On Friday, November 19, the House passed the conference report to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (H.R. 1350/H. Rpt. 108-779) by a vote of 397-3, and the Senate cleared the measure by voice vote later that evening. The President is expected to sign the bill into law.

The IDEA conference report includes the following provisions.

• Monitoring and Enforcement. Aligns IDEA monitoring with the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Does not include the Senate monitoring and enforcement provisions. Authorizes the U.S. Secretary of Education to take several actions to help any state that does not meet its state-defined targets, including providing technical assistance.
• Highly Qualified Teachers. Allows states to create a pathway to demonstrate subject matter competency for multi-subject teachers. Clarifies highly qualified requirements for special education teachers.
• Risk Pools. Retains state authority to create risk pools. However, incentives would be provided to those states that would like to create risk pools voluntarily. Paperwork. Authorizes a 15-state paperwork demonstration project.
• Maintenance of Effort. Provides expanded flexibility for local education agencies and states to retain a larger percentage of the federal investment in special education.
• Protection and Advocacy Centers. Does not inoculate states from being sued with services provided through the state-funded protection and advocacy centers. However, provides new opportunities, such as resolution and mediation sessions.
• Referral for Children Under 3. Allows states to retain their own systems for screenings and referrals to the statewide system.
• Funding. Establishes a glide path to reach full funding of the federal share of IDEA by 2011.
• State Activities and Administration. Adjusts caps on state activities and administrative set asides with annual adjustment for inflation.

In a report released today, the U.S. Department of Transportation said that Amtrak risks "a major point of failure" if infrastructure needs go unaddressed.

Kenneth Mead, the Department's Inspector General who drafted the report said that Amtrak must address immediately its infrastructure needs rather than spending money on its national network. While the report commends Amtrak for increasing ridership and addressing costs, it criticizes Amtrak's postponing of its improvements due to expectation of increased funding.

This weekend, Congress finished work on the omnibus spending bill that included $1.22 billion for Amtrak for fiscal 2005, slightly more than for fiscal year 2004.

The report calls on Capitol Hill to provide Amtrak with director in crafting a strategy that may include reducing service, increase funding or investing in the most heavily traveled routes. He suggested that federal funding be directly connected to Amtrak's restructuring.

Amtrak believes that without an increase in funding, they are not going to be able to make the improvements in capital projects. Even at level funding, they will be able to continue services, but would have to make cuts in the capital program.

Also according to Amtrak, cuts in service may jeopardize congressional support as lawmakers wouldn't be happy with service cuts in their region.

Funding for programs of the Department of Transportation was included in the Omnibus Appropriations bill passed yesterday (November 20) by the House and Senate.

Here are some details from that measure of interest to our clients:

Federal Highway Administration

Overall funding of $35.5 billion.

Federal Railroad Administration

Amtrak receives $1.217 billion.

Next Generation High Speed Rail receives $19.65 million -- of that $ 2 million is for MagLev and $3.1 million is for planning of high-speed corridors.

Rail/Highway Crossing Elimination is set at $5.25 million.

Federal Transit Administration Overall funding of $7.708 billion. Major program elements as follows:

• Administration 78,000,000
• Transit Planning & Research 128,000,000
• Jobs Access Reverse Commute 125,000,000
• University Transportation Research 6,000,000
• Formula Grants 4,032,175,000
• Capital Grants 3,338,825,000
• (New Starts 1,449,425,000)
• (Rail Modernization 1,214,400,000)
• (Bus 675,000,000)
• TOTAL $ 7,708,000,000

New Starts Earmarks -- 57 Projects Received Earmarks. Here are the earmarks:

  * Atlanta North Springs           $        265,410   * Baltimore Central LRT                 29,010,000   * Birmingham Trans. Corridor             1,000,000   * Boston Silver Line                     3,000,000   * Capital Metro (Austin) BRT             1,000,000   * CATRAIL RTC (Nevada)                   1,000,000   * Charlotte So. Corridor                30,000,000   * Chicago Douglas Branch                85,000,000   * Chicago Ravenswood                    40,000,000   * Cleveland Euclid Branch               25,000,000   * Dallas NW/SE Extension                 8,000,000   * Denver SE Corridor                     8,500,000   * Dulles (VA) Corridor                  25,000,000   * Ft. Lauderdale Commuter               11,409,506   * Harrisburg Corridor One                2,000,000   * Hawaii and Alaska Ferries             10,296,000   * Houston Advanced Transit               8,000,000   * I-5/I-205/SR 50 Loop (WA/OR)           1,500,000   * Las Vegas Resort Corridor             30,000,000   * Little Rock River Rail                 3,500,000   * Los Angeles MOS 3                        675,103   * Los Angeles Eastside                  60,000,000   * Los Angeles Gold Line                    500,000   * Metra (IL) Extensions                 52,000,000   * Minneapolis Hiawatha                  33,698,453   * Minnesota Northstar                    5,000,000   * Nashville Eastside Commuter            2,000,000   * NJ Trans-Hudson Midtown                1,200,000   * New Orleans Canal Street LRT          16,747,023   * New York Eastside Access             100,000,000   * Norfolk LRT                            1,000,000   * NJ Hudson-Bergen MOS2                100,000,000   * NJ Newark Rail Link                      319,463   * NJ Newark-Elizabeth                    1,365,876   * PA Schuykill Valley Metro             10,000,000   * Phoenix LRT                           75,000,000   * Pittsburgh North Shore                55,000,000   * Portland I-MAX                        23,480,000   * Raleigh Triangle Transit              20,000,000   * Rhode Island Commuter                  6,000,000   * Regional Commuter Rail (Utah)          8,000,000   * Salt Lake CBD to University            1,147,398   * Salt Lake Med. Center Extension        8,836,110   * San Diego Mid-Coast                    1,000,000   * San Diego Mission Valley East         81,640,000   * San Diego Oceanside-Escondido         55,000,000   * San Fran BART to SFO                 100,000,000     * San Francisco Muni 3rd St. LRT        10,000,000   * San Juan Tren Urbano                  44,620,000   * Santa Clara Silicon Valley             2,500,000   * Seattle Central Link LRT              80,000,000   * Sounder (Seattle) Commuter             4,000,000   * So. Shore (IN) Corridor                2,000,000   * St. Louis St. Clair Extension             60,436   * Stamford (CT) Urban Transitway         3,000,000   * Washington Co. (OR) Commuter           9,000,000   * DC Largo Extension                    76,770,615 

Bus Earmarks -- Hundreds of Bus earmarks were included. We will be in touch individually on earmarks of interest. We are still reviewing the bill. There may be projects tucked away in places we have not found yet. These are the ones we have laid our eyes on.

The 109th Congress cleared for the President's signature yesterday (November 20) an omnibus appropriations bill for the fiscal year that began October 1. The $ 388 billion measure includes nine normally separate appropriations measures. As Members of the House and Senate found out, it also includes legislative provisions -- some of them quite controversial. One of them would allow the Chairs of the House and Senate Appropriations Committee to each designate a staff member who would be authorized to review the tax returns of any individual or corporation in the nation. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, declared the provision a "mistake" and promised that he would never invoke the privilege it gives him. The Senate also passed a resolution which would have the effect of deleting the provision, after extracting from the House a promise to pass it in the first week of December. Why, our readers might ask, will the House be back in session the first week of December? The reason is that House conservatives scuttled a compromise intelligence reform package and the House leadership, in order to allow some time to get the legislation back on track, decided not to adjourn sine die, but instead to recess until early December. This will presumably give the White House the opportunity to explore a way to satisfy the concerns of conservative members that the legislation drains too much power from the Pentagon.

Over the next two or three days, we will be sending you details of project funding and legislative provisions in this massive piece of legislation. For now, we include here the summary of the package prepared by the House Committee on Appropriations.

Agriculture

Bill Highlights: In total, the bill provides nearly $17 billion in total discretionary resources. This level represents an increase of $393 million over the President’s request and nearly $123 million over the FY04 enacted level.

• FY 04 Funding Level: $16.84 billion ($69.746 billion total mandatory)
• FY 05 President’s Request: $16.57 billion ($66.370 billion total mandatory)
• FY 05 Bill: $16.96 billion ($66.294 billion total mandatory)

Protecting Human Health and Safety:

• Food Safety and Inspection Service is increased by $44 million over last year, for a total of $824 million, $15 million below the President’s request.
• Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service activities are funded at $98 million above last year for a total of $820 million, and a decrease of $14 million below the President’s request. This includes an increase of $33 million for an animal identification system.
• Food and Drug Administration is funded at $1.462 billion, $76 million above last year and $33 million below the President’s request. This includes the full amount requested for the medical device program.
• Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) detection and prevention activities are increased $20 million, the same as the President’s budget request.

Fulfilling Commitments to Important Food and Nutrition Programs:

• Child Nutrition Programs (Mandatory) are funded at $11.8 billion, $365 million above last year and $406 million above the President’s request.
• Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is funded at $5.3 billion, $666 million above last year and $190 million above the President’s request.
• Food Stamp Program (Mandatory) is funded at $35.2 billion, an increase of $4.2 billion above last year and $1.5 billion above the President’s request.
• Food for Peace Program (PL 480) Title II is funded at a program level of $1.18 billion, a decrease of $2.5 million below the President’s request and last year’s level.
• Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) is funded at $108 million, an increase of $9 million above last year and the President’s request.

Supporting Farmers, Ranchers, and Rural America:

• Farm Service Agency salaries and expenses are funded at President’s request of $1.008 billion, an increase of $25 million above last year, to continue delivery of farm programs.
• Agricultural Research Service is funded at $1.299 billion, an increase of $153 million above last year’s level and $133 million above the President’s request. Funding of $122 million is included for construction of the National Centers for Animal Health.
• Conservation Operations activities are increased by $127 million over the President’s request, bringing FY 05 funding to $837 million, and a decrease of $11 million below last year.
• Rural Community Advancement Program (RCAP) is funded at $716 million, a decrease of $37 million below last year and an increase of $174 million above the President’s request. Included in the increase is an additional $111 million for rural water and waste grants above the President’s request.

FY05 Commerce Justice State

Funding Levels:

• FY05 Funding: $40.0 billion
• FY05 President's Request: $39.6 billion
• FY04 Funding: $37.6 billion Provides a total of $20.6 billion for the Department of Justice, $975 million above FY04 and $804 million above the President's request, including the following:
• $5.22 billion for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, an increase of $625 million above FY04 and $100 million above the President’s request. This funding provides enhanced training, information technology, and staff (1,194 new positions) to improve intelligence and counterterrorism capabilities, while continuing to fight white-collar and violent crime.
• $1.65 billion for the Drug Enforcement Administration, an increase of $69 million above FY04 and $8 million below the President’s request.
• $758 million for the United States Marshals Service, an increase of $32 million above FY04 and $14 million above the request, to meet protection requirements of the Federal judiciary and to enhance fugitive apprehension activities.
• $890 million for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, an increase of $63 million above FY04 and $21 million above the President’s request.
• Provides $3 billion for assistance to State and local law enforcement for crime fighting initiatives, $906 million above the President’s request and $132 million below FY04 including:

                # $634 million for the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grants program (as authorized by H.R. 3036); $384 million for juvenile delinquency  prevention and accountability programs, $387 million for violence against women prevention and prosecution programs, $110 million to eliminate DNA analysis  backlogs, $139 million for law enforcement technologies, and $305 million to reimburse States for criminal alien detention costs. 

Department of Commerce and Related Agencies

receives $6.7 billion, $761 million above FY04 and $645 million above President’s request including:

• $1.54 billion for the Patent and Trademark Office to reduce the growing backlog and increase quality of patent processing, $322 million above FY04 and $21 million above the request.
• $3.94 billion for the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), $239 million above FY04 and $567 million above the request, including $791 million for the National Weather Service, the full request, to improve forecasting.
• $709 million for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), including $109 million for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program.
• $755 million for the Census Bureau, including $146 million for the American Community Survey (ACS).

Federal Judiciary:

Provides $5.16 billion for the Federal Judiciary, $315 million above FY04, to process increased workload, including an all-time high number of criminal cases and bankruptcy filings, and for supervision of an increasing number of offenders by probation officers.

State Department and the Broadcasting Board of Governors

Receives $8.8 billion, $704 million above FY04 (excluding supplemental appropriations).

• Includes $1.6 billion to continue worldwide security improvements and replacement of vulnerable embassies.
• Provides $4.2 billion for Diplomatic and Consular Programs to fund the operating costs of the Department, which is $165 million above FY04, to respond to diplomatic requirements in Haiti, Libya, and Afghanistan; strengthen visa adjudication and border security, and increase public diplomacy activities in the Arab and Muslim world.
• Provides $1.67 billion for Contributions to International Organizations and International Peacekeeping Activities to fund anticipated assessments for the UN and other international organizations.
• Provides $600 million for International Broadcasting to expand broadcasting to the broader Middle East.
• Provides $60 million for the National Endowment for Democracy, $20 million above the FY04 level.

Other Items of Interest:

• Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Bill includes $281 million, $7 million above FY04.
• Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Bill includes total budget authority of $913 million, $102 million above FY04 and the same as the request.
• Legal Services Corporation (LSC) Bill includes total budget authority of $335 million, the same as last year.
• Small Business Administration (SBA) Bill provides $580 million for the SBA, and supports a record 7(a) business loan program level to help America’s small businesses access capital.

FY 2005 ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT APPROPRIATIONS FUNDING LEVELS: The Chairman’s mark provides a total of $28.0 billion in new discretionary spending authority for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Civil, the Department of Interior including the Bureau of Reclamation, the Department of Energy, and several Independent Agencies. This bill is $734.5 million above fiscal year 2004 and $49.6 million above the President’s budget request.

CORPS OF ENGINEERS: The conference report supports a vigorous Civil Works program. The recommendation of $4.7 billion is $125 million over fiscal year 2004.

BUREAU OF RECLAMATION: The Chairman’s mark provides funding necessary to maintain, operate, and rehabilitate Bureau projects throughout the western United States and protect the considerable Federal investment in western water infrastructure. Funding for the Bureau of Reclamation is $1 billion, $40 million over last year’s level.

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY: The recommendation of $23 billion for the Department of Energy is $145 million under the President’s request and $1 billion above fiscal year 2004.

• The Committee funds the Yucca Mountain repository at last year’s level of $577 million and does not include the proposed authorization language to reclassify the fees paid into the Nuclear Waste Fund or the radiation standard language.
• The Power Marketing Administrations are funded at $210.5 million, the same as the President’s request and $1.2 million below last year. Reimbursable purchase power and wheeling activities are maintained at the fiscal year 2004 levels.
• The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which includes the nuclear weapons program, defense nuclear nonproliferation, naval reactors and the office of the administrator, is funded at $8.8 billion, an increase of $156 million over last year. Funding of $6.5 billion is provided for Weapons Activities; $1.42 billion for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation programs;

Foreign Operations

FY04 Enacted: $17.5 billion FY05 President's Request: $21.4 billion FY05 Bill: $19.8 billion

Addressing the AIDS Pandemic

• Provides a total of $2.3 billion in global assistance to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, $99 million above the President’s request and $690 million more than FY04. Within this $2.3 billion, $858 million is provided for bilateral assistance through the Child Survival and Health Programs Fund and $1.385 billion is provided to the Global AIDS initiative. $600 million in global assistance is anticipated in the Labor-HHS appropriations bill, bringing total funding to $2.9 billion, $99 million above the president’s request and the highest level in history.

An Innovative Approach to Foreign Assistance

• The bill provides record level funding the President’s signature foreign assistance initiative, the Millennium Challenge Corporation. Total funding is $1.5 billion, $500 million above last year.

Supporting the Global War on Terror The bill provides significant increases in security assistance to our allies in the global war on terrorism. It also increases resources for our anti-narcotic programs abroad.

• Provides $73 million increase for Foreign Military Financing for Israel to assist in their security and counter-terror efforts. Total funding is $2.2 billion, the same as the President’s request. Also fully funds the President's $360 million request for economic assistance to Israel.
• The bill provides an increase of $350 million, for a total of $400 million to train and equip the new Afghan National Army;
• A new base program of $300 million for military assistance for Pakistan as they assist us in hunting terrorists along the Afghan border;
• Fully funds the President's $1.3 billion request for Foreign Military Financing for Egypt. Also fully funds the President's $535 million request for economic assistance to Egypt.
• International Narcotics Control is funded at $329 million, $89 million above last year and $30 million below the request and fully funds the President's request for Mexico and Afghanistan.
• The Andean Counter drug Initiative is funded at $731 million, the same as the President’s request.

Other Items of Interest:

• Provides $403 million in humanitarian and refugee assistance for Sudan. Including $93 million as an emergency appropriation, $75 million of which is for logistical and equipment support of the Africa Union Security Force. $95 million in humanitarian assistance was provided earlier this year in the FY05 Defense appropriations bill.
• Includes $800 million for refugee programs, $50 million more than the President's request and $14 million more than last year's level.
• Provides $441 million for bilateral international family planning programs, and $25 million for the UNFPA. Retains current law on restrictions and prohibitions on assistance.
• Peace Corps is funded at $320 million, $12 million above FY04 and $81 million below the President's request.
• Total funding of the Agency for International Development (USAID) is $4.2 billion, $221 million above the request and $254 million less than FY04.
• The U.S. contribution to the multilateral development banks are funded at a level of $1.2 billion, $264 million less than the request and $154 million less than last year.
• The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is funded at $108 million, $13 million below the President’s request and $31 million below last year.

Highlights of FY05 Interior Conference Report

Budget Authority (dollars in billions)

FY 2004 FY 2005 FY 2005 Enacted Request Recommended

20.5 19.7 20.0*
*Includes an across-the-board cut of 0.594%.

The 2005 recommended level is $469 million below the 2004 enacted level and $359 million above the 2005 requested level.

Bill Highlights* *Does not reflect an across-the-board rescission of 0.594%. Change from 2004

$1.7 billion for National Park Operations +98 million 3.0 billion for the Indian Health Service +105 million 1.9 billion for BIA Operation of Indian programs +62 million 653 million for BIA education +12.4 million 2.6 billion for Wildland firefighting and National Fire Plan +168 million 500 million supplemental for urgent wildfire suppression 0
1.4 billion for the National Forest System +34 million 949 million for the U.S. Geological Survey +11 million 167 million for Federal land acquisition -3 million 580 million for Fossil Energy R and D -93 million Major Emphasis: Maintains ongoing base programs; provides the largest park base increase ever for the National Park Service; and continues responsible wildland fire suppression and hazardous fuels funding as in FY 2004.

Major Initiatives:* Provides $573 million for National Park backlog maintenance. Provides $64 million for the Everglades restoration effort. Cumulative funding since 1993 is $1 billion. Provides $231 million for Indian trust reform, $22 million above the 2004 level. Provides $2.6 billion for the National Fire Plan; $1.9 billion for the Forest Service, and $743 million for the Department of the Interior. Includes an $89 million increase for wildfire suppression and a $53 million increase for hazardous fuels reduction efforts, above 2004 enacted levels. The conference agreement includes an additional $500 million for urgent wildfire suppression activities available under special circumstances.

Provides funding for NEA at $123 million, $2 million above FY04 for the new American Masterpieces initiative and $16 million below the request, and $140 million for the NEH, $5 million above FY04 and $22 million below the request.

Agency Funding:* Department of Interior--Total funding is $10 billion, $140 million above FY04 and $17 million above the request. BLM is funded at $1.8 billion, $61 million above non-emergency FY04 funding and $3 million below the request. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is funded at $1.3 billion, $3 million above FY04 and $15 million below the request. Bureau of Indian Affairs is funded is $2.3 billion, $29 million above FY04 and $76 million above the request.

Indian Health Service—Total funding is $3 billion, $105 million over FY04 and $60 million above the request. U.S. Forest Service—Total funding is $4.3 billion, $107 million above non-emergency FY04 funding (almost all of the increase is in fire programs) and $60 million above the request.

Smithsonian—Total funding is $624 million, $28 million above FY04 and $4 million below the request. *Does not reflect an across-the-board rescission of 0.594%. FYO5 Legislative Branch Spending FY04: $3.527 billion FY05 Bill: $3.575 billion FY05 Request: $3.969 billion FY05 Legislative Branch Funding Agency FY04 (millions) FY05
House of Reps. 1,008 1,048
Capitol Police 220 232
CBO 34 35
Architect of Capitol 403 352
Library of Congress 523 550
GPO 135 121
GAO 458 471

Other Items of Interest:

• Maintains current staffing levels for all legislative branch agencies
• Fully funds COLA for staff and the establishment of a staff fitness facility in the Rayburn garage.

FY05 Labor, HHS, Education

Bill Funding: FY04 Comparable: $139.424 billion FY05 Budget Request: $142.324 billion FY05 Conference Report: $143.309 billion ($493.3 billion including mandatory spending) The bill’s funding level represents a 2.79% growth from fiscal year 2004.

Protecting Priority Education Programs

• Overall, the bill provides a $ 1.4 billion increase for the Department of Education, bringing it to a total of $57 billion. Special Education Grants are funded at $11.5 billion, $415 million below the request and $607 above FY04. This is the highest level in history and over three times the amount provided in 1995.
• Title I – Program is funded at $12.8 billion, $500 million below the budget request and $ 500 million above last year, to provide aid to states and school districts to help educationally disadvantaged children achieve the same high state academic performance standards as all other students.
• Reading Programs - Funds reading programs at $ 1.2 billion, which will enable states to eliminate the reading deficit through scientific research-based reading programs, $ 62 million above FY04 .
• Improving Teacher Quality - The bills provides $2.94 billion, $10 million above the budget request and last year’s level, for professional development programs to provide states and school districts with tools to improve teacher quality Math and Science Partnerships are funded at $ 180 million, an increase of $ 31 million over last year to increase the number of teachers trained in the fields of math and science.
• Education Block grant – The bill includes a restoration of the title V education block grant to $200 million, $96 million below the fiscal year 2004 request and $180 million above the House bill.
• State Assessments - The bill includes $415 million, $25 million over fiscal year 2004, to cover the cost of developing annual state assessments of students' reading and math skills. States will be responsible for selecting and designing their own assessments.
• Maximum Pell Grant awards are maintained at $4050 and the program is increased by $458 million over last year.
• Impact Aid is funded at $1.24 billion, $24 million over last year’s level and the budget request.
• Head Start is increased $124 million over last year’s level, bringing total FY05 funding to $6.9 billion. This funding level will allow Head Start and to maintain current service levels while ensuring that quality improvements and training elements are fully implemented.
• TRIO funding is increased to $843 million, an increase of $11 million above the fiscal year 2004 level and the President’s request. The bill also increases GEAR UP funding to $309 million, also an increase of $11 million above the fiscal year 2004 level and the President’s request.

Medical Research and Health Programs

• Centers for Disease Control funding is $4.5 billion, $167 million above last year and $320 million above the budget request.
• Community Health Centers are expanded - fourth year of the President’s proposed expansion of health services to the uninsured. Total funding $1.7 billion, $131 million over last year.
• National Institutes of Health -- continues our commitment to curing disease through support of NIH research at $28.6 billion, $800 million more than last year.
• International HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria programs are funded at $ 624 million, the same as the President’s request.
• Ryan White AIDS program is increased by $45 million over FY04 with total funding of $2.1 billion.
• Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is funded at $2.2 billion, an increase of $84 million over last year.
• Faith- and Community-Based Initiatives are increased including the Compassion Capital Fund at $55 million.
• Abstinence Education- Provides $105 million for the discretionary abstinence education program, an increase of $30 million over FY04.
• Social Security - Provides a 6% increase to the Social Security Administration to improve service delivery of Social Security benefits and accelerate the time it takes to process disability claims.

Supporting Job Training Programs and Dislocated Workers

• Job Corps operations is funded at $1.559 billion, which provides an increase of $19 million for Center operations over last year
• Dislocated Worker Assistance is funded at $1.479 billion, adding $95.3 million over the budget request.
• Community College Initiative - fully funds the President's $250 million program that will train workers for high growth/high demand industries by funding partnerships of employers, local workforce investment boards, and community colleges.
• Prisoner Re-Entry Initiative - provides $20 million in support and job training for ex-offenders.

FY05 TRANSPORTATION AND TREASURY

In total, the bill provides more than $89.9 billion in total budgetary resources, $495 million below the FY04 level. Discretionary spending is $25.8 billion, $112 million below the President’s request and $2.5 billion below the FY04 level.

Boosts Highway Spending: Federal-aid highways spending is $35.5 billion. This is an increase of $1.9 billion over the President’s request and the FY04 enacted level.

Supports Aviation: A total of $13.6 billion is provided to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) -- $219 million below the fiscal year 2004 enacted level and $335 million below the President’s request. This includes a $289 million increase for FAA’s operations (total operations funding is $7.7 billion), $3.5 billion for the Airport Improvement Program and $102 Million for Essential Air Service. The bill includes $9.5 million above the request for the hire and training of additional air traffic controllers. The bill also extends the current provisions of war risk insurance, including current premium price caps, for one additional year.

Capital Investments in Transit: Transit program spending totals $7.708 billion, including over $1.4 billion for new fixed guideway systems. Supports National Anti-Drug Efforts: Provides $468.5 million to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, including:

• $228 million for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program, $20 million above the President’s request
• $120 million for the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign
• $80 million for the Drug-Free Communities program. Provides for Continuing Amtrak Operations: The bill provides $1.217 Billion for Amtrak, $300 million over the President’s budget request. Also continues current reforms for Amtrak, including the submission of a financial plan and quarterly reports to the Congress on the implementation of that plan, and directs DOT to undertake a valuation of all Amtrak's capital assets.

Agency Funding: Department of Treasury is funded at $11.2 billion, $122 million above FY04 and $393 million below the President’s request.

The Internal Revenue Service is funding at $10.3 billion, $134 million above FY04 and $356 million below the request. The bulk of the increase is for the tax enforcement activities of the IRS.

Federal Election Commission is funded at the budget request of $52 million, $2 million above FY04 and the Election Assistance Commission is funded at $14 million.

Other provisions

• Maintains both current law requiring contraceptive coverage under FEHBP (except in certain circumstances) and current law prohibiting the use of funds under FEHBP to pay for an abortion, except where the life of the mother is endangered or in case of rape or incest.
• Provides pay parity between civilian and military federal employees.

FY05 VA-HUD

FY04 Bill (Discretionary): $90.8 billion FY05 President’s Request (Discretionary): $92.1 billion FY05 Bill (Discretionary): $93.5 billion Taking Care of Veterans:

• Provides total resources of $30.3 B for the Veterans Health Administration: $19.5 billion for Medical Services; $4.7 billion for Medical Administration; $3.7 billion for Medical Facilities and $385 million for Medical Research – a total of $1.2 over the budget request and $1.9 billion above last year.
• Does not contain additional fees as proposed by the President.
• Total budgetary resources for all activities of the Veteran’s Administration including retirement and medical benefits are increased by $4.3 billion over last year and $1.2 billion over the request.

Science and Space:

• The National Science Foundation (NSF) is funded at $5.5 billion, $62 million below last year and $278 million below the request. Includes $4.3 billion for research, $3 million over last year; $175 million for research equipment, $20 million over last year; and $848 million for education and human resources, $91 million below last year.
• NASA is funded at $16.2 billion, $822 million above last year and $44 million below the request. The agreement give NASA almost total funding flexibility, but requires NASA to report to the Congress within 60 days on how they will adjust program values to cover increased costs associated with the Hubble servicing/repair mission and shuttle return-to-flight activities. This flexibility is unprecedented and gives the Administrator broad latitude to implement the President’s vision for Space within the funds provided in the bill.

Protecting the Environment:

• The Environmental Protection Agency is funded with an emphasis on state grants, particularly in the areas of clean water and safe drinking water.
• Provides $8.1 billion for the EPA, $299 million above the President’s request and $278 million above FY04. This includes funding of $2.3 billion for Environmental Programs and Management, $33 million below last year’s level and $3 million below the request.
• The Safe Drinking Water State Revolving Fund is funded at the budget request of $850 million, $5 million above FY 2004 and the Clean Water State Revolving Fund is funded at $1.1 billion, at the President’s request.

Funds state environmental program grants at $1.2 billion, about equal to the FY04 level.

• Overall, State and Tribal Assistance Grants are funded at $3.6 billion, $273 million below FY04 and $373 million over the request.
• Funds Superfund at $1.3 billion, the same as last year’s level Addressing Critical Housing Needs: The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is funded at $37.3 billion, $618 million below last year's level and $521 m above the President's Request. Includes a provision to synchronize funding for public housing operations to a calendar year resulting in saving of $994 million.
• Funding for Section 8 programs is split into two accounts to provide better accountability and oversight.
• Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (Section 8 vouchers) is funded at $14.9 billion, $697 million over last year and $1.77 billion over the request. This includes $13.46 billion for Section 8 voucher renewals, $742 million, or 6% over last year, and $1.67 billion over the request. This is in addition to the 15% increase the program received last year. Section 8 is treated as a budget or dollar based system like all other discretionary programs. Does not include Administration’s proposed authorization legislation to alter income targeting and tenant rent contributions.
• Project-Based Rental Assistance (project-based contracts) is funded at $5.34 billion, $270 million over last year and $10 million below the request.
• Public and Indian Housing programs are funded at $5.8 billion, which reflects a one-time $994 million reduction in Operating Subsidies due to synchronization of the program to a calendar year funding cycle. Includes $2.6 for the Capital Fund, $144 million for HOPE VI, and $627 million for the Native American Housing Block Grant, a 3 percent reduction from last year.
• HOME Investments Partnership is funded at $1.9 billion.
• Includes $1.3 billion for Homeless programs, $284 million for Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA), $747 million for Elderly Housing, and $240 million for Housing for Persons with Disabilities.

Other Items of Interest: The Corporation for National and Community Service is funded at $578 million, $3 million below last year and $64 million below the President’s request. This supports a volunteer level of 70,000.

We know all of our friends and clients are clamoring for programmatic and project specific information contained in the FY 2005 Omnibus Appropriations bill. We are in close contact with House and Senate Appropriations Committee staff and the bill is still being put together and, at this juncture, the details we are all looking for are not available. It is expected the conference report on this massive bill will be filed late today (Friday).

However, staff tells us its distribution will be severely limited. For example, members of the House and Senate may only have access to the full conference report by viewing in person one of a very limited number of copies. As a result, it is likely that most members will vote on the bill without having reviewed anything more than summary information. Some members may receive information on projects in their districts or states, so fragmentary information may begin to come out shortly.

We anticipate that voting on the House and Senate floors will take place over the weekend. It may well be Monday or Tuesday before detailed project earmark information is available.

We will be monitoring the process closely today, over the weekend and into next week and will be reporting details as they become available.

The Senate passed legislation on Wednesday, Nov. 17 to raise the nation’s debt limit. The Senate voted 52-44 to pass the measure, S 2986 that would increase the $7.4 trillion debt limit by $800 billion.

The House is scheduled to clear the legislation on Thursday, Nov. 18. The rules for floor action on the bill do not permit amendments. If Congress fails to increase the debt limit, the Treasury Department would be unable to borrow additional funds, pay interest on existing notes and bonds, or redeem maturing securities.

Senate Democrats had agreed not to offer amendments to the bill, but took the opportunity provided by the floor debate to blame Republicans for rising debt levels and increasing budget deficits. An increase in the Treasury’s borrowing power would mark the third time in three years that Congress has raised the debt limit.

As the party in power, the GOP is responsible for raising the debt limit, but party leaders put off a vote until after Election Day because of the sensitive nature of the issue. Republican leaders had contemplated different strategies for avoiding a direct vote on the measure, perhaps by attaching the provision to the omnibus appropriations bill, but they eventually decided to move it as a stand-alone measure.

Yesterday, House and Senate conferees approved the conference report for legislation to reauthorize the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). House conferees approved the measure by a vote of 8-0, and Senate conferees approved it by a vote of 20-1. Both chambers are expected to consider the conference report on Friday, November 19.

The IDEA conference report includes the following provisions:

• Monitoring and Enforcement. Aligns IDEA monitoring with the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). It authorizes the U.S. Secretary of Education to take several actions to help any state that does not meet its state-defined targets, including providing technical assistance.
• Highly Qualified Teachers. Allows states to create a pathway to demonstrate subject matter competency for multi-subject teachers. Clarifies highly qualified requirements for special education teachers.
• Risk Pools. Retains state authority to create risk pools. However, incentives would be provided to those states that would like to create risk pools voluntarily.
• Paperwork. Authorizes a 15-state paperwork demonstration project.
• Maintenance of Effort.Provides expanded flexibility for local education agencies and states to retain a larger percentage of the federal investment in special education.
• Protection and Advocacy Centers. Does not inoculate states from being sued with services provided through the state-funded protection and advocacy centers. However, provides new opportunities, such as resolution and mediation sessions.
• Referral for Children Under 3. Allows states to retain their own systems for screenings and referrals to the statewide system.
• Funding. Establishes a glide path to reach full funding of the federal share of IDEA by 2011.

Yesterday the Senate modified and approved its version of a bill (S. 150) to extend the Internet Access Tax Moratorium. The modifications clarify that a specific local government access tax in Texas is not affected by the moratorium. It also shortens Wisconsin's grandfather protection by one year. Other than that, the bill is the same as when it was passed by the Senate last Spring. It extends the moratorium until November 2007. It broadens the definition of Internet access to include broadband. It extends the original grandfather clause through 2007. It also grandfathers existing taxes on broadband through November 2005. It also does not affect the tax status of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services.

S. 150 expected to be taken up on the House suspension calendar as early as today.

Congressional staff is making significant progress towards completion of an omnibus appropriations bill that will include eight of the nine unfinished spending bills for the fiscal year that began on October 1. The one measure not likely to be included in this catch-all bill is the Energy and Water Appropriations Act. That bill is being held up largely because of a dispute over funding for the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.

Many Democratic Senators and House Members are departing Washington later today for Little Rock to attend tomorrow's opening of the Clinton Presidential Library. Since they will not return until late tomorrow, we don't expect details of the spending legislation to emerge before early Friday at the earliest. House and Senate votes on the bill are planned for Friday or Saturday. This schedule may slip into next week if leadership feels they are making progress on the intelligence reform bill and that extra time would allow them to produce a final version of that. Progress on that bill had stopped last week, but the President re-started it with a phone call on Monday to House leaders.

We will be reporting regularly over these closing days of the 109th Congress to ensure our clients and friends have up-to-the-minute information. Stay tuned.

In one of the few non-appropriations related pieces of legislation being worked on, it appears that House and Senate conferees are on the verge of completing the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Today negotiators are expected to ratify a compromise between the House and Senate versions of the legislation. The legislation requires that the nation's 6.7 million special-needs children receive a free public education in the "least restrictive environment" and authorized $10.1 billion in school districts in fiscal 2004.

Appropriators separately are expected to add at least $1 billion to IDEA state grants programs in FY 2005 omnibus appropriations legislation.

Eight of the nine spending bills, rolled into one omnibus bill, appear closer to passage today. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (Tennessee) has stated that a vote on the omnibus may occur on Friday or Saturday.

The bill used to move the omnibus is likely to be the foreign operations spending measure (H.R. 4818). The bill is rumored to have been stripped of most controversial riders, and includes a across-the-board cut of around 0.75 percent to all non-defense/security appropriations. This will enable the bill to remain below the budget caps sought by the administration. The Senate is also proposing a rule change to free up $1 billion by moving the beginning of the fiscal year for several housing programs. The bill would likely include under $4 billion in spending for programs like veteran's health care, education and health, and NASA.

Passage of the only remaining holdout, the energy and water bill, remains stalled this week, but for a different issue than Yucca Mountain, which has delayed it for months. Now that passage of a bill seems unlikely, debate over what shape of continuing resolution to craft has heated up, with Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-New Mexico) demanding a one year extension.

While early signals from White House sources had indicated that "wholesale" changes in the Bush cabinet between the election and the inaugural were unlikely, it appears we are seeing more numerous changes than many had expected. Today, Secretaries Powell of State, Veneman of Agriculture, Abraham of Energy and Paige of Education are all announcing their departures. Previously, Attorney General John Ashcroft and Secretary of Commerce Don Evans, announced their retirements from the Cabinet. Rumors continue to circulate that Secretaries Ridge of Homeland Security and Thompson of HHS will also be leaving soon.

If they do, that will bring the number of departures to eight. This is in line with the number of changes experienced by Presidents Reagan and Clinton as they approached their second terms.

We expect the administration to move swiftly to fill these posts. Announcements of cabinet nominees for several of them can be expected this week. Peyser Associates will continue to track developments closely and keep our clients and friends informed.