Update on
Federal Funding Process: Conference Negotiations on the FY 2009 Budget Expected to Continue in Congress this Spring
Although both the House and the Senate approved their FY 2009
budget resolutions in March, Congress has recently been focusing on the supplemental appropriations bill intended to provide additional funding for
military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Work on reconciling the differences between the House and Senate FY 2009 budget
resolutions is expected to continue in the coming weeks. The budget resolution serves as a blueprint for Congress that contains a spending cap for
discretionary programs, including funding for alcohol and other drug prevention, treatment, education, and research programs, and gives direction to
the Appropriations Committees about how much money they can allocate during the annual funding process.
The House passed its budget resolution on March 13th and the Senate
approved its resolution on March 14th. Both budget resolutions would include more funding for domestic programs than the President
included in his FY 2009 budget, with the House resolution exceeding the President’s domestic spending request by $25.4 billion and the Senate
budget resolution including $21.8 billion over the President’s request for domestic spending.
The Appropriations Committees are currently working to
determine funding priorities for FY 2009. However, since the budget blueprint has not yet been approved and the Appropriations
Committees have not yet determined their subcommittee allocations, timing for review of the spending bills is unclear.
Status and text of both budget resolutions, H.Con.Res. 312 and S.Con.Res. 70, can
be found at: http://thomas.loc.gov/.
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House
Committee Approves “Protecting the Medicaid Safety Net Act of 2008,” Legislation Expected to Receive a Full House Vote Later This
Week
On April 16th, the full House Energy and Commerce Committee
approved H.R. 5613, the “Protecting the Medicaid Safety Net Act of 2008.” H.R. 5613, introduced by Congressmen John Dingell (D-MI)
and Tim Murphy (R-PA) and co-sponsored by 204 bi-partisan Members, would place a one-year moratorium on implementation of seven regulations proposed
by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that seek to cut the costs of the program to the federal government. The
bill passed through the Committee by a unanimous 46 to zero vote.
The seven CMS regulations seek to limit certain types of services
reimbursable under Medicaid provided by addiction treatment, mental health treatment and other healthcare providers. Reimbursement payments
under Medicaid for targeted case management, rehabilitation, school-based transportation and outreach, hospital outpatient and other services provided
through the health care system would be restricted under the proposed rules.
During the markup session, Committee Chairman Dingell thanked
Congressman Joe Barton (R-TX), Ranking Member of the full Committee, and other bipartisan Committee members for their work in support of H.R.
5613. Chairman Dingell also noted the legislation’s broad support among thousands of organizations representing healthcare
consumers and providers around the country.
In his comments, Ranking Member Barton expressed his support for
the legislation and commended the Committee for working together to ensure its swift passage through the Committee. In addition,
Congressman Barton, acknowledging the Bush Administration’s prior statements that the President would veto the legislation should it pass
through Congress, expressed his belief that the House could successfully override a Presidential veto.
The legislation approved by the full Energy and Commerce
Committee was very similar to the version approved by that Committee’s Health Subcommittee earlier this month. During the
full Committee mark-up, Chairman Dingell did offer one amendment to H.R. 5613 which was approved by the Committee; this amendment made several changes
aimed at reducing fraud and abuse within the Medicaid system, a noted concern of the Bush Administration.
Similar legislation to H.R. 5613, S. 2819, was recently introduced in the Senate
by Senator Rockefeller (D-WV). S. 2819 has twenty bi-partisan co-sponsors and is awaiting review in the Senate Finance Committee.
It is expected that the full House will consider H.R. 5613 during the week of
April 21st. The text and status of both H.R. 5613 and S. 2819 can be found at http:/thomas.loc.gov/.
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Legislation
Seeking to Increase and Strengthen Incentives for Employers Who Hire Formerly Incarcerated People Introduced in the Senate
On April 2nd, Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) introduced S. 2800, the
“Employment Access for Recidivism Reduction Nationwide,” or the EARN Act. S. 2800 seeks to increase incentives
available to employers who hire formerly incarcerated people by enhancing the effectiveness of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit and awareness about the
Federal Bonding program.
S. 2800 contains a number of provisions aimed at strengthening the
Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) program. The WOTC provides an incentive for employers to hire, train, and retain job seekers,
including “qualified ex-felons,” who experience barriers to employment. Under the current law, a “qualified
ex-felon” is defined as an individual who has a State or federal felony conviction and was hired within one year of release from prison or from
the date of conviction, whichever date was later. This credit can reduce an employer’s federal income tax liability by $1,200 to $9,000,
depending on the target group of the employee. Currently, an employer’s federal income tax liability can be reduced by up to
$2,400 per “qualified ex-felon.”
S. 2800, which would authorize five million dollars per year for five years for
activities to enhance the WOTC, would require the Secretary of Labor to:
In addition, S. 2800 would increase the amount of tax credit employers can
receive under the WOTC for hiring a “qualified ex-felon.” In order to qualify, an employer would be required
to:
Under S. 2800, the Secretaries of the Treasury and Labor and the Attorney
General would be required to submit to Congress a report on the effectiveness of the increased credit within three years of the enactment of the
Act.
Additionally, the EARN Act seeks to increase awareness of the Federal Bonding
program, another Department of Labor program aimed at increasing incentives for employers to hire people with barriers to employment, including those
with criminal records. The Federal Bonding program issues fidelity bonds that serve as business insurance policies to protect employers in case
of theft, forgery, larceny, or embezzlement of money or property by an employee who is covered by the bond. To encourage employers to
participate in the Federal Bonding program, S. 2800 would require the Secretary of Labor to carry out activities to increase by 25 percent the
number of fidelity bonds purchased and issued by States through the program. S. 2800 would authorize one million dollars per
year for five years for these purposes.
The EARN Act is co-sponsored by Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE).
The legislation was referred to the Committee on Finance where it awaits review. The full text and status of S. 2800 can be
found at http://thomas.loc.gov/.
For further information, please contact: Gabrielle de la
Gueronniere, Deputy Director for National Policy, at gdelagueronniere@lac-dc.org or Nisha Thakker, Policy Associate, at nthakker@lac.org.
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