By SHERRY HALBROOK and JOHN MURPHY
Hurricane Katrina may have hit the Gulf Coast, but the political and fiscal storm is still raging in Washington.
With the federal fiscal year starting October 1, eight congressional budget authorizing committees had a deadline of September 16 to report $34.7 billion in savings from mandatory spending over five years, with $1.5 billion in FY 2006, but all of that is now in disarray.
As this magazine goes to press in mid-September, many done or nearly done budget deals are threatening to come undone.
For instance, President George W. Bush recently signed the Transportation Bill which boosts funding for highways, transit and safety programs by 42 percent over the previous six-year budget appropriation. The new budget gives New York up to $10.5 billion for highways, up about $2 billion from last time.
Now, Bush, who is proposing $200 billion for Katrina relief, is already talking about reopening the Transportation Bill and taking some of that money back.
The situation is not so desperate, however, that Bush is ready to give up plans to expand tax cuts for the wealthy or his plan to privatize Social Security.
Sharing the pain
Since many NYS agencies depend heavily on federal funding, PEF is working closely with its international affiliates in Washington, which closely follow the federal budget process, to forecast the storm surge and potential destruction that still could be headed this way.
“We’re fortunate to have two strong affiliates — the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) — helping to look out for us,” said PEF President Roger Benson. “But we also recognize the disaster in the south is a burden that all of us must share, just as they sacrificed to help New York after the attacks here just four years ago.”
Benson said PEF’s labor-management committees are also on alert to watch for any sudden changes at the state level that may come from the new national priorities.
According to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley, budget reconciliation would be the committee’s third priority after Hurricane Katrina relief and the nomination process for the chief justice of the Supreme Court.
Caught in the storm
Among the federal budget issues in the works when the storm hit was the appropriation for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Senate was preparing to take up the Commerce-Science-Justice bill.
The Senate Finance Committee is considering cuts to both Medicare and Medicaid in its search to find $10 billion in savings for the FY 2006 budget resolution. Meanwhile, the House Energy and Commerce Committee is looking at cutting the full $10 billion from Medicaid.
Differences between the House and Senate versions of the labor funding legislation also remain unresolved since it came out of committee in the Senate. This legislation pays for a big share of New York’s unemployment and other labor programs. Among the issues to be resolved between the House of Representatives and the Senate are block grants and a requirement for funding contributions from “partner programs.”
The House bill would repeal longstanding civil rights protections that prohibit religious-based employment discrimination by job-training providers. Although the Senate bill does not contain such a provision, an amendment on this issue may be offered when it comes up for a vote on the floor.
PEF supports approved funding and continued adherence to the provisions of the Wagner-Peyser Act. PEF opposes the proposal to consolidate programs into a block grant and repeal of the religious-based discrimination provisions. Benson has expressed PEF’s concerns directly to both of New York’s senators.
Working together for NYS
PEF has been working with the Albany Housing Authority in trying to reverse the decrease in federal Housing and Urban Development funding that
could lead to service cuts and layoffs of PEF members and others at the authority.
Benson also wrote to the senators, New York’s delegation in the House and to HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson, urging HUD to honor the agreement it reached with housing authorities and stop a rule the Bush administration wants to impose that would cost New York approximately $200 million a year in federal housing funds — double what a negotiated version of the rule would cost.
PEF and the Albany Housing Authority have jointly lobbied Rep. Michael McNulty, and now the entire New York Congressional Delegation along with Sens. Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer have come together in signing a critical letter to Jackson, urging HUD to restore federal housing funds for New York.
These efforts are having some success. The House measure would use the negotiated rule.
It’s uncertain how much time is left to turn the tide on these issues.
The Senate is expected to recess for one week beginning October 10, but remain in session into mid-December. House leaders are predicting a late-November adjournment.
The
Communicator October 05
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