AS DEADLINE LOOMS, HOUSE AND SENATE REMAIN
DIVIDED OVER SUPPLEMENTAL
House consideration of the war supplemental spending bill was delayed again last week. Congressional leaders still hope to have the bill to President Bush by the end of the month.
The House passed a separate stand-alone measure (H.R. 5749) on a 274-137 vote to extend unemployment benefits for 13 additional weeks beyond the standard 26 weeks. Additionally, those states with higher unemployment (6 percent or higher) would get an extra 13 weeks.
The House leadership would like to move the unemployment benefits as a stand-alone measure and not part of the war supplemental. They would prefer that the war supplemental consist of the war funding and the expanded GI benefits.
The Senate, however, opposes this tack. Leaders in that chamber do not believe they have enough votes to support a stand-alone unemployment benefits bill and believe it is easier for them to keep it part of the war supplemental. The Senate also wants to retain the extra domestic spending items they’ve added to the bill.
CONGRESS WORKING ON A SECOND STIMULUS PACKAGE.
There is talk among Congressional Democrats about crafting a second economic stimulus package. While it wouldn’t move until July and details have not been finalized, many Democratic leaders believe that a bill could pass before the end of this Congressional session.
The package could be in the $50 billion range, and possibly could include additional stimulus checks, extended unemployment benefits and infrastructure spending.
LATEST EFFORTS TO ADDRESS HIGH GAS PRICES STALL IN CONGRESS
In a move intended to address high oil and gasoline prices, the Senate also planned to debate an energy bill this past week. The measure (S. 2991) would repeal certain oil and gas tax breaks and steer that funding towards renewable energy, it would impose a windfall profits tax on the largest oil and gas companies, and would seek to eliminate price gouging. However, the oil profits bill was set aside early when it too did not reach the 60 votes needed to move the bill forward (vote tally was 51-43).
REAUTH OF AMTRAK PASSES HOUSE
The House considered and passed a five-year, $14.4 billion reauthorization of Amtrak on Wednesday. The vote tally was 311-104 and is large enough to diminish the Administration’s threatened veto over the bill’s cost. H.R. 6003 includes $4.2 billion for capital grants and $3 billion for operations. The measure authorizes $2.5 billion for states to add or improve intercity passenger service. It also provides funds for a high-speed rail project from New York City to Washington, D.C., that private companies could bid on.
The Senate’s version of the Amtrak measure is similar but does not include the high-speed rail project. That bill, S. 294, was adopted in October 2007, and would authorize Amtrak at $11.4 billion.
HOUSE, SENATE STAND THEIR GROUND ON TAX EXTENDERS BILL
Last Tuesday, the Senate took a test vote on an extenders tax package. The underlying measure was the House-passed version (H.R. 6049) that renews several expiring business and research tax credits, including the popular renewable energy tax credits.
Chairman Baucus was also poised to offer a substitute amendment that added a few more “attractive” provisions to the bill (i.e., reauthorization of Secure Rural Schools and PILT funding). But on the test vote the package failed to receive the needed 60 votes to move forward. The vote tally was 50-44. The bill returned to the Senate floor on June 16 to face another motion to proceed vote. Meanwhile, the House is holding firm in its stance that the extenders bill be fully offset.
CONGRESS TO ADDRESS OIL PRICE MANIPULATION, SPECULATION
While the two parties in Congress are largely stalemated
in their approaches to addressing the high oil and gasoline prices,
common ground might be emerging. Weeks ago the two parties successfully
came together in agreement and halted, temporarily, oil purchases for
the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). The
newest opening may be in investigating potential manipulation or
excessive speculation in the commodity markets. The concern of late is
not the regulated NYMEX exchange but the electronic trading in
Europe and the Middle East. Several
hearings on the topic are scheduled over the next two weeks. This week,
the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) created an interagency
task force to look into the role of index traders and speculators in the
commodities markets.
DEMOCRATS HOPE TO KEEP SECURE RURAL SCHOOLS PROGRAM ALIVE
Currently, the Senate’s version of the war supplemental spending
bill contains a one year $400 million extension of the Secure
Rural Schools Program.
Additionally, Chairman Baucus’ substitute amendment to the tax
extenders bill (H.R. 6049) contains reauthorization language for
Secure Rural Schools through 2011. It also funds the PILT
program for 2009.
On Thursday, the Department of the Interior announced the PILT
payments for 2008. The payments totaled $228.5 million and are
spread among the 50 states, plus the District of
Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S.-Virgin Islands.
