This Administration has not made reducing the size and effectiveness of government a stated goal; however, the strides that are being made to devolve responsibilities to the states and to privatize government functions, deregulate and limit government oversight, and defund government by reducing federal (and often state) revenue through huge tax cuts, make the words unnecessary. One new and potentially effective tool in this effort to delimit the role of the federal government is the “Program Assessment Rating Tool,” or “PART.”


Responses to President's FY 2004 Budget Proposal (02/10/2003)

The President issued his FY 2004 budget proposal February 3, which was received with accolades by some and with great criticism by others worried that several key education, housing and environmental programs would suffer under his proposed funding levels. Included in this article are links to OMB Watch analyses, as well as the responses of other organizations and Members of Congress.

Dynamic Dysfunctions (02/10/2003)
At the start of this Congress, the Republican-led House Ways and Means Committee made the implementation of the controversial practice of “dynamic scoring” for budget decisions one of its first orders of business.

Update: FY 2003 Appropriations Drawing to a Close? (02/10/2003)
As reported in today’s Washington Post, House and Senate conferees are nearing completion on negotiations over H.R. 2, the omnibus bill for the remaining 11 FY 2003 appropriations bills that were not enacted by last October 1.

Treasury Department Warns U.S. Will Reach Debt Limit Soon (02/10/2003)

In addition to the National Priorities Project’s handy “State of the States” reports announced in the last Watcher, there is also a new set of fact sheets from AFSCME documenting the draconian cuts states have been forced to make to contend with their 3-year cumulative budget gap of $189 billion. A one-page fact sheet looks comprehensively at the cuts used by many states to meet their own constitutions’ mandates of a balanced budget. Some of the cuts recently used by states include releasing prisoners before completion of their sentences, cuts to higher education, increases in tuition at state universities, reducing funds for community services and child support enforcement, tightening eligibility requirements for the working poor and disabled for state Medicaid health plans, raiding state rainy day funds, and layoffs. Other state-by-state analyses will be available soon, which OMB Watch will note.

Patriot Act II Also Limits the Public's Right-to-Know (02/10/2003)
(Revised February 13, 2003)
The U.S. Department of Justice appears ready to ask Congress to allow broader surveillance of citizens and aliens and to grant wide new avenues for government censorship. A "confidential" draft of an 86-page bill called the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003 would help transform the government into the big brother you never had and would greatly constrain the free flow of information.


Ray of Sunshine at SEC? (02/10/2003)

In the wake of retirees' losses piling into the millions from the Enron and Worldcom scandals, the president's budget proposes a much needed infusion of cash into the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), part of which is earmarked to help the public in efforts to track corporate wrongdoing.

Supreme Court to Hear Freedom of Information Case (02/10/2003)

Department of the Treasury v. City of Chicago, which likely will be heard by the Supreme Court next month, has the potential to significantly narrow the application of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Any time a case involving FOIA comes before the Supreme Court it is a cause of concern for public access advocates since any Supreme Court ruling introduces a binding precedent throughout the legal system.


CRS Resolution Would Make Congressional Reports Available to the Public (02/10/2003)

Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) are preparing to introduce a resolution to make Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports and products publicly available on the Internet. The CRS is a research arm of the U.S. Congress, which authors numerous reports and products on issues ranging from the environment to budget.


Limited CARE Bill Passes Senate Finance Committee (02/10/2003)

On February 5, the Senate Finance Committee passed a scaled back version of the Charity Aid, Relief and Empowerment Act that has tax incentives for charitable giving, eliminates the distinction between direct and grassroots lobbying, restores funding for the Social Services Block Grant and increases oversight of nonprofits. The bill, S. 256, does not include the provisions on "equal treatment" of faith-based and community organizations applying for federal grants that were in last year's CARE bill. However, Sens. Rick Santorum (R-PA) and Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) have filed another version of CARE, S. 272, that does have the "equal treatment" provisions. It is expected that if the bill moves to the Senate floor the charitable giving and faith-based provisions will be merged.

OMB Proposes Changes in Regulatory Decision-Making (02/10/2003)
OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) proposed new guidance February 3 that instructs federal agencies how to make regulatory decisions, including the specific analytical methods that should be employed.

EPA Sidesteps Action on Dangerous Herbicide in Drinking Water (02/10/2003)
EPA will continue to allow widespread use of the weed killer atrazine despite evidence that it has contaminated certain drinking water systems at levels 12 times greater than allowed by law.

New Marine Diesel Rule Falls Short (02/10/2003)
EPA is issuing a weak final rule to limit nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from new marine diesel engines in large ships and tankers. The standards are equivalent to those contained in a previous international agreement, which manufacturers are already meeting, and are not expected to have much effect.

Court Ruling Overturned: Mining Companies Free to Bury Streams Once Again (02/10/2003)
To the delight of the mining industry, a federal appeals court overturned a ruling that blocked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from issuing permits to allow the dumping of waste from mountaintop mining into rivers and valleys.

Bipartisan Bill Seeks to Increase SUV Fuel Efficiency (02/10/2003)
Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) introduced a bill (S. 265) that would require sport utility vehicles (SUVs) to meet the same fuel efficiency standards as passenger cars.