THE CAPITOL INSIDER NEWSLETTER

Volume 15, Issue 22
June 7, 2010    Sign up for Capitol Insider

Action Alerts

Targeted alert for constituents of the 62 Senators that voted for a bill that contained a provision for an extension of the increase in the federal share of Medicaid:

Huge Medicaid Cuts are Still at Stake. Make sure your Senator(s) continue to support extending the increase in the federal share of Medicaid

Major Events Last Week

Obama Administration
The U.S. Department of State has named Judy Heumann as the Special Advisor for International Disability Rights.  President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged to create this position when they announced that the US would sign the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.  Ms. Heumann was the Assistant Secretary of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) in the US Department of Education during the Clinton administration.  Most recently, she was the Director of the Department on Disability Services for the District of Columbia.  She has a long history as a national and international leader in the disability rights movement.

Major Events Ahead

U. S. Congress

The Congress returns to action after the one week Memorial Day recess.  It will meet for four weeks until the beginning of the Independence Day recess.  This time frame is seen as a crucial for the Congress to make progress on bills it intends to bring to completion before the November elections.  Its priority agenda should include legislation to keep federal programs operating at the start of Fiscal Year 2011 which starts on October 1.  Few, if any, Fiscal Year 2011 appropriations bills are likely to be signed into law before the fiscal year begins.  Passing key bills will be a huge challenge for Members of Congress, especially in the Senate, who are caught between saving jobs and increasing the federal deficit.

Medicaid

The Senate is expected to take up a tax extenders bill this week.  It is currently unclear which provisions, including the six month extension of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's temporary increase in the federal share of Medicaid spending (FMAP), will be in the legislation. The Senate Democratic Caucus meets on Tuesday to discuss these issues. Sixty votes will be needed to move the bill forward.  Finding the 60 votes will be next to impossible unless the Senate adopts ways to pay for any new spending.  Work on this bill is expected to take days, possibly spilling into next week.

Education

The Congress is being pressed to increase education spending by about $23 billion before the start of the school year this fall.  This amount would prevent the anticipated layoffs of approximately 300,000 teachers during the school year.  This spending increase is being sought as school administrators see the billions of education dollars authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act drying up early in 2011.  As with emergency spending for Medicaid, getting the 60 Senate votes for this purpose will be next to impossible unless the added spending is offset with new revenues or cuts to other programs.

FY 2011 Budget Resolution

Neither House has decided to move forward on the FY 2011 Budget Resolution (BR).  Action on the FY 2011 BR has been delayed for two months, primarily due to concerns from the House and Senate Democratic Majority that voting on such a measure in a difficult election year may prove politically unpopular since the federal deficit would likely rise from the next fiscal year's spending.  Without a BR, House and Senate appropriators will have to proceed using a process called "deeming" the BR to have passed.  That would then allow the appropriators to begin work on the FY 2011 appropriations bills.

Card Check Legislation

Bills to make it easier for employees to unionize are unlikely to be considered by this Congress.  Months of informal negotiation have failed to temper strong opposition for the bill from business groups.

Announcements

Health Care Reform Resource

Families USA has put together state by state information about health reform, focusing on the acute care aspects of the law.  They are urging advocates to use this information to educate policy makers and the public about health reform.  See:
http://www.familiesusa.org/health-reform-2010/health-reform-helps-states.html.

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

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

Sincerely,

Annie Acosta 
Director of Communications and Grassroots Advocacy 
Disability Policy Collaboration