On September 8, the House approved, 212-209, the conference report for the FY2001 Legislative Branch appropriations bill (H.R. 4516). The conference report also included the FY2001 Treasury-Postal Service appropriations bill (H.R. 4475/S. 2900), which passed the House and had been approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee, as well as a bill to repeal an excise tax on telephone and communications services. The omnibus conference report was filed on July 25 and although the House on July 27 passed the rule under which the conference report would have been debated, the measure was pulled from further consideration.
The final Treasury-Postal Service conference report contained in H.R. 4516 retains current law with respect to contraceptive coverage and abortion coverage under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). Health plans participating in FEHBP are required to cover prescription contraceptives if they cover other prescription drugs. Physicians and others who provide contraceptives are exempted from the requirement if they object based on religious beliefs. Religiously affiliated health plans are also exempt. Abortion coverage under FEHBP is prohibited. Both the House-passed bill and the Senate committee-approved bill contained these provisions.
The final measure also retains current law with respect to a federal child care program and breastfeeding on federal property. The bill would extend a program that allows federal agencies to use administrative funds to help low-income employees pay for child care expenses. Enacted last year, the provision, sponsored by Rep. Connie Morella (R-MD), was included in both the House-passed bill and the Senate committee-approved bill. The bill also would allow a woman to breastfeed her child on federal property. Also enacted last year, the provision was sponsored by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY).
A House-passed provision that would require all workers in federal child care facilities to undergo criminal background checks was included in the final conference report. The provision was sponsored by Reps. Morella, Benjamin Gilman (R-NY), and Maloney.
Another House-passed provision that would require the Office of Personnel Management to conduct a study on ways in which federal employees could be provided with six weeks of paid leave for the birth or adoption of a child was also included in the final measure. The language was sponsored by Reps. Gilman, Maloney, and Steny Hoyer (D-MD).
A Senate committee-approved provision that would have authorized the creation of a U.S. “semipostal” stamp to raise money for domestic violence programs at the Department of Justice was not included in the final measure. The language was similar to a stand-alone bill (S. 2044) sponsored by Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO).
