Publications :  The Watcher :  OMB Watcher Vol. 9: 2008 :  March 18, 2008 Vol. 9, No. 6 : 

In This Issue

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White House Interferes with Smog Rule (03/18/2008)
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced March 12 its revision to the national air quality standard for ozone, or smog. While the new standard is an improvement, EPA did not go as far as its own scientists had recommended. Last-minute changes orchestrated by the White House have also mired the rule change in controversy. In addition to the new standard, EPA proposed legislative changes to the Clean Air Act, which environmentalists and lawmakers immediately criticized.

Bipartisan Consensus Forming on CPSC Reform (03/18/2008)
Although differences between the House and Senate still exist, Congress is moving toward a bipartisan agreement on major reforms to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Bills from each chamber need to be reconciled, but if Congress can agree on a single proposal, it will set up a showdown with the Bush administration over new provisions intended to expand consumer protections by revitalizing the CPSC.

House Passes Compromise FISA Bill (03/18/2008)
The House recently rejected the president's request to pass and send to the White House a Senate bill to extend surveillance authority and grant telecommunications companies retroactive immunity for assisting in wiretapping. Instead, on March 14, the House passed the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 (H.R. 3773), which rejects immunity for telecommunications companies and imposes stronger civil liberties safeguards.

Sunshine Week Arrives (03/18/2008)
The week of March 17 marks the third annual national Sunshine Week, a nonpartisan campaign to promote openness in government and access to public records.

EPA Blasted for Library Closings (03/18/2008)
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was blasted in both judicial and congressional forums for closing seven of its libraries over the past several years. In a Feb. 15 ruling, a federal arbitrator found EPA guilty of unfair labor practices with respect to the closings. One month later, Congress heard testimony from several sources, including the Government Accountability Office (GAO), that EPA's library restructuring plan was poorly conceived, planned, and implemented.

Pressure Flushes CDC Report Out of Hiding (03/18/2008)
In response to allegations of suppression of science, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released a draft report that the agency will continue to modify due to CDC concerns that the report too closely links environmental pollution with adverse health effects in the Great Lakes region.

After Long Delays, House Creates Independent Ethics Panel (03/18/2008)
On March 11, the House voted to create an Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE). The six-member independent panel will have the power to begin formal investigations into allegations of ethics violations of House members and either dismiss the claims or refer them to the House Ethics Committee. OCE members will be appointed jointly by the Speaker of the House and the Minority Leader. The debate over the panel was intense, and Democratic leaders were forced to pull the proposal from the floor twice before the vote. The vote ends a process that took more than a year to resolve.

Senate Looks at Claims that Voter Fraud Justifies Photo ID Requirements (03/18/2008)
The Senate Committee on Rules and Administration held a hearing March 12 on the controversial tactics states and the federal government have used and proposed in response to claims of voter fraud. Senators who testified were sharply divided along partisan lines. Democrats argued that voter fraud is a false pretence used to justify laws that disenfranchise poor, minority, and elderly voters, but Republicans asserted that the problem is real and needs to be addressed. Nonpartisan witnesses cautioned lawmakers against exaggerating the extent of any election fraud.

Bills Improving Federal Contracting Gain Momentum (03/18/2008)
In FY 2007, the federal government paid contractors about $420 billion to provide thousands of goods and services, but it had little insight into whether those companies were delinquent in paying their federal taxes, had broken contracting rules or laws, or if those firms paid top-level executives exorbitant levels of compensation. However, if several proposed bills become law, these obstacles to oversight and transparency will be greatly reduced. H.R.s 3033, 3928, and 4881 were approved by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee the week of March 10, while H.R. 5602 and a companion Senate bill were introduced the same week.

Budget Resolution: Recap and the Road Ahead (03/18/2008)
Late on March 13 and early in the morning of March 14, the House and Senate adopted $3 trillion budget resolutions for Fiscal Year 2009 by votes of 212-207 and 51-44, respectively. While the resolutions are similar in terms of broad policy outlines and priorities, they differ on a few major points, including the total amount of discretionary spending and whether to offset the cost of a one-year patch to the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).

GAO Report Examines Overuse of Supplemental Spending (03/18/2008)
In a recently released report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) examined ten years of supplemental spending (FY 1997-FY 2006) and found not only a five-fold increase in the amount of expenditures funded through the supplemental process, but also that procedures that enable legislative deliberation are bypassed when Congress funds government operations through supplemental spending. Supplemental spending has become an alternative funding process, parallel to the normal annual appropriations process. This allows certain expenditures to elide close congressional and public scrutiny and allows Congress to escape debate over federal funding priorities.

House Panel Hears Testimony on IRS Policies (03/18/2008)
On March 13, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight heard testimony concerning the 2008 tax return filing season, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) operations, the Fiscal Year 2009 budget proposals, and the National Taxpayer Advocate's Annual Report to Congress. Then-Acting Commissioner of the IRS Linda Stiff testified, and Nina Olson, the National Taxpayer Advocate, pressed for reforms that would both protect taxpayer rights and improve tax enforcement.

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