This week, the Senate approved the FY2006 Transportation, Treasury, the Judiciary, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies, and District of Columbia spending bills. The Senate also began its consideration of the FY2006 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies spending bill.
To date, only three of the eleven FY2006 appropriations bills have been enacted into law: Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies; Legislative Branch; and Department of Homeland Security.
Transportation, Treasury, the Judiciary, HUD, and Related Agencies
On October 20, the Senate approved, 93-1, the FY2006 Transportation, Treasury, the Judiciary, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies spending bill (H.R. 3058). The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the measure on July 21 (see The Source, 7/22/05).
H.R. 3058 would allocate $65.96 billion in FY2006, a $3.36 billion increase over FY2005, $5.24 billion more than the administration’s request, and $980 million less than the House-approved version of the bill (see The Source, 7/1/05).
During consideration of the bill, the Senate approved, by unanimous consent, an amendment offered by Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) that would incorporate the text of the FY2006 District of Columbia spending bill (S. 1446) as approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee on July 21 (see The Source, 7/22/05). Under the bill, $593 million would be allocated for the District of Columbia in FY2006, a $37.5 million increase over FY2005, $19.6 million more than the budget request, and $11 million less than the House bill.
The Senate considered two amendments that would have increased the federal minimum wage. The first amendment, offered by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), would have raised the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $6.25 an hour over 18 months. Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) offered an alternative amendment that would have raised the minimum wage to $6.25 over 18 months, but also would have included provisions to allow employers and employees to enter into voluntary flextime arrangements, increase the small business exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act from $500,000 to $1 million, provide regulatory relief for small businesses, ensure procedural fairness for small businesses, extend the restaurant employee tip credit, and provide small business tax relief. Both amendments required 60 votes for adoption. The Kennedy amendment was defeated, 47-51, and the Enzi amendment was defeated, 42-57.
Explaining how an increase in the minimum wage would affect American families, Sen. Kennedy stated, “Primarily, this is an issue involving women because 60 percent of those who would benefit from this legislation are women. More than one-third of women who are receiving the minimum wage have children. So an increase in the minimum wage is a woman’s issue, and since so many of the women who receive the minimum wage have children, it is a children’s issue. It is a women’s issue, and it is a children’s issue. It is also a civil rights issue because 35 percent of those who would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage are men and women of color. So it is a children’s issue. It is a women’s issue. It is a family issue. We hear a great deal in this body about family issues, about family responsibilities, family obligations. These are men and women who are earning the minimum wage and who are trying to provide for their families on that minimum wage. They know they cannot do it. So they have one or two or even three minimum wage jobs. How much time do they have with their children? They are trying to provide for their children but have no time to spend with them.”
Sen. Enzi expressed his concern that an increase in the minimum wage would adversely impact small businesses. He also noted that the Kennedy amendment “fails to address the root of the problem for our lowest paid workers…Regardless of the size of any wage increase Congress might impose, the reality is that yesterday’s lowest paid worker, assuming he still has a job, will continue to be tomorrow’s lowest paid worker as well. That is not advancement. Advancement on the job and earned wage growth cannot be legislated. We do a disservice to all concerned, most especially the chronic low wage worker, to suggest that a Federal wage mandate is the answer. What we need to focus on is not an artificially imposed number but on the acquisition and improvement of job and job-related skills…We have to get the kids to stay in school, to get the education. We have to make sure the education is relevant and that when they graduate at whatever level, there is a job out there for them and that the job is transportable, that they can take their skills other places in the country, as those areas open up, with a higher wage for those skills, and that they have the knowledge to be able to learn, to continue to advance their skills so that when they move up, they get more.”
Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) offered, but withdrew, an amendment that would have incorporated the text of the Child Custody Protection Act (S. 396). The measure would make it a federal crime to transport a minor across state lines to obtain an abortion, thereby evading parental consent and notification laws. Violators could be subject to $100,000 in fines and a jail term up to one year. The House approved a similar bill (H.R. 748) on April 27 (see The Source, 4/29/05).
The Senate approved, by voice vote, an amendment offered by Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) that would require the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness to conduct an assessment on guidelines submitted by federal agencies regarding homeless assistance programs.
Department of Transportation
H.R. 3058 would provide $121.8 million for job access and reverse commute grants, $2.2 million less than FY2005. The grants would not have been funded under the administration’s budget request.
As requested by President Bush, $900,000 would be provided for the Minority Business Resource Center, a $7,200 increase over FY2005. The center “provides assistance in obtaining short-term working capital and bonding for disadvantaged, minority, and women-owned businesses.” The center also “enables qualified businesses to obtain loans at prime interest rates for transportation-related projects.” In addition, $3 million would be included for minority business outreach, $24,000 more than FY2005 and equal to the budget request.
The bill would include $136 million for occupant protection incentive grants, approximately the same amount as FY2005. The total would include funding for outreach initiatives to increase seatbelt use and $10 million for national paid media to support national safety belt mobilizations. In addition, $6 million would be earmarked for child safety and booster seat grants.
The Senate Appropriations Committee report accompanying H.R. 3058 states that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is “undertaking the development of a tool to determine the economic impacts of installing safety belts in school buses. The Committee understands that there were quite a few school bus accidents in 2005 and national discussions are taking place about making school bus transportation safer. However, the Committee is concerned that school bus safety may be overshadowing the larger issue of student safety. Three years ago, the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, at the request of Congress, provided a data-driven report that showed that school bus transportation is the safest possible mode for students traveling to school; fatalities per million student miles were less than 1 percent on school bus travel. However, being a passenger in a vehicle with a teen driver (2.4 percent), walking (8.7 percent) or the worst, riding a bicycle, have proven to be far more dangerous. Therefore, as NHTSA is developing a report on the economic impacts of seat belt installation in school buses, the Committee directs NHTSA to expand the scope of this report to include the economic impacts, as well as the possible impacts to child fatalities, of providing increased school bus service for children who now take other, much more dangerous, modes to school.”
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Under the bill, $1.42 billion would be provided for homeless programs, $174 million more than FY2005, but $25 million below the budget request. According to the report, “The Committee appreciates the Department’s sustained commitment to meeting the needs of homeless families. Although one-third of homeless people are members of homeless families, about half of the persons served by HUD homeless programs are members of homeless families.
“Nevertheless, the Committee encourages HUD to explore further ways in which it might improve its assistance to homeless families, with the goal of ending family homelessness. Accordingly, the Committee directs the Department to 1) develop a typology of homeless families’ use of the homelessness system, including an assessment as to the extent there are chronically homeless families, their characteristics, and the strategies effective in meeting their needs; 2) explore new outcome measures for programs serving homeless families, including measuring length of stay in the homeless system and recidivism to the homeless system (both of which should be declining if programs are becoming more effective in serving families); and 3) undertake research to ascertain the impact of various service and housing interventions in ending homelessness for families.”
The committee “commends the Department’s efforts in coordinating its homeless programs with the Department of Education to ensure homeless children receive the assistance and resources to escape poverty. The Committee especially commends and supports the Department for its recent efforts to ensure HUD-funded shelters protect the education rights of homeless children. Specifically, the Committee supports HUD’s recent directive that required each Continuum of Care to provide a list of homeless shelters serving children to the State Coordinator for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth. The Committee believes that this action will allow for the dissemination of information on children’s education rights according to all applicable Department of Education requirements to families with children in these facilities.”
The report states that the committee “notes the value of collecting data related to beneficiaries of the HUD Homeless programs and activities to create sound policy and financial decisions with limited Federal resources. The Committee also notes that there was confusion about whether HUD, in its Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS) Data and Technical standards notice, included an exemption for domestic violence shelters from participating in HMIS. The Committee is aware that concerns remain about the HMIS process and safeguards for the personally identifying information of victims of domestic violence and encourages the Secretary to continue to work with domestic violence groups as well as the Continuums of Care to address this issue.”
As requested by the administration, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness would receive $1.8 million in FY2006, $300,000 more than FY2005.
In FY2006, the Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS program would receive $287 million. This amount is $5 million above the FY2005 level and $19 million more than the administration’s request.
The measure would include $15.6 billion for Section 8 voucher renewals, $870 million above the FY2005 level, but $209 million less than the amount requested by the administration.
Fair housing activities would receive $46 million in FY2006, $128,000 less than FY2005 and $7.2 million more than the amount requested by President Bush. Of that amount, $25 million would be provided for the Fair Housing Assistance Program, and no more than $21 million would be provided for the Fair Housing Initiatives Program.
H.R. 3058 would provide level funding of $166.7 million for the Lead Hazard Reduction Program, $47.7 million more than the budget request. The total would include $9 million for the Healthy Homes Initiative and $48 million for the lead hazard reduction demonstration program, which was established in FY2003 “to focus on major urban areas where children are disproportionately at risk for lead poisoning.”
The report states, “There remains significant lead risks in privately-owned housing, particularly in unsubsidized low-income units. For that reason, approximately 1 million children under the age of 6 in the United States suffer from lead poisoning. While lead poisoning crosses all socioeconomic, geographic, and racial boundaries, the burden of this disease falls disproportionately on low-income and minority families. In the United States, children from poor families are eight times more likely to be poisoned than those from higher income families. Nevertheless, the risks associated with lead-based paint hazards can be addressed fully over the next decade.”
In FY2006, the American Dream Downpayment Assistance Initiative would receive $50 million, $400,000 above the FY2005 level, but $150 million less than the administration’s request.
Under the bill, level funding of $42 million would be provided for housing counseling programs in FY2006. This amount is $2 million above the budget request. The report notes that the committee “views homeownership counseling, including pre- and post-purchase counseling, as an essential part of successful homeownership. The Committee expects that this program will remain available to those participating in all of HUD’s homeownership programs. The Committee continues to urge HUD to utilize this program as a means of educating homebuyers on the dangers of predatory lending, in addition to the administration’s stated purpose of expanding homeownership opportunities.”
The Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation would receive $115 million in FY2006, a $920,000 increase over FY2005, but $3 million less than the amount requested by President Bush.
The bill would provide $55 million for the Youthbuild program, $7 million less than FY2005. Under the administration’s budget request, the Youthbuild program would be transferred from HUD to the Department of Labor. According to the report, “The Committee remains concerned regarding the overall quality of the Youthbuild program and objects to its transfer to the Department of Labor without adequate assurances that the program will be administered with comprehensive oversight. The concept of Youthbuild is exceptional; namely, providing disadvantaged youth with training and job opportunities in the housing construction marketplace. Within this program, these young people develop marketable housing skills that result in the construction of housing for low-income families.
“Unfortunately, HUD has never administered the Youthbuild program with adequate oversight. This has resulted in an uneven record and questionable evidence regarding the success of the program. While the Committee believes that some of the local Youthbuild programs are of exceptional quality, there is inadequate evidence of the overall quality of the program. The Committee also believes that the success of such a program can, in part, be measured by local support, including financial support. Ultimately, a program of this nature should be able to attract adequate non-Federal financial support to the extent that the need for Federal funds are substantially reduced; such funds can then be redirected to other small, but worthy, programs that will then be able to leverage Federal funds into a larger success. As a result, the Committee directs GAO [the Government Accountability Office] comprehensively to assess and report to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations by June 30, 2006 on Youthbuild’s overall success, including its ability to attract local support and funding.”
Office of National Drug Control Policy
The bill would provide $95 million for the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, a $25 million decrease below the FY2005 level.
The measure also would maintain current law permitting breastfeeding at any location in a federal building or on federal property.
Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies
On October 21, the Senate began its consideration of the FY2006 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies spending bill (H.R. 3010). The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the measure on July 14 (see The Source, 7/16/05).
H.R. 3010 would allocate $145.69 billion in FY2006, a $2.23 billion increase over FY2005, $3.77 billion above the administration’s request, and $3.19 billion more than the amount approved by the House on June 24 (see The Source, 6/24/05).
The Senate is expected to complete action on the bill next week.
