Yesterday, the Senate Budget Committee approved its FY10 budget resolution following similar action in the House the day before. The White House Budget Director applauded House and Senate committee approval of their budgets, noting they include the administration’s top priorities. Both the House and Senate will take floor action on their proposals sometime next week. Unlike the version approved by the House Budget panel on Wednesday, the Senate resolution includes no reconciliation instructions for legislation to implement Obama’s health and education policies. Such provisions would allow those bills to move without the threat of a Senate filibuster. The decision of whether to include reconciliation will be made in April during a House-Senate conference on the budget. Democrats are hopeful bipartisan support can be found for an overhaul of the health care system, but many want reconciliation as a backup to move a bill if negotiations break down.
News and updates
First Confirmation Hearing Set for Sebelius
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee scheduled the first of two confirmation hearings on the nomination of Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius to be the next Secretary of Health and Human Services. That hearing will take place on March 31. The second hearing will be in the Senate Finance Committee, which also has jurisdiction over the nomination. This hearing has not yet been scheduled.
Senator Murray Will Introduce Bill to Aid Trauma Centers
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) held a press conference today to announce the introduction of the National Trauma Center Stabilization Act. She was accompanied by two representatives from the National Foundation for Trauma Care, Dr. Ronald Maier from Harborview Hospital in Seattle, and trauma surgeons from the Medical College of South Carolina, Ohio State University, University of Tennessee, Yale Medical Center and Med Star of the DC metropolitan area.
The cost for providing trauma care has increased, often trauma centers provide care for which they are not paid for by either insurance or the patient, and the economy has affected their ability to provide service. The bill will provide assistance for trauma centers that are facing economic hardships by reauthorizing federal funding for those centers facing the highest uncompensated costs, provide emergency funding to those centers facing closure, and provide financial support for core mission services.
The House companion bill, HR 936, was introduced on February 10, 2009. It establishes four programs to award grants to public or nonprofit trauma centers across the nation that are facing downgrades or closure. The bill authorizes appropriations for such grants for FY 2010 – FY 2015 and specifies percentages to be reserved for the different types of grants.
Omnibus Lands Measure Ready for Obama’s Signature
The House yesterday passed HR 146, which contains more than 150 measures to designate more than 2 million acres of new wilderness areas, including wild and scenic rivers, historic sites, scenic trails and protected lands. This should have been a non-controversial bill, but disagreement arose over the issue of gun rights in national parks.
The bill contains two measures that affect the state of Washington. The first measure amends the National Trails System Act to designate the trail extending from the Continental Divide in Glacier National Park, Montana, to the Pacific Ocean coast in Olympic National Park, Washington, as the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail. The second measure allows Douglas County to purchase land currently owned by the federal government, but they must pay an amount equal to the appraised value of the land. The proceeds will be deposited in the Federal Land Disposal Account and are to be used solely for improving access to public lands in the state of Washington.
In addition to these measures, there are some interesting “add-ons” to the bill which may affect the university if it is eligible to participate in the research. Under Section F: Secure Water, the Secretary of Agriculture is allowed to enter into agreement with any university (among other organizations) to fund research on the conservation, increased efficiency, or enhancement of water management resources, including use of renewable energy in the management and delivery of water. It also establishes an intragovernmental panel to work with research and nongovernmental organizations on the impact of climate change on the quantity and quality of US water resources.
Title XII of the bill establishes: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Uundersea Research Program Act of 2009; the Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation System Act of 2009; and the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2009.
Title XIV requires the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop mechanisms to coordinate paralysis research and rehabilitation activities to advance and avoid duplication of such activities. This is titled the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act.
The bill (H.R. 146) passed by a vote of 285-140 in the House. The Senate version passed by a vote of 77-20 on March 19.
Locke Confirmed as Commerce Secretary
The Senate confirmed former Washington State Governor Gary Locke as Commerce Secretary yesterday. As Secretary, Locke will oversee National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Weather Service, as well as the census, some international trade issues, and the switch to digital TV. Read more