The chart in this article provides a comparison of some economic stimulus plans that have not come out of Congress. For a comparison of the Bush plan with Congressional plans, see this chart.

Unemployment Assistance Needs to Go Farther (01/13/2003)
With last week’s round of self-congratulating that followed the President’s signing of an extension of federally-funded unemployment benefits, one might think that the bill’s benefits would reach all unemployed workers in the country. Indeed, the bill’s signing came just in time for those workers whose regular (or state-funded) unemployment benefits ended December 28. Without the extension of the federally-funded “Temporary Emergency Unemployment Compensation” (TEUC), these workers would have been left with no assistance. Under the renewal of the TEUC, this group of unemployed workers will receive 13 weeks of federally-funded unemployment benefits, or up to 26 weeks, if they reside in states with exceptionally high unemployment rates.

House Republicans Institute Dynamic Scoring; Waive Debt-Ceiling Votes (01/13/2003)
Included among its questionable first actions in the 108th Congress, the Republican-led House Ways and Means Committee made two new troubling rule changes that will govern House legislation around the federal budget.

Continuing Resolution, Take 8 (01/13/2003)
Last week the House and Senate Passed, and the President signed the eighth continuing resolution (CR) of the FY 2003 budget season. This CR will keep the federal government and the programs it funds going through January 31, 2003. Without the CR, there would be no funding for these programs and the government would be forced to shut down – an option no one wanted to serve as the opening to the 108th Congress last week. As discussed in previous issues of the Watcher, there are many problems for agencies trying to operate under a stream of CR’s, which only continue last year’s funding levels, with no increase for inflation. There is hope that this will be the last CR necessary for FY 2003, as many in Congress want to complete work on the remaining 11 appropriations bills by combining them into an omnibus appropriations bill – to allow them to move on to the FY 2004 budget.

Agencies Going Full Steam Ahead With Faith-Based Initiative (01/13/2003)
Since the President issued an Executive Order on December 12, 2002, requiring equal treatment of faith-based and secular organizations when applying for federal grants, three agencies have taken action to fill in the details with provisions that look very much like H.R. 7, the controversial version of charitable choice that passed the House of Representatives in 2001. Both the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) are seeking public comments on their proposed new grant regulations. The Department of Education has issued new guidelines, with no opportunity for public comment.

IRS News (01/13/2003)
Nonprofits that wish to comment on changes in IRS Form 990 have until January 28 to submit their recommendations on proposed changes in the areas of fundraising, organizational accountability, foreign grants and PACs. For more information, see the OMB Watch summary of proposed changes.

This Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has published a new IRS Continuing Professional Education (CPE) manual on tax-exempt organizations that focuses on consumer credit counseling organizations. Further chapters will be published as they are written. The CEP manuals provide helpful information to nonprofits, but they are primarily for IRS staff training purposes, and cannot be cited as authority. A summary of the 2003 IRS Workplan for exempt organizations is also on our site.

Proposed Forest Rule Creates NEPA Loophole (01/13/2003)
A new U.S. Forest Service rule would grant an exemption to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for certain small timber sales. The rule, which was proposed last week, would allow timber projects to eschew environmental assessments and impact statements -- normally required under NEPA -- provided that the project area poses a risk of wildfire or contains insect-infested or diseased trees.