Publications :  The Watcher :  OMB Watcher Vol. 4: 2003 :  May 19, 2003 Vol. 4 No. 10 : 

In This Issue

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Read the Watcher in Full in Easy-to-Print PDF Format (05/19/2003)
For your convenience, the OMB Watcher is also available in full as a PDF document -- this will allow for viewing and printing of the entire issue in one document.

Budget Shorts (05/19/2003)
Nine days until default; the Sojourners fight preemptive audits for low-income households; and the Children's Defense Fund releases their Action Guide.

Garbage In, Garbage Out: Two Bad Tax Cut Bills Won't Make One Good One (05/19/2003)
Conference negotiations to reconcile the tax cuts bills passed by the House and Senate are expected to begin tomorrow, and Congress hopes to pass a tax cut bill by the Memorial Day recess, although this may prove impossible.

EPA Blasted for 'Senior Death Discount' (05/19/2003)
During a recent series of public meetings, senior citizens and public health advocates attacked EPA’s practice of assigning less value to the lives of those over 70 when monetizing the benefits of prospective regulation -- causing agency Administrator Christie Whitman to denounce the method herself.

Administration Issues Report on Small Business Paperwork (05/19/2003)
An administration task force, led by the Office of Management and Budget, published a draft report on May 9 that makes recommendations to reduce reporting burdens on small business. Comments on the report -- which is mandated by the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act (SBPRA), enacted a year ago -- are due by June 4.

EPA Drops Risk-Based Exemptions in First of Six Air Rules (05/19/2003)
EPA recently issued final standards to address hazardous air pollution from the brick and clay products industry, leaving out provisions suggested in its draft proposal to exempt facilities based on the level of health risk posed to surrounding communities.


OSHA Continues to Issue Unenforceable Ergonomics Guidelines (05/19/2003)
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently released draft voluntary guidelines for the prevention of repetitive stress injuries -- the most pressing health and safety issue confronting the workplace today -- at retail grocery stores.

FBI Finally Returns Illegally Confiscated Package (05/19/2003)
An Associated Press package that was illegally confiscated, as reported in a March 24 OMB Watcher article, was finally returned to the AP after 7 months. The FBI returned the package on May 11, with general counsel Patrick Kelley acknowledging that they had mishandled the material. An internal disciplinary inquiry is taking place, as well as the development of guidelines on handling news media material.

$28 Billion Question Mark (05/19/2003)
The Pentagon has spent almost all of the $28.5 billion in “emergency-response” funds allocated to them by Congress in the year after the September 11th attacks. However, almost nothing is available to the public explaining how the taxpayer’s money was spent. Apparently, even confidential reports to congressional staff leave too many questions about the expenditures unanswered.

Data Quality Counter-Challenge (05/19/2003)
Recently, the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service received their first challenge under the Data Quality Act. Soon after, they also received a precedent-setting counter-challenge. While several agencies have received a variety of challenges under the Data Quality Act, none have received a counter-petition.

Stay of Campaign Finance Decision Granted (05/19/2003)
A host of entities involved in the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of last year’s Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA) have been granted a stay of a special federal three-judge panel’s ruling that declared some parts of the Bipartisan BCRA unconstitutional, while upholding others. The same panel granted the stay of its ruling on May 19th.



Defense Rider Gives Unjustified Secrecy to Intelligence Agency (05/19/2003)
The Defense Department's budget authorization bill for fiscal year 2004 includes a provision that would further shroud the National Security Agency (NSA) in secrecy, even though no public case has been made for the provision.

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