Campaign Watch: Congressional Scorecard, Summer 2008

Long before the Nov. 4 voting day, election-year politics are dominating the last months of the 110th Congress. The Constitution requires that Congress enact some legislation—such as annual appropriations. Congress also hopes to enact some popular proposals to help its sagging public stature. Current circumstances prompt other actions—like offering consumers help with the housing crisis and dealing with soaring energy prices. Finally, there is a long list of proposals being brandished with purely partisan political motives.

Here is a wrap-up of the most significant initiatives:

MUST-PASS LEGISLATION
Proposal: Annual appropriations for Fiscal Year 2009. These 13 bills total more than $1 trillion for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1, 2008, and will likely be rolled into one or two major bills, called continuing resolutions, that for the most part allow government operations to continue at current funding levels until after the election.

Status: House and Senate committees are weighing these measures. Decisions on how to proceed with these bills likely will be made in August.

AARP Position: AARP will focus its lobbying efforts on a just a few specific items: more funds for the Social Security Administration, for senior job training and for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. AARP favors balancing new spending with spending cuts and in principle favors creating a commission that would study and recommend a path to balancing the federal budget. This may be part of a continuing resolution.

Proposal: Defense spending. Congress passed a supplemental defense bill providing extra funds for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars this spring. Lawmakers are now considering the administration’s defense authorization bill and its spending plan for 2009 and will be pressured to show that in a time of war they can enact a defense spending bill. That effort could be sidetracked by conflicting demands from Republicans who insist that military spending not be limited and from Democrats who favor a hasty withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

Status: House and Senate appropriations committees are considering the legislation.

AARP Position: AARP won’t lobby on this measure.

IMAGE-BUILDING LEGISLATION
Proposal: Global health aid. Congress will be asked to develop an ambitious program of assistance, including up to $50 billion in aid for AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in Africa and other countries.

Status: This has been passed by the House and approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The administration favors the measure.

AARP Position: AARP has not taken a position on this measure.

Proposal: Consumer safety program. Proposal includes a ban on or tightened regulation of lead in toys.

Status: The House and Senate have passed similar versions of this bill, but are trying to reconcile the differences. The administration opposes parts of the Senate bill.

AARP Position: AARP has not taken a position on this measure.

TIMELY BUT IFFY LEGISLATION

Proposal: Patching the Alternative Minimum Tax. As many as 20 million taxpayers face additional taxes under the AMT, which aims to close loopholes and minimize tax credits utilized by the wealthy.

Status: The House has passed a one-year measure that limits the AMT. The administration opposes the House measure. The Senate has not addressed the measure.

AARP Position: AARP has not taken a position on this measure.

LEGISLATION FOR THEATER

Proposal: Energy policy. With gas prices passing $4 a gallon, both parties are anxious to get credit for easing the price squeeze. Both parties agree on the need for a combination of greater conservation; development of new, alternative energy sources; and new oil and gas production. Democrats favor conservation and new energy sources, while Republicans favor greater oil and gas production, including in offshore areas previously protected for environmental concerns.

Status: The House has passed a package of energy tax incentives. The Senate has been stymied by lack of consensus and procedural restrictions.

AARP Position: AARP has not taken a position on this issue.

Proposal: Economic stimulus II. Democrats are developing a second economic stimulus plan.

Status: House and Senate Democrats are developing a package of economic incentives over the objections of skeptical Republicans.

AARP Position: AARP has not taken a position on this legislation.

Proposal: Health information technology. This long-delayed proposal requires health providers—doctors, pharmacists, specialists and hospitals—to develop uniform technology for communicating patients’ medical and health information. The concept is regarded as a major tool in improving health safety and cutting health care costs. The proposals also provide funding for first steps in implementing this system.

Status: There are several competing proposals, but major compromises addressing privacy concerns have been reached. This may be an election-year casualty.

AARP Position: AARP favors this concept.

ALREADY PASSED
Proposal: Home mortgage policy overhaul. This comprehensive measure would help several hundred thousand homeowners facing foreclosure get new, cheaper loans. It set new initiatives to shore up federally supported mortgage financiers, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and a new agency to regulate them. It also puts new restrictions on reverse mortgages, especially restricting fees; it includes a plan for the Federal Housing Administration to insure up to $300 billion in new, more affordable, fixed-rate loans; and creates new funding for purchasing and reselling foreclosed urban properties.Treasury Secretary Henry Paulsen played a key role in negotiating details of the measure despite misgivings within the Bush Administration.

Status: The measure was approved by the House, 272-152, and by the Senate, 72-13. President Bush signed the bill July 30, 2008.

AARP Position: AARP supported the measure, particularly improvements in reverse mortgage protection and efforts to tighten FHA operations.

Proposal: Medicare physician rate cut. After major lobbying and moments of high drama, Congress passed legislation stalling a fee cut for more than 600,000 doctors serving Medicare patients, trimming private Medicare Advantage program spending and enhancing Medicare provisions and procedures. The bill cleared the Senate after a dramatic appearance by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who returned to the Senate chamber for the first time since surgery on a malignant brain tumor in May. President Bush vetoed the bill arguing that the Medicare Advantage cuts would reduce coverage for some Medicare recipients. But the veto was overridden. Without the measure, Medicare doctors faced a 10.6 percent cut, effective July 1. The bill also expands mental health care and dental care and provides incentives for electronic prescriptions.  

Status: The Senate and House successfully overrode President Bush's veto of the measure.

AARP Position: AARP has joined the American Medical Association and aggressively lobbied in favor of this measure. Nearly 1.5 million letters, e-mails and telephone calls were recorded from AARP members. Volunteers from 13 states also traveled to Washington for a week of lobbying.

Proposal: 2009 Budget Resolution. President Bush proposed a $3.1 trillion budget, including a $407 deficit. It cut Medicare and Medicaid spending, health research, low-income energy assistance and housing funds for the elderly. The budget proposed creating private accounts carved out of Social Security. The budget did not include the cost of a $168 billion economic stimulus or the expected request of additional funds for Iraq and Afghanistan.

Status: The House and Senate agreed on a $3.03 trillion spending plan in June. The resolution does not require a presidential signature and does not have the force of law. But it does set caps on congressional appropriations. A resolution also enables changes in tax levels by a simple majority vote in the Senate, a critical feature.

AARP Position: Congress should include several important initiatives: Adequate funding for the Social Security Administration, for the low income housing energy assistance program (LIHEAP), for job training and education programs. Cuts in Medicare Medicaid should be minimized, and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program should be expanded.

Proposal: Economic Stimulus. This is a $168 billion plan to stimulate a sluggish economy wrenched by a national housing crisis and credit crunch. The Bush Administration and House leaders negotiated a plan. Senate Democrats added a special provision for Social Security recipients. The president signed the measure. The basic plan would grant $600 payments for individuals and $1,200 for couples, plus $300 for each child younger than 17. It would begin to phase out eligibility at $75,000 in adjusted gross income for individuals and at $150,000 for couples. Workers who earned $3,000 last year—too little on which to pay income taxes—would be eligible for payments of $300. Those $300 payments would also go to seniors, disabled veterans and veterans' widows who could show $3,000 in Social Security or veterans' disability benefits. Rebate checks are to be mailed starting in May.

AARP Position: AARP lobbied for the plan, especially the $300 targeted to Social Security recipients. AARP is also helping the public outreach program. (See Advisory About Economic Stimulus Payments)