Publications :  The Watcher :  OMB Watcher Vol. 6: 2005 :  November 1, 2005 Vol. 6, No. 22 : 

In This Issue

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Service Cuts for the Poor to Finance Tax Cuts for the Rich (11/01/2005)
Over the last two weeks, Congress has forged forward with plans to enact fiscally irresponsible budget and tax reconciliation bills that together will raise the deficit by as much as $35 billion over the next five years. That such a plan ignores new fiscal strains and the public's changed priorities since Hurricane Katrina seems of little consequence to lawmakers. Despite reaching agreement earlier this year on the elements of a dreadfully harmful reconciliation package, the House and Senate are currently crafting even more appalling (and now drastically different) bills. The various versions now aim to cut more than the original $34.7 billion from entitlement programs agreed to last April and threaten the ability of the two chambers to reach consensus in conference committee later this fall.

Congress' Reconciliation Work Crowds Out Appropriations (11/01/2005)
A month after the close of Fiscal year 2005, the Senate has finally completed work on all appropriations bills funding discretionary spending in 2006 after wrapping up the Labor/Health and Human Services bill last week. Conference negotiations with the House, however, remain on eight of the 11 spending bills, and time is running out for Congress to complete the appropriations bills before the stark continuing resolution currently funding the federal government expires on Nov. 18. While it is not rare for Congress to miss its appropriations deadline, this year's delays are especially contentious given that much of the congressional leadership's energies over the past month have been spent working on reconciliation bills that lack fiscal responsibility, compassion and, perhaps most importantly, necessity.

Congress Remains Out of Step with Public in Hurricane Relief Efforts (11/01/2005)
It has been two months since Hurricane Katrina hit and one month since Rita made landfall on the already-ravaged Gulf Coast, yet reverberations continue to be felt not only in Washington, but throughout the country. Congress was forced to reshuffle the legislative calendar to address the immediate needs of the relief effort, postponing consideration of the reconciliation bills and a vote on repealing the estate tax, dropping Social Security reform legislation, and passing a stark continuing resolution to fund government services past the end of the fiscal year and allow for more time to pass the annual appropriations bills. Outside of Washington though, a larger reshuffling is occurring as the vast majority of Americans no longer believe the country is on the right track and are turning to government to help redress some of the startling inequalities witnessed in the wake of the hurricanes.

TRI: The Tool For Public Protection Against Toxic Pollution (11/01/2005)
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) implied that the public had already received most of the benefits the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) could offer when the agency recently proposed significantly cutting the amount of information companies report under the program. This is not, however, reflected in the facts, which show the TRI continues to be an important public health tool widely used by community groups, labor unions, local officials and citizens.

Industry Derails Labor Safety Rule with Data Quality Challenge (11/01/2005)
A coalition of mining companies and trade associations appears to have used the Data Quality Act to derail a Mine Safety Health Administration (MSHA) rule that would protect miners from harmful particulate matter in diesel exhaust. The challenge did not raise actual objections to data quality; instead it couched industry's disagreements with the rule in data quality language. The tactic, however, appears to have succeeded in impelling the agency to publish a modification to the rule that weakens the mine worker protections.

Nonprofit Gag Passes in House, Has Uncertain Future in Senate (11/01/2005)
A bill dealing with oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that establishes a new affordable housing fund passed the House, but at the expense of nonprofits' rights to engage in, or affiliate with organizations that engage in, nonpartisan voter registration or lobbying activities.

FEC Considers Broadcast Rule Change (11/01/2005)
On Oct. 20 the Federal Election Commission (FEC) heard testimony on its reconsideration of a rule on treatment of grassroots broadcasts by charities and religious organizations in campaign finance regulations. OMB Watch testified in support of an exemption for grassroots lobbying from the "electioneering communications" rule, which bans corporations, including nonprofits, from referring to federal candidates in broadcasts made 60 days before a general election or 30 days before a primary.

OMB Watch Report on Charity and the War on Terror (11/01/2005)
Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, federal measures intended to cut off terrorism funding have imposed undue burdens on the nonprofit sector. An OMB Watch report released at the end of October, Safeguarding Charity in the War on Terror, addresses the unbalanced anti-terrorist financing regulations and guidelines that, according to the report, "lack a basic understanding of how nonprofits function, and ultimately do not help -- and may even hinder -- the global war on terror." The report then goes on to call for improving the current system, so that nonprofit organizations and foundations can pursue legitimate charitable activities.

Charitable Reform and Giving Legislation For the Long Haul (11/01/2005)
Charitable reform and giving legislation is moving piecemeal in both the House and Senate, focusing on specific abuses of the sector and charitable giving incentives in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Senate Uses Minimum Wage Increase to Push Anti-Regulatory Agenda (11/01/2005)
The recently revised unfunded mandates point of order was invoked in the Senate to kill dueling amendments to raise the minimum wage, one of which included a Republican counterproposal to "offset" the wage increase with several pro-business anti-regulatory provisions.

Nanotech, Genetically Modified Crop News Spotlights Regulatory Gaps (11/01/2005)
New evidence of long-term persistence of genetically modified crops and new concerns about gaps in monitoring of nanotechnology underscore the risks from failing to embed the Precautionary Principle in regulatory policy.

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