Action Alerts

Ongoing: None.

Major Events Last Week

FY 2010 Appropriations

The House Labor, Health and Human Service, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee approved the FY 2010 spending bill on Friday. The bill would allocate $160.7 billion in discretionary spending, not including budgetary cap adjustments. According to a committee summary, this is $52 million less than Obama requested and $5.6 billion more than enacted last year. The special education programs did not receive an overall increase in funding above FY 2009 and the rehabilitation services and disability research category received a small increase. Many disability programs are frozen at FY 2009 levels. The full committee is expected to mark up the bill on July 17th.

Health Care Reform

Under the leadership of Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee marked-up the long term services section of its health reform bill. Section 7 of the Affordable Choices Act, containing the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act, was unanimously accepted by the Committee following acceptance of several negotiated amendments and an amendment by Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) to require long term (75-year) solvency of the program. The Congressional Budget Office had indicated that the bill would reduce Medicaid spending by $2.5 billion over the first four years of benefits payments.

Sen. Max Baucus, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, continued to negotiate with Committee Republicans to produce a bi-partisan reform bill that is deficit neutral.

In the House of Representatives, the Democratic leadership of the Tri-Committees with jurisdiction over health reform (the Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and Education and Labor Committees) also struggled to find offsets to pay for their proposed bill. Fiscally conservative Democrats in the House "Blue Dog" coalition expressed their frustration with the current House proposal and threatened to withhold their support unless their concerns are addressed. The Blue Dogs have concerns with the proposal's cost and whether it should include a public plan to compete with private insurance in the new system.

On Friday Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) announced a proposal to generate $550 billion over ten years through a new income tax surtax on wealthy Americans. The first of three income tiers would be for individuals with incomes over $280,000 per year and couples with incomes over $350,000 per year. This surtax would pay for approximately half of the cost of health care reform. Chairman Rangel expects the other half to come from savings in Medicare. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) reportedly stated that Senate Democrats would probably not support this proposal. It is also unclear whether the Blue Dogs will support it.

Education

Representative John Kline (R-MN) became the Ranking Republican on the House Education and Labor Committee, assuming control of the minority when the previous Ranking Member, Howard "Buck" McKeon (R-CA), left the post to assume a similar position on the Armed Services Committee. Rep. Kline backs higher federal spending for special education and giving states and local school systems more authority over education policy. With the upcoming reauthorization of the No Child Left behind Act (NCLB), Rep. Kline will not likely support the types of student assessments now required by NCLB.

The House Committee on Education and Labor's Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education, and Healthy Families and Communities Subcommittees held a hearing entitled, "Strengthening School Safety through Prevention of Bullying." The hearing examined ways to reduce bullying and harassment in our schools nation-wide. This hearing lends further support to Representative Linda Sanchez's (D-CA) recently introduced H.R. 1589, "Bullying and Gang Reduction for Improved Education Act." See:
http://edlabor.house.gov/hearings/2009/07/strengthening-school-safety-th.shtml

Health

On July 9th a national summit addressing the H1N1 virus was held at the National Institutes of Health. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano spoke to representatives from across the nation regarding the potential threat of the H1N1 virus this fall. The Obama Administration has taken several steps to prepare for the H1N1 virus this fall. A new website, www.flu.gov, was recently created to provide a central clearinghouse on updated information regarding the H1N1 virus. HHS will release $350 million in preparedness grants to state and local public health offices and health care systems to help provide the resources and management of H1N1. Tom Webb, a Joseph P. Kennedy Fellow with the DPC, participated in the summit. For more information see:
http://sharing.govdelivery.com/bulletins/GD/USHHS-7EFCE

Major Events Ahead

Supreme Court

Today the Senate begins confirmation hearings on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. The hearing schedule for the week and list witnesses can be found at:
http://judiciary.senate.gov/

FY 2010 Appropriations

On Monday, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Related Agencies, chaired by Rep. John Olver (D-MA), will mark-up its FY 2010 bill for HUD and the Department of Transportation.

Health Care Reform

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee continues its mark-up of the Affordable Health Choices Act. The House Tri-Committee is expected to release its final bill sometime today. The committees may begin markup later in the week.

Employment

On Thursday the Senate Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety will hold a hearing on modernizing the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). WIA authorizes the workforce development system and includes the Vocational Rehabilitation Act as Title IV. This is the first Senate hearing on WIA in this Congress and is a first step in the reauthorization process.

Announcements

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act /Medicaid

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released one of a series of Medicaid Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) designed to provide guidance on the implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The FAQs address questions that have been submitted to the ARRA mailbox, CMSOARRAQuestions@cms.hhs.gov. The new FAQs can be accessed at:
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/Recovery/09_Medicaid.asp

TANF Webinar

On Thursday July 16th, the CCD TANF Task Force will host a webinar on the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program and people with disabilities. Families that include a person with a disability comprise a significant number of those remaining on welfare caseloads and a disproportionate number of those who have lost cash assistance and accompanying supports. This webinar will provide an overview of what the research tells us about families that include a person with a disability in TANF programs and strategies that can improve families' outcomes. To register, please visit:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/930682883

Please note that you can view previous issues of the Capitol Insider, at UCP.org anytime by choosing "Capitol Insider" under "Public Policy."

Read previous Capitol Insider issues now.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at acosta@thedpc.org.

Sincerely,

Annie Acosta
Director of Communications and Grassroots
Disability Policy Collaboration