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Congress Prepares for a Full Summer
With Congress poised to tackle healthcare reform and other large policy issues this summer, lawmakers are headed for a busy July. The weeks leading up to the July Fourth Congressional recess will include hearings on the FY 2010 appropriations, healthcare and financial market reform but little progress is expected before congress reconvenes in July — aside from activity on the War Supplemental.
On the primary issue before Congress — health care reform — Democrats remain deeply divided over how to proceed. With the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee marking up its bill this week, and the Finance Committee doing its version next, final passage is at least a month away. With gas prices on the rise, lawmakers may also look to reignite the debate on energy. Confirmation hearings will also begin in July for President Obama’s nomination of Federal Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.
In other news, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued its estimate of the Administration’s healthcare reform plan. CongressDaily reports that the portion of the bill from Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Democrats that seeks to extend healthcare coverage universally will cost roughly $1 trillion over 10 years and cause 15 million people to either lose or choose to leave employer-based coverage, according to CBO estimates. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has indicated that the Senate will look to work five-day weeks in July to attempt to pass healthcare reform before the August recess and contend with 13 individual appropriations bills. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is slated to begin its markup of healthcare overhaul legislation on Wednesday.
TAA Funding included in War Supplemental Conference Report
On Thursday, June 19, the Senate approved the $106 billion conference report for the FY09 supplemental appropriations bill for the wars in Iraq and on a vote of 91-5. The measure passed in the House on Tuesday, June 17 on a 226-202 vote.
House and Senate negotiators reached a compromise on the report last week. The bill now includes $79.9 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; $10.4 billion for the State Department and foreign operations and $7.7 billion for the H1N1 flu pandemic.
The bill allocates $40 million for the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) for Firms and TAA for Communities programs. Trade-affected workers in the services sector, which now comprise 80 percent of the U.S. workforce, will be included in TAA, as well as workers whose lose their jobs to all foreign countries, no longer just countries with which the U.S. has trade agreements.
Under this measure, training funds will increase by 160 percent to $575 million. The provision also gives automatic TAA eligibility to workers suffering as a result of import surges and unfair trade, and makes training, reemployment and healthcare benefits more flexible and accessible. In addition, ranchers, farmers and fishermen can now receive technical assistance for business planning to increase their competitiveness. All TAA programs have been authorized through December 31, 2010.
The Department of Labor (DOL), which administers the TAA for Workers program, is now accepting petitions for the program.
For access to petitions on the DOL website click here
http://www.doleta.gov/tradeact/DownloadPetitions.cfm.
Representative John Kline (MN) Elected Ranking Republican to the House Education and Labor Committee
On Wednesday, June 17, the House Republican Steering Committee elected Representative John Kline (MN) to replace Representative Howard P. McKeon (CA) as the new ranking Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee. Kline, who is currently the ranking member with the least seniority in the House, became the front-runner when Republicans on the committee with more seniority dropped their bids. The three finalists for the position were Representative Kline, Representative Joe Wilson (SC) and Steering Committee member and Vice Chairwoman of the House Republican Conference Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA). Although Steering Committee members reported a close vote, debate over the selection lasted only 25 minutes. Representative McKeon left the position when he was appointed to the top GOP post on the Armed Services Committee last week.
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