04-01-2000

CONGRESS: Hot Bills

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


GAS PRICES


House: Sent five bills, which cut federal gasoline taxes from between 4.3
cents a gallon to 10 cents, to the Ways and Means Committee.


Senate: Floor action is pending on S. 2285.


Outlook: After groping for a response to rising gas prices, Republican
leaders now agree that cutting gas taxes by 4.3 cents a gallon for one
year, and suspending the entire 18.4 cent tax for a year if prices hit $2,
might mollify angry motorists. But their plan to tap the budget surplus to
fill the funding gaps for highway projects could backfire, creating more
rage down the road.


SOCIAL SECURITY EARNINGS LIMIT


House: Approved final version of H.R. 5 on March 28, 419-0.


Senate: Approved H.R. 5 on March 22, 100-0.


Outlook: President Clinton is expected to sign the bill, which allows full
Social Security benefits for people who keep working beyond the current
retirement age of 65, by mid-April.


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: House-Senate negotiators reportedly have moved closer to a deal
on an appeals process for health maintenance organization patients who are
denied medical care, but other obstacles remain to reaching a compromise
bill.


FEDERAL BUDGET


House: Approved H.Con.Res. 290 on March 24, 211-207.


Senate: Budget Committee approved a draft budget on March 30,
12-10.


Outlook: Senate GOP leaders struck a deal with conservatives to commit
surplus funds toward debt relief, enforce fiscal discipline, and limit use
of gimmicks to hide spending increases. But critics foresee a return to
gimmicks when appropriators try to implement an ambitious spending and tax
cutting plan.


MARRIAGE PENALTY TAX RELIEF


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


Senate: Finance Committee approved a draft bill on March 30, 11-9.


Outlook: Senate Republicans have set an April 14 target date to pass a
bill with more tax cuts than the House version, despite the President's
threat to veto anything as large as the House bill. But the Senate bill
must survive a likely floor challenge from critics of its price
tag.


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 cut bill by adding a $1
minimum-wage increase over two years, while the Senate mixed
small-business tax relief and a three-year wage hike with bankruptcy
reform legislation. Senators are trying to untangle the issues but seem
unlikely to satisfy White House demands that they separate tax cuts from
the wage hike.




National Journal