With a short week scheduled prior to the two-week Easter recess, Congress finally shifts into high gear, beginning today.
The Senate began debate on the $1.73 trillion budget resolution Friday, and consideration of the tax and spending blueprint will consume the better part of this week. Democrats are expected to offer a series of amendments to change the plan, which was put together by Senate Budget Chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M.
Senate Democrats will try to tap into the tobacco reserve fund included in the proposal. But Domenici's plan would set aside any funds from a tobacco settlement for saving the Medicare program. Democrats believe the funds should be used for a variety of health programs.
Budget ranking member Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., has vowed to offer a series of tobacco-related amendments. However, any amendment to expand the scope of the budget resolution, such as the tobacco proposals, is subject to a point of order and would require 60 votes for approval. Democrats also have put together an alternative budget plan that is based on the Clinton administration's fiscal 1999 budget proposal.
And, after running on idle speed for much of the past three months, the House this week will try to cram debate on three massive bills into a few grueling days. House leaders want to pass the emergency supplemental appropriations bill, the financial services reform legislation, and reauthorization of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act before recessing Wednesday night.
The House Rules Committee will meet today at 6 p.m. to set the rules for all three debates; the deadline for amendments is noon today.
The House is scheduled to consider the $2.9 billion defense- disaster relief package bill Tuesday.
Democrats are unhappy with that bill because it includes offsetting cuts from such programs as the Clinton administration's national service initiative and federal housing programs.
In addition, Democrats believe the bill should be merged with a larger supplemental spending measure that provides funds for the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations.
While it was unclear what amendments the Democrats may try to offer, House Appropriations ranking member David Obey, D-Wis., said Democrats will try to merge the bills.
On the transportation front, it had been assumed for the past several months that ISTEA would come to the floor under an open rule.
But because of the tight floor schedule this week, the Rules Committee is expected to adopt a structured rule.
Most of the ISTEA amendments are expected to relate to the bill's overall spending. As of late Friday, sources said amendments seeking to change ISTEA's state allocation formula had not surfaced.
Aides said Rules Chairman Solomon has yet to decide whether to allow an amendment by Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., that would cut highway funding to states that do not lower their blood alcohol content limit for drivers to 0.08 percent. The Senate ISTEA bill has a similar provision.
The House ISTEA bill by Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bud Shuster, R-Pa., gives states a funding incentive for reducing drunk driving incidents via optional means, including the adoption of the 0.08 percent standard. But Shuster's bill would not penalize states that do not adopt the standard.
House Budget Chairman John Kasich, R-Ohio, and GOP fiscal conservatives plan to submit a series of amendments that would cut ISTEA funding and its special projects.
The House also is set this week to take a potentially historical step toward laying a new foundation for the rapidly changing world of financial services, and solve the political problem of credit unions at the same time.
But the broad financial services bill faces, at best, an uphill battle in the Senate, while credit union legislation is almost certain to pass in some form this year.
Courts and regulators have slowly chipped away at the walls among banking, securities, and insurance that were erected during the Great Depression, which has left the sector confused and uneven.
The legislation would establish a new framework to allow firms to set up a financial holding company that could own businesses in all three areas.
Numerous interest groups have strenuously fought over the details, and regulators have tangled over their prospective powers, resulting in a patchwork of opinions about the proposal.
And even if the House passes the services bill, Senate Banking Chairman Al D'Amato, R-N.Y., is reluctant to take it up in a year when he faces a tough re-election battle. Meanwhile, House Republican leaders are still trying to link the financial services bill to legislation addressing a recent Supreme Court ruling that credit unions have been illegally allowed to expand beyond their original fields of membership.
The concept of addressing the problem has broad support, but many members are wary of attaching it to legislation with questionable chances. Still, the two bills look likely to be linked, as GOP leaders think credit union support will act as "rocket fuel" for the financial services proposal.
However, they have yet to decide the procedure for combining the measures that would garner the most votes. The House Rules Committee will meet on the bills this evening, and the final product is slated for floor action Tuesday.
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