EPA Looking at Labs

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has begun a review of its laboratory network that may result in significant closures, according to some early agency plans. In response to budget cuts, EPA intends to reduce costs at least 20 percent by 2011. According to EPA officials in a phone briefing on March 15, the review is to assess the efficacy of the lab network, eliminate duplicative programs or efforts, and increase overall efficiency.

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Grassley Relents; Won't Block Small Bus. Tax Conference

Mar 20, 2007 by Dana Chasin

According to Congressional Quarterly ($), Senate Finance Committee ranking member Charles Grassley (R-IA) has dropped his earlier insistence on pre-conferencing the differences between the House ($1.3 billion) and the Senate ($8.3 billion) minimum wage bill small business tax cuts. Grassley and Committee chair Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) apparently plan to offer an amendment to the supplemental appropriations bill on the Senate floor that would pull the Senate-passed wage measure from the supplemental and push it into a conference with the House. (Robert Novak missed this one, by the way.)

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House Panel Passes $124 Billion Supplemental Bill

On March 19, the Bush administration said it would veto a supplemental appropriations bill being readied for a House vote expected to come as soon as March 22. The White House indicated that the president opposes language that would require troop withdrawal from Iraq as well as "excessive and extraneous non-emergency spending". The supplemental appropriations bill, at $124 billion, will be the largest supplemental bill ever considered by a house of Congress and has sweeteners in it to offset a tough vote on withdrawing troops from Iraq.

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House Proposal for Grassroots Lobbying Disclosure Due Soon

While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) office is still working on the details of grassroots lobbying disclosure as part of a package of Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) reforms, both supporters and opponents have continued to debate the merits of the idea.

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Committee Votes Down Faith-Based Hiring Amendment to Head Start Bill

On March 14, the House Education and Labor Committee approved the Improving Head Start Act of 2007 (H.R.1429) after defeating an amendment that would have allowed faith-based organizations to hire teachers for the Head Start program based on religion. Attempts to insert such language into Head Start were unsuccessful in the past. This is the first time the issue has come up in the 110th Congress. The controversial provision was defeated 26-19 on a party line vote, and the overall bill passed 42-1.

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NYT: Medicare Turns Blind Eye To Tax Debt

Mar 20, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Some 21,000 health professional who participate in Medicare owe more than $1.3 billion in backtaxes, the NYT reports today. All the money would have been recovered if Medicare officials had decided to participate in a program that withholds government payments to contractors who owe backtaxes. The Defense Department and many civilian agencies take part in the program.

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PAYGO Questions Answered

The 110th Congress has brought attention once again to a well-known but little-understood fiscal responsibility mechanism: the pay-as-you-go rule, or PAYGO. The House has already enacted a PAYGO rule. The Senate has introduced a PAYGO bill (S. 10), and is expected to pass its own PAYGO rule in the FY 2008 Budget Resolution, which is now being considered in the Senate.

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Contracting Reform Bills Move in Congress

Congress is moving forward on bills to reform the federal contracting system, as the House approved a bill that improves contracting procedures, and the Senate introduced a comprehensive contract reform bill. The bills are an encouraging sign that Congress is working to fix some of the broken parts of the contracting system, but it will need to do much more to address the full scope of the problem.

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Understanding PAYGO: Questions and Answers

The 110th Congress has brought attention once again to a well-known but little-understood fiscal responsibility mechanism: the pay-as-you-go rule, or PAYGO. The House has already enacted a PAYGO rule. The Senate has introduced a PAYGO bill (S. 10), and is expected to pass its own PAYGO rule in the FY 2008 Budget Resolution, which is now being considered in the Senate.

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Senate Committee Adopts $2.9 Billion Budget Resolution; Floor Action Ahead

On March 15, the Senate Budget Committee approved a $2.9 billion budget resolution for Fiscal Year 2008 on a 12-11 party-line vote. The full Senate is expected to take up the measure on March 20, with 50 hours of debate, votes on numerous amendments, and a final vote scheduled before the end of the week. The House Budget Committee is set to mark up its own budget resolution, with floor action likely the week of March 26. (Click here for links to resolution summary and details.)

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