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SEC. 25. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS ON SPECIAL EDUCATION .

(a) FINDINGS- Congress finds that--

(1) all children deserve a quality education , including children with disabilities ;

(2) the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act provides that the Federal, State, and local governments are to share in the expense of educating children with disabilities and commits the Federal Government to pay up to 40 percent of the national average per pupil expenditure for children with disabilities ;

(3) the high cost of educating children with disabilities and the Federal Government's failure to fully meet its obligation under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act stretches limited State and local education funds, creating difficulty in providing a quality education to all students, including children with disabilities ;

(4) the current level of Federal funding to States and localities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is contrary to the goal of ensuring that children with disabilities receive a quality education ;

(5) the Federal Government has failed to appropriate 40 percent of the national average per pupil expenditure per child with a disability as required under the Individuals with Disabilities Act to assist States and localities to educate children with disabilities ; and

(6) the levels in function 500 (Education ) for fiscal year 2001 assume sufficient discretionary budget authority to accommodate fiscal year 2001 appropriations for IDEA at least $2,000,000,000 above such funding levels appropriated in fiscal year 2000.

(b) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS- It is the sense of the Congress that--

(1) Congress and the President should increase fiscal year 2001 funding for programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Act by at least $2,000,000,000 above fiscal year 2000 appropriated levels;

(2) Congress and the President should give programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act the highest priority among Federal elementary and secondary education programs by meeting the commitment to fund the maximum State grant allocation for educating children with disabilities under such Act prior to authorizing or appropriating funds for any new education initiative;

(3) Congress and the President may consider, if new or increased funding is authorized or appropriated for any elementary and secondary education initiative that directs funds to local educational agencies, providing the flexibility in such authorization or appropriation necessary to allow local educational agencies the authority to use such funds for programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ; and

(4) if a local educational agency chooses to utilize the authority under section 613(a)(2)(C)(i) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to treat as local funds up to 20 percent of the amount of funds the agency receives under part B of such Act that exceeds the amount it received under that part for the previous fiscal year, then the agency should use those local funds to provide additional funding for any Federal, State, or local education program.

SEC. 26. ASSUMED FUNDING LEVELS FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION .

It is the sense of the Congress that function 500 (Education ) levels assume at least a $2,000,000,000 increase in fiscal year 2001 over the current fiscal year to reflect the commitment of Congress to appropriate 40 percent of the national per pupil expenditure for children with disabilities by a date certain.

SEC. 27. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS ON A FEDERAL EMPLOYEE PAY RAISE.

It is the sense of the Congress that the pay increase for Federal employees in January 2001 should be at least 3.7 percent.

SEC. 28. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS REGARDING HCFA DRAFT GUIDELINES.

(a) FINDINGS- Congress finds that--

(1) on February 15, 2000, the Health Care Financing Administration in the Department of Health and Human Services issued a draft Medicaid School-Based Administrative Claiming (MAC) Guide; and

(2) in its introduction, the stated purpose of the draft MAC guide is to provide information for schools, State medicaid agencies, HCFA staff, and other interested parties on the existing requirements for claiming Federal funds under the Medicaid Program for the costs of administrative activities, such as Medicaid outreach, that are performed in the school setting associated with school-based health services programs.

(b) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS- It is the sense of the Congress that--

(1) many school-based health programs provide a broad range of services that are covered by Medicaid, affording access to care for children who otherwise might well go without needed services;

(2) such programs also can play a powerful role in identifying and enrolling children who are eligible for Medicaid, as well as the State Children's Health Insurance programs;

(3) undue administrative burdens may be placed on school districts and States and deter timely application approval;

(4) the Health Care Financing Administration should substantially revise or abandon the current draft MAC guide because it appears to promulgate new rules that place excessive administrative burdens on participating school districts;

(5) the goal of the revised guide should be to encourage the appropriate use of Medicaid school-based services without undue administrative burdens; and

(6) the best way to ensure the continued viability of Medicaid school-based services is to guarantee that the guidelines are fair and responsible.

SEC. 29. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS ON ASSET-BUILDING FOR THE WORKING POOR.

(a) FINDINGS- Congress finds that--

(1) 33 percent of all American households and 60 percent of African American households have either no financial assets or negative financial assets;

(2) 46.9 percent of children in America live in households with no financial assets, including 40 percent of Caucasian children and 75 percent of African American children;

(3) in order to provide low-income families with more tools for empowerment, incentives, including individual development accounts, are demonstrating success at empowering low-income workers;

(5) middle and upper income Americans currently benefit from tax incentives for building assets; and

(6) the Federal Government should utilize the Federal tax code to provide low-income Americans with incentives to work and build assets in order to escape poverty permanently.

(b) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS- It is the sense of the Congress that the provisions of this resolution assume that Congress should modify the Federal tax law to include Individual Development Account provisions in order to encourage low-income workers and their families to save for buying a first home, starting a business, obtaining an education , or taking other measures to prepare for the future.

SEC. 30. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS ON THE IMPORTANCE OF SUPPORTING THE NATION'S EMERGENCY FIRST-RESPONDERS.

(a) FINDINGS- The Congress finds that--

(1) over 1.2 million men and women work as fire and emergency services personnel in 32,000 fire and emergency medical services departments across the Nation;

(2) over 80 percent of those who serve do so as volunteers;

(3) the Nation's firefighters responded to more than 18 million calls in 1998, including over 1.7 million fires;

(4) an average of 100 firefighters per year lose their lives in the course of their duties; and

(5) the Federal Government has a role in protecting the health and safety of the Nation's fire fighting personnel.

(b) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS- It is the sense of the Congress that--

(1) recognizing the Nation's firefighters and emergency services crucial role in preserving and protecting life and property, such Federal assistance as low-interest loan programs, community development block grant reforms, emergency radio spectrum reallocations, and volunteer fire assistance programs, should be considered; and

(2) additional resources should be set aside for such assistance.

SEC. 31. ENHANCED ENFORCEMENT OF BUDGETARY LIMITS.

(a) PROHIBITION ON USE OF DIRECTED SCOREKEEPING- (1) It shall not be in order in the House to consider any reported bill or joint resolution, or amendment thereto or conference report thereon, that contains a directed scorekeeping provision.

(2) As used in this subsection, the term `directed scorekeeping' means directing the Congressional Budget Office or the Office of Management and Budget to estimate any provision providing discretionary new budget authority in a bill or joint resolution making general appropriations for a fiscal year for budgetary enforcement purposes.

(b) PROHIBITION ON USE OF ADVANCE APPROPRIATIONS- (1) It shall not be in order in the House to consider any reported bill or joint resolution, or amendment thereto or conference report thereon, that would cause the total level of discretionary advance appropriations provided for fiscal years after 2001 to exceed $23 billion (which represents the total level of advance appropriations for fiscal year 2001).

(2) As used in this subsection, the term `advance appropriation' means any discretionary new budget authority in a bill or joint resolution making general appropriations for fiscal year 2001 that first becomes available for any fiscal year after 2001.

(c) EFFECTIVE DATE- This section shall cease to have any force or effect on January 1, 2001.

Passed the House of Representatives March 24 (legislative day, March 23), 2000.

Attest:

JEFF TRANDAHL,

Clerk.

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