Legislative Update XXI

The House of Representatives passed funding for high-speed rail projects, lifted a stupid ban on using taxpayer dollars for needle exchange programs for intravenous drug users, and passed a measure to require PAYGO, or "pay-as-you-go" budget rules. House committees approved bills to Puerto Ricans decide their island's political status and to shift student loan lending from FFELP to the Department of Education's Direct Loan program instead per President Obama's request.

The Senate approved a defense spending bill that includes the F-22 and alternate F-35 engine cuts that President Obama and the Pentagon wanted. The Senate also rejected an amendment to would have let people carry hidden guns in 48 states if they have a concealed weapon permit in any one of them. Differences now need to be resolved with the House.

As for health care, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says the Senate will miss the August deadline for a vote on legislation and it will be postponed until September. The House may vote next week (or not), but work is still ongoing. The White House isn't happy, of course, but still hopeful.

Legislative Update XX

The House of Representatives to protect wild horses from slaughter and give them millions of more acres to roam.

The Senate confirmed retired astronaut Maj. Gen. Charles Bolden to be the next head of NASA. The Senate also added a hate crimes provision for sexual orientation and genders as part of the defense appropriations bill to be completed next week. The House had already passed a bill, but the defense bill this is attached to is under a veto threat for F-22 spending that the White House and Pentagon don't want. And it looks like the infamous "card check" provision will be dropped from the Employee Free Choice Act to win over enough support from conservative Dems.

The Senate Judiciary Committee conducted hearings for Sonia Sotomayor and her nomination to be an associate justice on the Supreme Court. Most observers think Sotomayor was cool and collected and impressed even her GOP questioners. Her confirmation by the August recess seems assured, as even some Republicans are going to vote for her.

The House Intelligence Committee will investigate whether the CIA broke the law by not telling Congress earlier about a secret program for terrorist assassination teams.

The House Ways and Means Committee and the Education and Labor Committee have approved a sweeping health care reform bill (which has been endorsed by the AMA), but it still needs to be approved by the Energy and Commerce Committee before going to the full House.

Senate passes hate crimes measure, SCHIP expansion

As an amendment to the 2008 defense authorization bill, the U.S. Senate passed, 60-39, the Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act which expands federal hate crimes law to cover GLBT persons. Everyone in the Democratic caucus voted to end debate on the bill and it had enough Republican support obviously to invoke cloture and it was agreed to on a voice vote. The House passed it as a stand-alone bill a few months ago; it should make it into the conference report on the defense authorization bills pretty easily. The question now is whether President Bush will veto the entire bill because of the hate-crimes component he opposes.

The Senate also approved the conference report for the expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (covering millions more children than previously), 67-29 - a veto-proof majority. On Tuesday, the House approved it 265-159 which is 24 votes short of override President Bush's promised veto. Now 8 Democrats (a mix of conservatives like Rep. Gene Taylor and liberals such as Rep. Dennis Kucinich) voted against the bill, but they may change their vote on an override vote. But it doesn't look good as far as getting more Republicans on board in further proof that Republicans (especially in the House) are intent on following Bush off a cliff come next year's elections.