November 15, 1999 Vol.1, No. 28

This Week in Washington¼

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

Stop Us If You’ve Heard This One: Congressional leadership says they intend to adjourn this week. The most current Continuing Resolution keeping the government operating in lieu of completion of the 13 Appropriations Bills expires this Wednesday. A handful of controversial issues remain, and it is unclear whether they can be settled in the next three days. The outstanding bills - Interior, Labor/HHS/Education, Commerce/Justice/State, Foreign Operations and District of Columbia - are expected to be tied into one package. Still on the table:

• Offsets: Offsets would counter additional spending agreed to last week for programs the Administration demanded be included in the appropriations bills. If adequate offsets cannot be found, the Administration will have a hard time staving off the .97% across the board cut in discretionary spending that the Congressional leadership favors. The issue is largely political with both sides having spent the year promising that surplus social security revenue will not be used to pay for new programs or tax-cuts. Additional offsets will allow the parties to claim they have "safeguarded" these surplus funds. It can be argued that the "creative accounting" gimmicks used by both sides is disingenuous to claim that the funds are not being tapped.

• UN arrears and Mexico City Language: At this writing, it appears that the White House and Republican leadership have reached a tentative agreement in the dispute over "Mexico City language" which would pave the way for the US to pay nearly $1 billion in back dues to the United Nations. The compromise, while bowing to conservatives in cutting off US financing for international organizations that promote abortion rights overseas, also permits the White House to issue a waiver which would reduce corresponding amounts the administration spends on grants to such organization. This condition applies solely to this year’s appropriation. (See JCPA Memorandum, November 11, 1999.)

• Debt Relief and "Udder" Issues: Our hard-fought and much-heralded victory in the House’s passage of the Foreign Operations Appropriations is tempered by the fact that the bill has yet to pass the Senate. A dispute over International Monetary Fund involvement in debt relief for poor countries and several unrelated issues, such as Senator Kohl’s (WI) "hold" because of milk subsidy issues are delaying final consideration.

Minimum Wage Debacle Continues: Although Congressional leadership agreed earlier this year that passage of a minimum wage proposal was probable, the sticking point has been what type of tax relief would be given to business owners to assuage any concerns they might have. This question has stalled minimum wage initiatives for months. Last week, as part of the bankruptcy bill, the Senate passed a $1.00 minimum wage increase to be implemented over three years, which also provides $18.4 billion in tax relief for small businesses. Representative Rick Lazio (NY) has a similar proposal on the table in the House which would provide $30 billion in tax breaks over 5 years. House leadership refuses to vote on the initiative until they are certain of enough votes for passage. However they remain just a few votes short of passage. House and Senate Democrats have championed similar legislation urging a $1 increase over two years with $9.5 billion in tax cuts in the House version and $11.5 billion in the Senate. Representative Lazio still thinks he can find the necessary votes before the House adjourns, but it is clearly a long shot.

This Week in New York...

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

Reminder: If you are attending the GA next week, please plan to join us on Wednesday evening at 8:00 p.m. for a reception for JCPA leadership, CRC chairs and directors, and federation friends. We will have an opportunity to shmooze over coffee and dessert in the JCPA suite at the Marriot Marquis. Please check with the Marriot front desk for the room number.

Reminder: a special briefing with representatives of the Israeli Foreign Ministry will take place Wednesday morning from 8-10 a.m. in the Vinings Room at the Hyatt. We look forward to seeing you in Atlanta. If you have any questions, please call Benita Gayle-Almeleh November 18, 1999 at ext. 220 or e-mail at bga@thejcpa.org.