AFSCME US LEGISLATIVE REPORT May 15, 2009

[Omaha Steve]

AFSCME LEGISLATIVE REPORT
May 15, 2009

In this issue:

v 700 AFSCME Leaders and Activists Tell Congress How to Make America Happen

v Senate Panel Holds Hearing to Explore How to Pay for Health Care Reform

v House Passes 2009 Supplemental Spending Bill with $2 billion for Pandemic Flu

v Trustees Report that Social Security Remains Strong but Medicare Faces Crisis

v Senate Panel Approves Infrastructure Bill

v Recent Activity Implementing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)



700 AFSCME Leaders and Activists Tell Congress How to Make America Happen



This week, over 700 leaders and activists came together for AFSCME’s National Legislative Conference to advance our union’s federal issues agenda. The speaker line-up included Vice President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Education and Labor Committee Chair George Miller (D-CA) and Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis. Our activists and leaders then descended on Capitol Hill to tell their senators and representatives to support health care reform legislation this year that will ensure affordable, quality health care for everyone; enact the Employee Free Choice Act; and increase federal investments in state and locally-provided public services.

(Fran [e-mail])



Senate Panel Holds Hearing to Explore How to Pay for Health Care Reform



On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee held a wide-ranging discussion on how health care reform will be financed. There was considerable discussion over whether all or a portion of health benefits that workers get from employers should be taxed as income. A number of economists spoke in favor of taxing benefits while other panelists, including the AFL-CIO and two business organizations, argued against it. During the hearing, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, stated that he did not favor taxing the entire value of the benefit, but was open to taxing part of it or taxing the wealthy on their benefits.



While some senators support taxing benefits in some way, leaders in the House do not. In fact, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed her opposition to taxing benefits in a speech at AFSCME’s legislative conference this week.

(Barbara Coufal- [e-mail])



House Passes 2009 Supplemental Spending Bill with $2 Billion for Pandemic Flu



By a vote of 368-60, the House passed a supplemental fiscal year 2009 funding bill (H.R. 2346) for military and other operations, primarily in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bill included $2 billion to augment our nation’s response to the 2009 H1N1 virus outbreak, with $1.5 billion for federal anti-viral medication stockpiles, developing and purchasing vaccines and expanding detection efforts; $350 million to state and local governments to respond to the emerging pandemic, including addressing challenges such as hospital surge capacity; and $200 million to support global efforts to track, contain and slow the spread of a pandemic. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved its version of the bill by a vote of 30-0. The Senate bill includes $1.5 billion for pandemic preparedness.

(Linda Bennett- [e-mail])



Trustees Report that Social Security Remains Strong but Medicare Faces Crisis



This week, the Social Security and Medicare Trustees issued their annual report to Congress, affirming that Social Security is sound and in no immediate danger. Rather, the program continues to run large surpluses in spite of the economic downturn. The Trustees project that Social Security will be able to pay full benefits until 2037, four years earlier than the last projection. While critics of Social Security have used the slight adjustment to call for drastic changes, AFSCME is committed to opposing any attempts to reduce benefits, including raising the retirement age. The report further shows that rapidly rising health care costs threaten Medicare’s solvency as early as 2017, confirming that health care is the crisis, not entitlements.

(Becky Levin- [e-mail])



Senate Panel Approves Infrastructure Bill



This week, a Senate panel approved a bill (S. 1005) that would reauthorize for the first time in decades the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. The bipartisan measure, approved by a vote of 17-2, authorizes $20 billion over four years for the Clean Water Fund and $14.7 billion for the Drinking Water Fund. The committee adopted by voice vote an amendment from Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) that would require that Davis-Bacon Act prevailing wages be paid to workers using the federal infrastructure funds authorized in the bill. The committee’s ranking Republican, James Inhofe (OK), strongly opposed the Cardin amendment and announced plans to fight it on the Senate floor. The bill also includes $1.8 billion in grants for programs to prevent sewer overflows and $60 million annually to state and local governments for lead abatement in drinking water.

(Fran Bernstein- [e-mail])



Recent Activity Implementing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act



The Department of Education has released American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) spending reports by states and programs



Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan announced that HUD is soliciting grant applications under the Department's Neighborhood Stabilization Program to make available nearly $2 billion in ARRA funding to states, local governments and non-profit housing developers to combat the effects of home foreclosures.



Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson announced the availability of an estimated $111.9 million in grants bolstered by funds from ARRA to help communities in 46 states clean up Brownfield sites, which may be contaminated by hazardous chemicals or pollutants. The grants include $37.3 million from ARRA and $74.6 million from the EPA Brownfields general program funding.

http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/de9ade70d6ffa90d8525757e005bf8b4/92c7b758dc0abc1f852575b000581cb0!OpenDocument



The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) outlined the process by which states can get reimbursed for managing ARRA grants, allowing states to recoup administrative expenses. A House bill (H.R. 2182) would allow state and local governments to set aside 0.5% of their Recovery Act dollars for data collection, audits, planning and management and oversight of contracts and grants.

(Fran Bernstein- [e-mail])


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AFSCME Department of Legislation
Phone: [phone] or 800/732-8120
Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [e-mail]
Website: http://www.afscme.org/
Produced by Union Labor

[texpatriot2004]

1. Thanks for posting this report, nm