The failure to pass the overall Budget Resolution has not prevented House Appropriations Chairman Lewis (R-CA) from
proceeding with movement on the 11 spending bills over which the Committee has responsibility. Three spending bills are scheduled
for review by the full House the week of May 15th; the Agriculture, Rural Development and Food and Drug Administration, which includes $5.2 billion
for the supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and children and spending for food stamps; Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs,
and the Interior and Environment. The bills will proceed under guidelines that set the spending cap at the President's requested
level.
As reported in last week's Washington Weekly Roundup, Chairman Lewis has set a $141.9 billion FY07 spending limit for
Labor-HHS programs, an $843 million increase over the FY 06 level of funding and a $4.1 billion increase over President Bush's FY07
request. However, that figure is still roughly $3.1 billion less than what many House Members, including several moderate
Republicans, argue is needed to meet costs of inflation and is $747 million less than the level of funding for Labor-HHS programs two years
ago. House leadership has indicated that they are open to discussions regarding the need for additional funding specifically for
the Labor-HHS funding bill. Movement on the Labor-HHS bill could occur as early as the first week in June but
timing is uncertain given the current disagreement over its funding level.
For updates on the Federal Appropriations process visit http://appropriations.house.gov/ or http://appropriations.senate.gov/.
Senate Fails to Limit Floor Debate on Small Business
Health Plan Legislation;
Vote Essentially Ends Legislation's Current Chances of Passage
Over the past week the Senate has been debating S. 1955, the Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization Act
(HIMMA). Supporters of S. 1955, introduced in November by Senator Michael Enzi (R-WY), have stated that the intent of the bill is
to make it more affordable for small businesses to offer their employees health care benefits by allowing business and trade associations to band
their members together and offer group health insurance plans. However, opponents of the legislation have raised concerns that, if
signed into law, S. 1955 would preempt, or override, over one thousand State laws that currently regulate the health insurance industry and provide
protections for health care consumers, including those laws that require health insurance companies cover certain benefits including addiction
treatment and mental health services, and therapies for a number of other medical conditions.
On May 11th, the Senate voted against "cloture" or limiting debate on S. 1955, which essentially prevents a vote on the bill
from occurring because debate can continue indefinitely. Although the bill and ensuing debate can be revived in the future there
is no indication at this time that the Senate Leadership is confident they have the votes necessary to pass the bill. The motion
failed with a 55 to 43 vote because sixty votes were needed to end debate and bring the measure to the Senate floor for a vote.
All of the Senate Democrats voted against cloture on S. 1955 except Senators Ben Nelson (NE) and Mary Landrieu (LA) who voted for cloture,
i.e. to end debate; Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) did not vote on the motion. Senator Lincoln Chafee (RI) was the only Republican
who voted against the measure; Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) did not vote.
This vote occurred after a week of negotiations between Republicans and Democrats, where HIMMA's sponsors sought to secure
more Democratic votes by expanding the legislation without losing support. However, the two sides were unable to come to consensus
and, without 60 votes in favor of bringing HIMMA to a vote on the Senate floor, the legislation will essentially die.
HIMMA was approved by the Senate HELP Committee on a party-line vote on March 15th, with all the present Committee Republicans
voting for the bill and Committee Democrats opposing the legislation. The House passed a similar bill, H.R. 525, in July of
2005. The text of HIMMA, as approved by the Senate HELP Committee can be found at: http://help.senate.gov/S_1955.pdf. The bill's history, in addition to introductory comments by chief sponsor
Senator Enzi, can be found by searching for S. 1955 at: http://thomas.loc.gov/.
Congressional Briefing Highlights
Racial Disparity in the Criminal Justice System; Mandatory Minimum Sentences Cited as Disproportionately Punishing People of
Color
On May 11th, Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA) and the Sentencing Project sponsored a Congressional Briefing entitled,
"America's Race to Incarcerate: Locking up Communities of Color." Individuals presenting during the briefing included:
Angela Jordan Davis, professor at American University's Washington College of Law; Devon Brown, Director of the District of Columbia
Department of Corrections; and Marc Mauer, author of Race to Incarcerate and Executive Director of the Sentencing Project.
In her comments, Professor Davis discussed the need for communities to take a multifaceted approach to addressing the
disproportionate number of people of color who are incarcerated. Additionally, Professor Davis discussed the American Bar
Association Justice Kennedy Commission which was formed three years ago when U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy expressed that the legal
community should examine racial disparities within the prison system and the effect of mandatory minimums.
Mr. Brown, Director of the District of Columbia Department of Corrections, spoke of his experiences as a warden in various
communities and gave his impressions of the social effects of the prison system. Director Brown spoke about a large number of
African American and Hispanic men who are reunited with their fathers, siblings and cousins in prison. Mr. Brown also cited a lack
of resources to educate young people about how prison is not a desirable place.
In his presentation Mr. Mauer discussed the need to reconsider sentencing legislation that has had a racially disparate
impact. Furthermore, Mr. Mauer asserted that mandatory minimum sentencing is currently the greatest cause of the disproportionate
impact on people of color in the criminal justice system, citing the distinction in sentencing between crack cocaine and powder cocaine
offenses. Currently, although they derive from the same substance, mandatory minimum sentences in the federal law require
significantly harsher punishments for offenses involving crack cocaine than for offenses related to powder cocaine.
More on the ABA Justice Kennedy Commission can be found at: http://www.abanet.org/media/jkcrecs.html.
More on the briefing can be found at:
http://www.sentencingproject.org/.
