Senate Introduced Odd PAYGO Statute

Jan 11, 2007 by Matt Lewis

On January 4th, the Senate introduced S. 10, the Restoring Fiscal Discipline Act of 2007. The act lets any Senator raise a point of order in the Senate that, much like the new House rule, bars consideration of deficit-increasing tax and mandatory spending legislation. The point of order could be overruled by a 3/5th majority, or 60 votes.

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Is the Sky Falling?

Jan 11, 2007 by Matt Lewis

GAO Chief David M. Walker plays budget Cassandra in a report to the Senate Budget Committee today. You can read the report here

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Nation's Top Scientists Strongly Reject OMB's Regulatory Guidance

Jan 11, 2007 by Matthew Madia

This morning, the National Academy of Sciences rejected the White House Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) Proposed Risk Assessment Bulletin. OMB charged NAS with the task of peer-reviewing the bulletin, and NAS issued a stinging rebuke. The Bulletin calls for an overly standardized method across all agencies of assessing the potential risks of regulatory action. No matter if the issue is the environment, consumer products, or massive buildings and infrastructure, the framework would be the same.

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Campaign Finance Not Considered for Senate Ethics Reform

Jan 11, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

While still debating and crafting amendments to S.1, some lawmakers are trying to use the opportunity to attach campaign finance issues to the ethics and lobbying bill. However, Democratic leaders have decided in order to pass the strongest bill as quickly as possible, campaign finance matters must be delayed. One such attempt was Senator Feingold's introduction of S.223, for mandatory electronic campaign filing. Despite being a necessary and seemingly uncontroversial item, it remains to be ungermane.

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Baucus Nearing Completion on "Trifecta Lite"

Jan 11, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) is putting the finishing touches on a minimum wage bill that also cuts taxes for small businesses. Even though the House overwhelmingly passed a clean minimum wage bill, Baucus says the $10 billion in proposed tax breaks are needed to offset the hardship a higher minimum wage might impose on small businesses

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Date Mining Bill Introduced

Jan 11, 2007 by Amanda Adams*

Yesterday Senator Feingold introduced S.236, "a bill to require reports to Congress on Federal agency use of data mining." Senators Akaka, Leahy and Sununu co-sponsored the bill.

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Presidential Runaround on Dudley

Jan 11, 2007 by Matthew Madia

Last night, President Bush named Susan Dudley a senior advisor in the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), according the Wall Street Journal. This decision comes one day after the president renominated the anti-regulatory Dudley to be OIRA administrator.

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Dudley Renominated to Head OMB Regulatory Office

President Bush renominated Susan Dudley on Jan. 9 to be administrator of OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). Dudley was nominated to the same position in 2006, but the Senate failed to confirm her due to intense opposition from public interest organizations and a lack of support for her nomination in the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC).

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A Roadmap for Weakened Protections?

On Dec. 11, 2006, the Bush administration released the Fall 2006 Unified Agenda, a semi-annual report on agency accomplishments of the past six months as well as a look at the next six. The administration also released the 2007 regulatory plan, an annual statement of the regulatory priorities of each agency.

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House Passes Long-Overdue Minimum Wage Raise

Jan 10, 2007 by Matt Lewis

Alright! By a wide margin (312 to 116), the House just passed a raise in the minimum wage. No Democrats voted against it, and 82 Republicans voted for it, even though it had no other "sweetening" provisions, such as tax breaks for businesses. The ball is now in the Senate's court.

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