03-18-2000

CONGRESS: House-Senate Committee Action: Hot Bills March 13-16

Hot Bills


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


MINIMUM-WAGE INCREASE


House: Approved H.R. 3846 on March 9, 282-143, then attached it to a
small-business tax cut bill (H.R. 3081).


Senate: Approved amended version of H.R. 833 on Feb. 2, 83-14.


Outlook: House Republicans sweetened a tax relief bill by adding a $1
minimum-wage increase over two years, while the Senate GOP mixed
small-business tax relief and a three-year wage hike with bankruptcy
reform legislation. The White House says this legislative stew has too
many ingredients, but GOP chefs don't like a wage hike without a garnish
of tax cuts. And some conservatives still insist states ought to be able
to "opt out" of the wage hike.


SOCIAL SECURITY EARNINGS LIMIT


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


Senate: Considers H.R. 5 on March 21.


Outlook: This bill, which allows full benefits for people who keep working
beyond retirement age, should fly through the Senate, which is eager to
have the President sign it.


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 have not yet decided whether to move tax cuts
one at a time or in a big package. They hint they'll be even more generous
to married couples than the House was, despite President Clinton's threat
to veto a cut as large as the House-passed bill.


PATIENTS' RIGHTS


House: Approved a bipartisan patients' rights bill (H.R. 2723) on Oct. 7,
1999, 275-151, and 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: Conferees settled three issues on March 9, but the toughest ones
await resolution: who is covered by the bill, who decides what is a
"medical necessity," and what rights patients will have to sue
their health plans and employers. GOP leaders, who hoped to have a final
bill this month, are now committed to finishing work by Easter.


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: Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., is working to close
the negotiations in the hope that Congress can clear a final 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 approved S. 2 on
March 9.


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 President Clinton's education priorities on the
floor.


National Journal News Service

National Journal