Catholic Charities USA: Washington Weekly 12/13/09
Inside this issue:
- Congress Moves Closer to Passing FY2010 Spending Bill
- President Obama Outlines New Jobs Proposal
- Senate Strives for Compromise in Health Care Reform Legislation
- Federal Food Donation Act Continues this Year
- House Committee Holds Hearing on the Recession and the Social Safety Net
- House Passes Consumer Financial Protection Act
- ACF Extends Deadline for Welfare Conference Presentations and Sessions
Congress Moves Closer to Passing FY2010 Spending Bill
On December 8, the U.S. House of Representatives, by a vote of 221 to 202, approved an “omnibus” spending bill that consolidates six FY2010 appropriations bills. The $446.8 billion spending bill provides discretionary funding for many housing, health, social service, justice, workforce, and education programs. The legislation includes all of the remaining spending bills except for the Department of Defense. According to the Congressional Quarterly, the Defense spending bill is being held in reserve as vehicle for other end-of-session priorities, including an increase in the debt limit, aid for the unemployed, and other expiring policies.
Currently, federal agencies are operating under a continuing resolution (CR) until December 18. A continuing resolution is legislation to keep government agencies operational at the previous year’s funding levels until the Congress passes the spending bill and it is signed into law by the President.
The Senate is expected to vote on the measure soon. Upon passage, the bill will go to the President for signature. Please look for an update and highlights in the next edition of Washington Weekly.
For more information, please contact Lucreda Cobbs, Senior Director of Advocacy and Civic Engagement, lcobbs@catholiccharitiesusa.org.
President Obama Outlines New Jobs Proposal
On December 8, during a speech at the Brookings Institution, President Obama outlined his Administration’s plans to speed up job growth and expand economic recovery in the United States. The President’s proposals would expand opportunities to small businesses to hire more workers and improve access to credit for these businesses. To stimulate investments by small businesses and improve their access to capital, the Administration would eliminate for one year tax on capital gains for new investment in small business stock. The plan would also provide other short term tax incentives to businesses to hire new employees. The President’s proposals included new plans for additional investments in infrastructure to accelerate construction and repairs of our nation’s roads and bridges, transit systems, and aviations. The plan also included new incentives to increase consumer investments in energy efficient repairs on their homes. To pay for some of these small business investment and other efforts to stimulate job growth, the Administration is considering using resources available under the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). At this point it is unclear if Congressional authority will be necessary for the Administration to use TARP funds for these new initiatives.
For more information, please contact Desmond Brown, Senior Director of Government Affairs, dbrown@catholiccharitiesusa.org.
Senate Strives for Compromise in Health Care Reform Legislation
Last week, the U.S. Senate continued to debate “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (H.R. 3590). When it became clear that the Democrats would not have the 60 votes needed to advance health care legislation with the public plan option as written, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) convened a group of five moderate and five progressive Democrats to craft a compromise. On December 8, the group announced that a consensus had been reached. While details of the plan have not been released, the broad elements of the consensus are expected to include an expansion of Medicare with a buy-in option for uninsured persons ages 55 to 64. Secondly, the proposal would require insurers that offer plans to federal employees (Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan) to make those plans available to the general public.
The Senate awaits a cost estimate from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on the modified health care reform package including this public plan consensus.
On December 8, the Senate voted on an amendment proposed by Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT) that would restrict federal funds from being used to cover abortion services, matching the language adopted in the House-passed version. The Senate tabled, or blocked, the amendment by a vote of 54 to 45.
Catholic Charities USA continues to work with the Catholic Health Association and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to ensure that no federal funds are used for abortion and that conscience protections are included in the final health care reform bill.
Catholic Charities USA will keep you updated on health care reform legislation.
For more information, please contact Kellyann McClain, Policy Analyst at kmcclain@catholiccharitiesusa.org.
Federal Food Donation Act Continues this Year
On December 10, federal agencies and federal contractors were strongly encouraged to donate leftover food to homeless shelters, food pantries, and soup kitchens.
As reported in the Washington Post, the rules reported in Thursday’s Federal Register ask agencies and contractors to “donate apparently wholesome excess food to nonprofit organizations that provide assistance to food-insecure people in the United States.”
The donations are made possible by Senator Charles Schumer’s Federal Food Donation Act.
For more information, please contact Ryan Smith, Policy Analyst at rsmith@catholiccharitiesusa.org.
House Committee Holds Hearing on the Recession and the Social Safety Net
On December 9, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Budget held a hearing entitled “The Social Safety Net: Impact of the Recession and of the Recovery Act.” Witnesses included LaDonna Pavetti, Director of the Welfare Reform and Income Support Division at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; Sue Berkowitz, Director and Attorney at the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center; Pat Delessio, Attorney at the Legal Action of Wisconsin; and Ron Haskins, Senior Fellow of Economic Studies and Co-Director of Center on Children and Families at The Brookings Institution.
The witnesses underscored that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) prevented millions of Americans from falling into poverty. The fiscal relief provided to states prevented cuts to vital social services. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly the Food Stamp Program, has responded quickly to rising need in states, but the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) has been significantly less responsive. The witnesses recommended that Congress adopt policy solutions that are responsive to both immediate needs and the long-term consequences of the recession to maintain the social safety net for the most vulnerable.
The witnesses’ recommendations included the following:
- Provide an additional temporary increase in federal funding for state SNAP administrative costs;
- Eliminate the incentive for states to serve fewer poor families in their TANF programs even when poverty is increasing;
- Renew the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program;
- Extend unemployment benefits in hard hit states;
- Renew COBRA continuation coverage; and
- Phase down state fiscal relief more gradually.
To read more about the hearing including witnesses’ testimonies, please click here.
For more information, please contact Kellyann McClain, Policy Analyst at kmcclain@catholiccharitiesusa.org.
House Passes Consumer Financial Protection Act
Independent Sector reported that consumer protection and nonprofit fundraising scored a victory yesterday when the House approved an amendment by Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) that would exempt charitable giving advice from the jurisdiction of the new Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). The legislation creates the CFPA to restrict predatory lending and other improper financial practices that are of great concern to many nonprofit organizations. On Friday afternoon, the House passed the underlying bill, the “Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009″ (H.R.4173), by a vote of 223 to 202. The provision exempting charitable giving advice could be altered as the bill goes to the Senate and is considered by a conference committee.
For more information, please contact Ryan Smith, Policy Analyst at rsmith@catholiccharitiesusa.org.
ACF Extends Deadline for Welfare Conference Presentations and Sessions
The Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), is pleased to announce that the 13th Annual Welfare Research and Evaluation Conference will be held June 2 – 4, 2010 at the Capital Hilton in the heart of Washington, DC.
The deadline for proposals has been extended to Friday, December 18, 2009. OPRE invites proposals for individual presentations and for entire conference sessions.
To read more about the instructions and guidelines, please click here.
Please direct questions about conference content to Brendan Kelly at Brendan.Kelly@acf.hhs.gov or Erica Zielewski at Erica.Zielewski@acf.hhs.gov.
Please direct any technical questions about using the online proposal submission site or any general questions about conference logistics to WREC2010@esi-dc.com.
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Washington Weekly is a publication of the Social Policy Department of Catholic Charities USA
and is published regularly when Congress is in session.
Catholic Charities USA
Sixty-Six Canal Center Plaza, Suite 600, Alexandria, VA 22314
socialpolicy@catholiccharitiesusa.org
For information about advocacy, please contact
Lucreda Cobbs at (703) 236-6243 or lcobbs@catholiccharitiesusa.org.
