JUVENILE JUSTICE BILL PASSES SENATE

Vice President Gore cast the tie-breaking 51st vote to amend the Juvenile Justice bill, closing the gun-show loophole by extending background checks to include gun-show purchases. Then the Senate passed the Juvenile Justice bill as amended by a vote of 73-25.

Other amendments include:

• A ban on the importation of all high-capacity firearm ammunition clips (over ten rounds) into the United States (Feinstein, D-CA). Currently, such devices cannot be manufactured in the United States, but are still imported.
• A ban on juvenile (under age 18) possession of semi-automatic assault weapons as defined in current law (Ashcroft, R-MO).
• A requirement that child-safety locks be sold with every handgun sold in the United States (Kohl, D-WI).

In addition to gun amendments, the Senate attempted to address the cultural issues raised by youth violence by ordering a government study of the effect of violent entertainment on children and opened the way for the entertainment industry to develop codes of conduct to limit violence. The Senate bill encourages Internet service providers to offer filters to help parents block access to objectionable material.

The House has yet to act on any juvenile justice bill. The House Treasury Appropriations Subcommittee cancelled committee action when committee members threatened to offer gun control amendments. Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) called for stricter controls on juvenile access to weapons and promised to place the issue on the House calendar.

OTHERS TAKE ACTION TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEM OF YOUTH VIOLENCE

• The U.S. Department of Education announced the release of $2.3 million in grants to create character education partnerships in local school districts and communities in nine states: Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania.
• The W.K. Kellogg Foundation unveiled a four-year $13 million initiative designed to broaden the use of service experiences linked to classroom instruction. The purpose of the initiative is “to improve communities and teach youth the value of civic participation.”
• Music Television (MTV), the U.S. Department of Education, and the U.S. Department of Justice earlier this month released an anti-violence youth action guide and CD that will be distributed to more than one million young people across the country. MTV also plans to promote a special toll-free hotline operated by the U.S. Department of Justice designed to help viewers receive a free copy of the CD/Action Guide.

K-12 TUITION TAX SUBSIDY PASSES COMMITTEE

Senator Paul Coverdell’s (R-GA) “Affordable Education Act” passed the Senate Finance Committee as part of an education tax bill. Existing law allows families to contribute up to $500 annually to education IRAs and to make tax-free withdrawals for post-secondary education. Coverdell’s proposal increases the annual contribution limit to $2,000 and adds tax-free withdrawals for K-12 education, including private and religious school tuition and home school expenses. The President vetoed a similar Coverdell proposal last year. An attempt by Senator Charles Robb (D-VA) and Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) to include modern schools construction language narrowly failed. The bill now goes to the full Senate.

ESEA PROPOSAL UNVEILED

President Clinton and Secretary Riley unveiled The Educational Excellence for All Children Act of 1999, the Administration’s proposal for reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). ESEA, authorized in 1965 as part of President Johnson’s War on Poverty, is the federal government’s single largest investment in elementary and secondary education. The legislation supports more than 40 programs, including the landmark Title 1. Congress reauthorizes the program every five years. The 1999 proposal builds on the changes made in 1994, with an emphasis on high academic standards, quality teachers and school accountability.

Among the strategies proposed to increase student achievement are smaller classes in the primary grades and quality, continuing professional development. The Administration’s bill includes the full six-year continuation of the smaller class size initiative launched last year to reduce class size in the primary grades. Neither the House nor the Senate has yet drafted its version of the bill.

HOUSE PANEL SLASHES EDUCATION FUNDS

This week the House Appropriations Committee voted to slash education spending. For the Department of Education programs, committee action would mean the biggest education cut in history, $4.2 billion below Fiscal Year (FY) 99 spending levels.

The Senate Appropriations Committee has not officially approved its allocations, but preliminary estimates would cut more than $3.1 billion from current spending levels. Appropriations Committee Chairs, Representative Young (R-FL) and Senator Stevens (R-AL), are warning colleagues that funding current programs while honoring the caps (created in 1997) is akin to making a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. With cruel irony, education program cuts strike at the very services most needed to stem the tide of troubled youth and violence.

NEW STUDY ON SOCIAL SECURITY RELEASED

A study released this week warns that mandatory coverage of newly hired public employees and their employers will cost states and localities $26 B in the first five years. “The Cost Impact of Mandating Social Security for State and Local Governments,” was conducted by the Segal Company for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Coalition to Preserve Retirement Security. NEA is an active member of the coalition. The report dispels the most common myths about the nationwide impact of compelling the public sector to enroll in the Social Security program.

Proponents argue that mandating coverage for new hires would extend the solvency of Social Security. The study finds that, at best, it would buy only a two-year extension, and even that is questionable. The two-year estimate does not include the liabilities associated with bringing into the Social Security system five million additional workers.

COUNTING KIDS 2YK

NEA has entered into a partnership agreement with the Census Bureau and is encouraging members to participate fully in the census. A dispute over census procedure had threatened the Census Department’s funding and timely preparation for Census 2000. An agreement has been reached that allows preparation to continue. NEA members in communities across the country can make a huge contribution to a successful count.

ACTION IN THE STATES: TAX CREDITS AND VOUCHERS

Tax Credits

Illinois. A tuition tax credits bill passed the Illinois General Assembly with bipartisan support and will be signed by Governor Ryan. The Illinois Education Association plans to file suit challenging the bill on constitutional grounds and will join with other opponents in legal challenges.

Missouri. In the last two days of the 1999 session, each time a proposal to aid private or religious schools came before the Senate, it was defeated. From the floor of the Senate, the leading Senate proponent for a religious school tax credit or deduction charged that Missouri NEA's opposition was one of the reasons he could not pass the bill.

Vouchers

Louisiana. A bill to give $3,000 vouchers to parents with children in the worst performing public elementary and middle schools stalled in Senate Finance Committee on a 5-5 vote to report out and a 5-5 vote to kill the bill.

Wisconsin. The recently elected pro-voucher Milwaukee School Board dropped opposition to the private school voucher program. The board endorsed Governor Thompson’s plan to fund the voucher program independently of state aid to Milwaukee Public Schools.

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