03-11-2000

CONGRESS: The Sausage Factory: March 6-9

Hot Bills


Here is the status of major legislation on the congressional front
burner:


Patients' Rights


House: Approved a bipartisan patients' rights bill (H.R. 2723) on Oct. 7,
1999, 275-151, then merged it with an insurance access bill (H.R.
2990).


Senate: Approved S. 1344 with narrower reforms favored by health insurers
on July 15, 1999, 53-47.


Outlook: GOP leaders fret that conference talks are falling behind
schedule because of haggling over emergency-room care, access to
obstetricians, and other issues. But the toughest decisions are still to
come: Who will be covered by the bill, and what rights will patients have
to sue their health plans and employers? Work on a final bill is likely to
continue well into April.


Social Security Earnings Limit


House: Approved H.R. 5 on March 1, 422-0.


Senate: H.R. 5 has been placed on the calendar for floor action.


Outlook: This bill, which allows full benefits for people who keep working
beyond retirement age, should fly through the Senate, which is eager to
approve the House-passed bill.


Marriage Penalty Tax Relief


House: Approved H.R. 6 on Feb. 10, 268-158.


Senate: Finance Committee plans to draft a bill soon.


Outlook: Senate Republicans are inclined to postpone major action until
they can agree on a new budget, although they still must decide whether to
move tax cuts one at a time. They hint they'll be even more generous to
married couples than the House, despite President Clinton's threat to veto
a cut as large as the one the House passed.


Africa Trade Enhancements


House: Approved H.R. 434 on July 16, 1999, 234-163.


Senate: Approved an amended H.R. 434 on Nov. 3, 1999, 76-19.


Outlook: The Senate bill, which includes a Caribbean trade initiative (S.
1389), still must be reconciled with the House measure. Senate Majority
Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., is working to close the negotiations in the
hope that Congress can clear a bill by early April.


School Aid


House: Approved H.R. 1995 on July 20, 239-185, and H.R. 2 on Oct. 21,
1999, 358-67.


Senate: Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee began voting on
S. 2 provisions on March 7.


Outlook: A fierce floor debate over who controls the way federal aid to
schools is spent awaits the Senate, which is trying to pass a single bill
renewing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act instead of the
separate House-passed bills. Despite defeats in committee, Senate
Democrats will push Clinton's education priorities on the floor.


Rural Satellite TV


House: Agriculture Committee approved H.R. 3615 on Feb. 16, 41-0.


Senate: Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee approved S. 2097 on
March 8.


Outlook: The Senate should pass this popular bipartisan bill, which
includes $1.25 billion in federal loan guarantees for rural television
service, by March 30. The House Commerce Committee, which wants to help
negotiate a final bill, could cause some static. But rural constituents
are keenly interested in receiving local broadcast programming via
satellite.


Overview


A Senate committee dished up some television news for rural residents,
President Clinton's education initiatives got a ruler on the knuckles, and
property-rights advocates prepared to send local zoning issues to federal
courts.


National Journal News Service

National Journal