Legislation & Politics

Week Ending October 9, 2009

Senate Finance Committee Delays Final Vote on Health Reform

The Senate Finance Committee has delayed until Tuesday, October 13 a final vote to approve its health reform bill.  The committee has been waiting for the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to deliver preliminary estimates of the spending and revenue raising items.  After the CBO delivered its report this week, the committee scheduled its final vote for Tuesday.

Nonetheless, leaders in the Senate, along with the White House, are negotiating over a final bill that represents a merger of the Finance Committee bill with the much better bill produced by the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.  It appears that a final bill could be produced next week.

Negotiations have also been taking place in the House to finalize a bill there.  The House bill was debated by three committees, each of which produced much stronger bills than either Senate committee. 

AFSCME Leaders in D.C. to Lobby on Health Reform

AFSCME leaders from a number of key states participated in lobbying with other unions and state and local AFL-CIO leaders this week.  This lobbying focused on four core issues:  opposing the excise tax on health benefits in the Senate Finance bill; requiring employers to help finance health reform; support for a public health insurance option; and opposition to shifting Medicaid costs to states and making cuts to safety-net hospitals.  In general, the effort was aimed at promoting the bills produced by the House and HELP committees and highlighting the many problems with the Finance Committee bill. 

House Subcommittee Considers Effectiveness of Safety-Net Programs, while Senate Moves Closer to Taking up Extended Unemployment Benefits Legislation

A House subcommittee heard from a variety of witnesses this week concerning the effectiveness of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), unemployment insurance and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in responding to the effects of the recession.  Several witnesses spoke about the benefits of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), giving specific examples of jobs created with Recovery Act funding.  

Several witnesses recommended additional state fiscal relief, and one witness proposed creating a new public service employment program. Several members at the hearing, including the subcommittee Chairman, Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), appeared to be interested in how to design such a program.  Job creation is likely to be a topic of continuing discussion in the coming months as members of Congress face reelection next year when unemployment is expected to be at 10% or more.

In a related matter, Senate Republicans blocked floor debate on legislation that would provide 14 additional weeks of unemployment insurance for workers in all 50 states exhausting their state and federal benefits, and up to 20 additional weeks for workers in high unemployment states.  The House previously passed legislation providing 13 additional weeks of benefits for workers in states with unemployment rates of 8.5% or more. 

Child Nutrition Authorization Temporarily Extended

The continuing resolution passed by Congress last week extends funding for child nutrition programs through October, including the Child and Adult Food Care Program (CAFCP).  The Agriculture Appropriations bill passed by Congress this week includes $8 million in new CAFCP grant funds for states and sponsors to improve the nutrition and health of children in child care.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture will give priority to projects that include the following activities: (a) promote nutrition and physical activity in child care settings consistent with dietary guidelines and other relevant science; (b) provide technical assistance and training to sponsors and child care homes and centers in implementing state and local initiatives designed to improve the health and nutrition of children; (c) conduct outreach campaigns to increase access to the program in underserved areas and populations; and  (d) make innovative use of technology to provide training and education to promote the nutrition, physical activity and health of children. All project applications should include a plan to improve the quality of food provided in child care centers and homes.  

Senate Passes Safe Prisons Communications Act

The Senate passed the Safe Prisons Communications Act of 2009 (S. 251/H.R. 560), a bipartisan bill that would allow correctional institutions to use wireless jamming devices to block calls from inmates using cell phones smuggled into the institution.  Such phones have been used to plan escapes, coordinate criminal activity and place the public and corrections officers in grave danger. AFSCME supports the bill and will work to ensure it passes the House. 

DHS Rescinds "No-Match" Regulation

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is rescinding its controversial no-match regulation -- also called the safe harbor rule -- which would have required the Social Security Administration (SSA) to include, in no-match letters sent to employers, information notifying employers that they would be required to resolve Social Security number discrepancies or face liability.

AFSCME supports the rescission.  However, we are concerned that DHS is now focusing its anti-illegal immigration efforts on verification methods such as E-Verify, a program which relies on outdated SSA and DHS databases to electronically verify employment eligibility. It has been found to be replete with errors and inaccuracies since its inception. 

Sign Up To Receive the Weekly Report nd Action Alerts via Email and Become a AFSCME e-Activist!!

In an effort to move toward electronic transmission which will allow us to put important federal legislative updates in your hands sooner, we urge you to sign up to recieve the Federal Legislative Report via your email address.

Please go to http://www.unionvoice.org/afscme/join.html and check the "Federal Legislative Report" box under Subcriptions on the bottom of the page.

Print Version