SENATE IMMIGRATION BILL IN TROUBLE
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (R-NV) pulled the immigration bill (S. 1348) from the Senate floor after three failed attempts to invoke cloture (by votes of 33 to 63, 34 to 62, and 45 to 50). Prior to the cloture votes, the Senate approved an amendment by Senator Byron Dorgan (D- ND) with a vote of 49 to 48 that would sunset the guestworker program after five years; and an amendment by Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) with a vote of 64 to 33 to make English the official language of the United States.
In addition, during last weeks consideration, Both Montana democrat Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester along with Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI) spoke in favor of an amendment that would have stricken from the overall bill all references to Real ID dealing with the Employment Eligibility Verification System (EEVS).
The Senate rejected several amendments, including one by Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) with a vote of 54 to 42 that would have required the President to certify and Congress to agree that current immigration laws were adequately enforced before the new guestworker program could take effect; another by Senator John Ensign (R-NV) with a vote of 42 to 55 that would have revised the merit based system’s permanent residency to award more points for immigrants who are highly skilled workers, who served honorably in the military, or who have health insurance; and another by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) with a vote of 44 to 55, on a budget point of order, that would have reclassified the spouses and children of legal residents as immediate family for visa purposes.Both Majority Leader Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) stated that they will continue working on the bill and expect to restart the discussion later on Tuesday.
HOUSE SUBCOMMITTEE APPROVES LABOR/ HHS/ EDUCATION APPROPRIATIONS BILL
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education last week marked-up and approved its fiscal year (FY) 2008 appropriations bill. The subcommittee was originally allocated $151 billion, which is $10 billion more than President Bush’s request and $6 billion more than the FY 2007 funding level. At the markup, the committee allocated slightly more funding - $153.7 billion for discretionary programs.
Education and Labor: The U.S. Department of Education is slated to receive the largest budget increase of 7.4 percent, for a total of $61.7 billion. Education programs that would receive increased funding over FY 2007 levels include Title I, IDEA Part B, Teacher Quality State Grants, Head Start, and Statewide Data Systems. Innovative Education State Grants would be flat-funded at the current fiscal level. The bill also increases the Pell Grant maximum to $4,700 per student. In addition, the bill provides the Department of Labor with a 1.8 percent increase over their current budget.
Health and Human Services: Key health and human services provisions include $1.1 billion for pandemic flu preparedness, an increase of $1 billion over FY 2007 funding; $109 million for the Preventive Health and Health Services Block Grant, an increase of $10 million over FY 2007 funding $2.66 billion for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance program, a $500 million increase from FY 2007; $2.2 billion for community health centers, an increase of $200 million over FY 2007 funding; and $1.59 billion for Terrorism Preparedness and Response to provide for bio-defense activities within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a $47 million increase from FY 2007 funding.
HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS APPROVES FY 2008 TRANSPORTATION-HUD SPENDING BILL
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Monday, approved (by voice vote with no amendments) its $50.7 billion spending bill for fiscal year (FY) 2008, which provides $2.8 billion more in discretionary funds than the Administration's request.
The bill includes $40.2 billion for highways and $9.7 billion for transit investments, which is $600 million more and $300 million more respectively than the President's request. The bill provides $4.18 billion for the Community Development Block Grant program, representing $400 million more than the FY 2007 level. Housing programs, including Section 8, tenant-based rental assistance, project-based rental assistance, and the HOPE IV program, receive increased funding. In addition, the Airport Improvement Program was funded at $3.6 billion, an increase of $850 million above the President's request. The full Appropriations Committee is scheduled to mark-up the measure on Monday, June 18, with floor action anticipated the week of June 25.VA TO ESTABLISH NEW NURSING ACADEMY
Washington, D.C., The Veterans Affairs (VA) in response to a shortage of nurses across the nation and to ensure that veterans continue to receive personalized, world-class has announced creation of a new multi-campus Nursing Academy. VA has one of the largest nursing staffs of any health care system in the world, with about 61,000 registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, vocational nurses and nursing assistants at the Department’s 153 medical centers and nearly 900 clinics.
A five-year, $40 million pilot program will establish partnerships with 12 nursing schools across the country during the next three years, beginning with four for the 2007-2008 academic year. The VA nursing academy is a virtual organization with central administration in Washington and teaching at competitively selected nursing schools across the country who partner with VA. VA currently provides clinical education to nearly 100,000 health professional trainees annually, including students from more than 600 schools of nursing.
Despite a nationwide shortage of nurses, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing has reported that more than 42,000 qualified applicants were turned away from nursing schools in 2006 because of insufficient numbers of faculty, clinical sites, classroom space and clinical mentors.
