvency. It would define Medicaid as solvent in any year that it does not grow faster than GDP growth. The intent would be to develop some fast-track authority that requires Congress to act when Medicaid and other entitlements become insolvent. The Budget Committee modified the measure to require 60 votes to pass the recommendations of the entitlement commission. The line-item rescission provisions give the President 45 days to propose rescissions of line items in bills he signs into law; prohibit duplicative requests; limit the number of rescission packages per bill to four (but allows the President to propose a rescission related to a bill up to one year after its enactment); limit the amount of time that the President may delay spending to no more than 45 days and would prevent the President from withholding the funding until he sent the rescission request to Congress.); authorize the Joint Committee on Taxation to identify what qualifies as a targeted tax break; and set a sunset date of 2010. SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE APPROVES SUBCOMMITTEE ALLOCATIONS The Senate Appropriations Committee approved (by a vote of 15-13) FY 2007 discretionary spending allocations for its 12 subcommittees while adhering to the $873 billion overall discretionary cap. The allocations shift about $11 billion - $9 billion from defense and $2 billion from foreign aid - to other discretionary programs, including those falling under the jurisdiction of the Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee (an additional $5 billion) and the Transportation-Treasury Subcommittee (an additional $2 billion). A complete listing of the allocations is available online. HOUSE ENERGY AND COMMERCE COMMITTEE APPROVE FIVE ENERGY BILLS Last week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously approved five energy bills by voice vote. H.R. 5534 establishes a grant program in the Department of Energy's Clean Cities Program to expand the availability of alternative fuels. Funded by the penalties collected under the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) program, which totaled more than $20 million in 2004, the program would provide funding for construction of infrastructure necessary to increase the availability of alternative fuels. The United States-Israel Energy Cooperation Act (H.R. 2730) sets up a grant program to fund joint ventures comprised of both Israeli and United States private business entities and academics to research, develop, and commercialize new technologies in alternative energy, improved energy efficiency, or renewable energy sources. The program is authorized at $20 million per year through 2012. The other committee-approved bills would create a program to educate consumers on the fuel efficiency of tires (H.R. 5632); create an educational campaign for drivers about conserving fuel (H.R. 5611); and promote the use of energy efficient computer servers (no bill number assigned). CMS RELEASES COST-SHARING GUIDANCE FOR MEDICAID The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released guidance regarding implementation of cost-sharing provisions (Sections 6041-6043) of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. The letter to state Medicaid directors closely follows the provisions of the law that gave states new flexibility to impose premiums and cost-sharing on some Medicaid beneficiaries. The guidance does include a clarification of the protections for beneficiaries under 100 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) that had been unclear as a result of a drafting error in the legislation. CMS will provide further guidance on these provisions through the formal rulemaking process. GRANTS WILL ASSIST NEVADA VETERANS WITH JOB TRAINING AND PLACEMENT A Southern Nevada organization has received federal grant funding from the U.S. Department of Labor designed to help veterans obtain job training and placement assistance. The United States Veterans Initiative organization in Las Vegas was awarded a $170,000 grant as part of the federal Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program (HVRP), and a $250,000 Veterans’ Workforce Investment Program (VWIP) grant. The funding will be used to help veterans in Boulder City, Henderson, Las Vegas, and the greater Clark County area. The purpose of the HVRP grant is to expedite the reintegration of homeless veterans into the labor force by providing substance abuse counseling and treatment, job counseling and referral, employment assistance, transportation, housing and clothing. The VWIP will support employment and training programs for veterans with service-connected disabilities, veterans with significant barriers to employment, veterans who served during a war or campaign, and veterans who recently separated from service.	In observation of Independence Day, Congress will recess this Friday, June 30, for one week. The Senate is scheduled to consider the Permanent Estate Tax Relief Act of 2006 (H.R. 5638), which passed the House last week by a vote of 269-156. The bill reunifies the estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer taxes, repeals the deduction for state estate taxes, and maintains a "stepped-up" basis for inherited property by repealing the modified carryover basis rules. The measure permanently exempts (effective January 1, 2010) income up to $5 million for an individual and $10 million for a couple (indexed for inflation), and taxes remaining assets at 15 percent (the same rate as capital gains are taxed). It also taxes estates above $25 million at 30 percent, which is twice the capital gains tax rate. In addition, it creates a 60 percent deduction for qualified timber capital gains. Earlier this month, the Senate was unable to invoke cloture on a previous version of an estate tax repeal bill (H.R. 8). The House will begin debate on the Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2006 (H.R. 4973). The measure was approved by the House Financial Services Committee at the beginning of March. In addition to flood insurance reform, the chamber could consider the FY 2007 Science-State-Justice-Commerce spending, which provides $22.1 billion for the Department of Justice. The chamber will also consider the Deep Ocean Energy and Resources Act (H.R. 4761). SENATE FLOOR. The Senate will consider a proposed constitutional amendment that would authorize Congress to outlaw flag desecration. The chamber is also expected to take up H.R. 5638, the Permanent Estate Tax Relief Act. Conference reports on pension reform and lobbying reform could be brought up for consideration if they are finalized. HOUSE FLOOR. The House will consider six measures under suspension. They will consider three additional measures under suspension, as well as the Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2006 and the Science, State, Justice, Commerce, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2006. On Wednesday, the House is scheduled to continue debate on the appropriations bill and also consider the Deep Ocean Energy and Resources Act. HOUSE PASSES LINE-ITEM RESCISSION BILL Last week, the House passed the Legislative Line Item Veto Act of 2006, by a vote of 247-172. H.R. 4890 provides the President with expedited line-item rescission authority through October 1, 2012. The bill gives the President 45 days to propose rescissions of line items in recently approved bills. Congress would then hold an "up or down" on the proposed rescission bill with no amendments or filibusters allowed. The measure prohibits duplicative rescission requests and limits the number of rescission packages per bill to five (or 10 in an omnibus spending bill). It also limits the amount of time that the President may delay spending to no more than 90 days unless Congress endorses a rescission. In addition, it authorizes the Chairmen of the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee to determine whether bills contain targeted tax provisions that can be proposed for rescission, and defines them as applying to only one beneficiary. The Senate Budget Committee approved a broader budget process reform package, which includes line-item rescission authority. That measure has a more expansive definition of targeted tax benefits as part of its rescission proposal. HOUSE PASSES DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS BILL On Tuesday, June 20, the House passed the FY 2007 appropriations bill for the Department of Defense (H.R. 5631) by vote of 407-19. The measure provides $500 million for National Guard equipment and $471 million to restore the Army National Guard to an end-strength of 350,000. The Administration had recommended a 17,100 reduction in Guard soldiers. The Senate has yet to consider its FY 2007 defense appropriations bill. The spending bill contained close to $19 million earmarked for Nevada projects by Nevada's House members. Specific earmarks include: •$1 million for the Desert Research Institute of Las Vegas to study development patterns in the southwest and their effects on the military's use of its sprawling training ranges. •$2 million for the Nevada Cancer Institute to buy new radiation therapy equipment and hire staffers to operate it. •$1.8 million for Nellis Air Force Base to offer online courses for military families in topics such as computer basics, web design and graphic design. A project description says it is a "critical aid for improving morale, welfare and recreation." •$3.75 million to allow the Nevada National Guard to continue assisting law enforcement agencies in drug-trafficking investigations, including use of Guard helicopters for surveillance. The Nevada Guard is a leader among the states in use of aerial imagery for drug enforcement, said Lt. Col. Kim LaBrie, coordinator of the counter-drug program. •$2 million for Sierra Nevada Corp. of Sparks for improvements to submarine-based radars. •$4 million to upgrade electronic warfare simulation technology at Nellis. •$1.9 million for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas School of Medicine to train health professionals in telemedicine and use of robotic equipment in military and civilian situations, and for coordinated surgical training of military and civilian doctors. •$1.8 million for the Nevada Air National Guard in Reno to improve its reach in transmitting mission information, which supporters said would provide leaders outside a threat area with better data to make decisions. info taken from LVRJ story. HOUSE COMMITTEE APPROVES JUSTICE APPROPRIATIONS BILL* On Tuesday, June 20, the House Appropriations Committee approved the FY 2007 Science-State-Justice-Commerce spending bill, which provides $22.1 billion for the Department of Justice. Of that amount, $2.6 billion is directed to state and local crime fighting initiatives. This includes $558 million for the Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program, with $75 million for Boys/Girls Clubs, $115 million for Byrne Discretionary, and $367 million for the state and local formula grant program (60 percent for the Byrne formula and 40 percent for the Local Law Enforcement Block Grant program). JAG received $416 million in FY 2006 (with $95 million for Boys/Girls Clubs) and $321.5 million for the formula program. FY 2007 funding levels for other justice programs include: $390 million for violence against women prevention and prosecution programs (the FY 2006 level was $389 million); $405 million for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) (same as last year); $30 million for southwest border prosecutors initiatives (same as last year); $21 million for the Victims of Trafficking program (the FY 2006 level was $10 million); $5 million for the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) Program (the FY 2006 was $10 million); $40 million for drug courts (the FY 2006 was $10 million); $10 million for prescription drug monitoring (the FY 2006 level was $7.5 million); $22 million for the Prison Rape Prevention and Prosecution program (the FY 2006 level was $18 million); $2 million for the capital litigation initiative (the FY 2006 level was $1 million); $2 million for state and local training initiatives on gathering intelligence (the FY 2006 level was $10 million); $5 million for the Mentally Ill Offender Act Program (same as last year); and $1.98 million for the Sex Offender Registry (not funded in FY 2006). Specific funding levels in the COPS program include: $3.99 million for training and technical assistance (same as last year); $31 million for tribal law enforcement (the FY 2006 was $15 million); $99 million for the meth "hot spots" initiative (the FY 2006 level was $63.5 million); $100 million for law enforcement interoperable communications/technology (the FY2006 was $139 million); $20 million for bullet proof vests (the FY 2006 level was $30 million); $4.8 million for criminal records upgrades (the FY 2006 level was $10 million); $175.5 million for the DNA initiative (the FY 2006 level was $108 million); $54.8 million for the Project Safe Neighborhoods program (the FY 2006 level was $15 million); $49.3 million for the Weed and Seed program (same as last year); and 44.9 million for the offender reentry initiative (same as last year). Specific funding levels in juvenile justice programs include: $75 million for Part B-state formula (the FY 2006 level was $80 million); $59.8 million for Part E-demonstration projects (the FY 2006 level was $106 million); $65 million for Title V-Incentive Grants (same as last year); $14.8 million for the Secure Our Schools program (same as last year); $15 million for the Victims of Child Abuse program (same as last year); $49.361 million for the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant (same as last year); and $0.992 million for the Project Childsafe initiative (the FY 2006 level was $1 million).
Recent and archived Federal Grants Notifications are also available on our website. www.NevadaDC.org
The State of Nevada Washington Office is reachable by phone at (202) 624-5405. Additional contact information is available on our website. To be added to our mailing list, please contact update@nevadadc.org.