January 18, 2000 | Vol.2, No. 3

This Week in Washington¼

For more information, contact Reva Price, Washington Representative at rprice@thejcpa.org

THIS WEEK MARKS ANNIVERSARY OF ROE V. WADE: January 22, 2000 marks the 27^th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court case guaranteeing a woman’s legal right to reproductive choice. As in past years, expect rallies, press conferences and marches by activists on both sides of the issue to mark this date. The anniversary comes on the heels of last Friday’s announcement that the US Supreme Court has decided to review Nebraska’s ban on the so-called "partial birth" abortion procedure. The Senate passed legislation in the first session of the 106^th Congress banning the same procedure but fell two votes short of the 67 votes needed to override an expected presidential veto. A similar bill is expected to be introduced shortly in the House of Representatives.

IS A TU B’SHVAT SEDER ON YOUR CALENDAR? Tu’b’shvat, the 15^th day of the month of Shvat, falls on Shabbat this year. Beginning on Friday night January 22 at sundown, the "New Year of Trees" is observed by many communities as an opportunity to express a Jewish commitment to protecting the earth. Mark X. Jacobs, COEJL director and Director of JCPA’s Energy and the Environment, suggests that "this Tu B’shvat, as we eat of the fruit of the earth and celebrate with friends and family, let us consider how we each can tread more lightly on the Earth, how we can help our Jewish institutions to practice more fully Judaism’s environmental traditions, and how we all together can motivate our government to tend the public lands we all share." For other program ideas see the COEJL action alert at www.coejl.org.

Congress Due Back Next Week: Members of Congress will return to Washington next week to commence the second session of the 106^th Congress. In preparation, Legislators and the Administration have spent the last few weeks spelling out their priorities. The Republican leadership have declared that their agenda will focus on tax relief for working families. The three measures they have been discussing, reducing the tax code’s so-called marriage penalty, the creation of education savings accounts and providing tax breaks to encourage investment in poor neighborhoods, were all part of a larger omnibus tax relief bill vetoed by the President last summer. In addition they are expected to promote legislation which would advance free trade and promote the continued development of electronic commerce. The Democrats will promote an agenda which will be spelled out clearly by the President in his State of the Union address on January 27^th and promoted through his budget to be presented to Congress on February 7^th. Those priorities will include: Efforts to repair, renovate and renew efforts for better schools; provide some tax cuts; modernize Medicare; strengthen social security; enact a Patients Bill of Rights; Pass gun safety initiatives; raise the minimum wage and pass legislation to fight hate crimes. This year’s budget debate will most likely be as difficult as last year’s and will be hampered by an even shorter legislative schedule. One of the first decisions to be made is whether or not to stick to the budget caps imposed by the 1997 balanced budget law. Last year Congress and the Administration circumvented many of the caps with some creative accounting gimmicks. The 2001 caps would be even stricter and necessitate cuts even more difficult to adhere to than last year. An expected rosy report for future surpluses by the Congressional Budget Office expected to be delivered next week might make it easier for the parties to disregard the caps.

This Week in New York¼

For more information, contact Benita Gayle-Almeleh, Senior Community Consultant at bga@thejcpa.org

The COPPF (Committee on Public Policy Formulation) subcommittee charged with reviewing JCPA member agency responses to the 2000-2001 draft propositions met today in New York. Member agencies submitting comments can expect responses in writing later this week. On Friday, January 21, a call for resolutions will be issued, with resolutions due back to the JCPA no later than February 4^th. Member agencies are advised to review the process as outlined in "Procedures Guiding the Development, Consideration and Adoption of the JCPA Agenda for Public Affairs and Resolutions." Contact bga@thejcpa.org with any questions.

Nominations by local member agencies for community representation on the JCPA Board of Directors are due February 14^th. Contact lrubin@thejcpa.org for more information.

Martin Raffel and Sigalit Rubinson attended a meeting with eleven Russian-Israeli journalists visiting the U.S. under the auspices of the U.S. Information Agency and the New Israel Fund.