HAI reports key senators continue to discuss a compromise on the union card check legislation, but have not reached agreement on a plan to break the Senate impasse over the House-passed card-check bill strongly backed by labor unions but adamantly opposed by business groups. No agreement is expected before Congress returns next week.

When lawmakers return to Washington on July 6 after a weeklong recess, the push will be on to overcome differences over issues ranging from whether to set up a new government entity to compete with private insurers to how much to tax the most generous employer-provided insurance plans to generate revenue. Based on a series of recent meetings, it appears President Obama is working to enlist the nation’s governors. HAI has learned Obama has privately urged a group of Governors to serve as his emissaries to Congress to shift the health care debate away from Washington and to the states. 

The House passed a $32.3 billion Interior Department spending bill this week to fund the Interior Department, the EPA, the U.S. Forest Service and other related agencies. The bill represents a 17 percent increase over fiscal 2009 when funds from the economic stimulus law are not included.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) told Senators this week that negotiating a bipartisan healthcare overhaul bill that an employer mandate of some sort would be necessary to keep costs down. Prior to recessing for the July Fourth holiday, the U. S. Senate has now looking at changes to the tax code and the contributions businesses will be expected to make to cover the insured..

HAI reports the two Senate committees writing healthcare overhaul legislation are drawing closer to having mostly complete products ready after the July Fourth recess.

A Senate panel today approved a fiscal 2010 spending bill that would boost funding for environmental agencies, but provide slightly less than the House counterpart and the president’s request. The Senate total is $225 million below President Obama’s request.

Congressman Peter DeFaxio (D-Oregon), a senior House Democrat in charge of writing a massive highway and transit funding bill wants to tax oil futures trades as a way to come up with the roughly $450 billion in needed revenues.  "If it's feasible, it should be wildly popular. I mean everybody hates speculators," DeFazio told CongressDaily.

The appropriations process descended into total mayhem on the House floor on Thursday, June 18 as Democrats leveled threats of weekend votes and more restrictive rules for debate because of the historic 53 roll call votes on Thursday.  The Republican protest and call for roll call votes was sparked by Democratic rules ordering pre-printing of amendments and then blocking most of the 102 GOP (Republican) amendments.

The House Appropriations Committee yesterday, June 18 approved legislation that would boost funding for environment-related agencies, including the Interior Department, the EPA, the U.S. Forest Service and related programs.  The amount would be a 17 percent increase from fiscal 2009 levels,  not including funds from the economic stimulus law.

The White House and House transportation authorizers are on a collision course over road and transit funding and gas taxes to fund legislation. House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman James L. Oberstar (D-Minnesota) has rejected a White House proposal to postpone a new highway bill for 18 months.

How close are key House Democratic Committee Chairmen to bridging differences on a climate and energy bill? It depends upon who you are talking to.  While the talks are complex, it is difficult to determine how firm the deadlines are that Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-California) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) have set. There is still a chance the bill could reach the House floor late next week. If this issue isn’t on your radar, it certainly should be!

HAI continues to closely track legislative developments on Capitol Hill as the House Climate Bill continues on a hot path to the House floor with most negotiations occurring behind closed doors. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minnesota) has now found fault with the bill’s formula for distributing allowances to electricity producers. The time has come for HAI members to weigh in with their House lawmakers in Washington. 

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee continues to work on an energy bill, passing an amendment yesterday that would return authority to the Interior Secretary to grant royalty relief on offshore oil and gas leases in deep waters. A 2005 law established mandatory royalty relief for the leases, but the amendment would leave the option to the Interior secretary.

Leaders of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee l are looking to wrap up work on energy legislation this week, trying to keep intact a compromise that will be tested when the bill reaches the Senate floor.  Two amendments that Senator Maria Cantwell, (D-Washington), might offer to curtail oil and gas production in Senator Lisa Murkowski's (R-Alaska) home state of Alaska could be very problematic.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted today to repeal the reduction of royalty payments on some offshore Gulf leases that were authorized by the 2005 energy law. Oil and gas companies would resume paying full royalties to the federal government on offshore drilling leases.

The Senate has agreed to proceed to a tourism bill that is a priority for Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada.  The Nevada Democrat pushed the bill to the front of the agenda because of a decline in tourism that started after the September 11, 2001, terrorism attacks and has since been exacerbated by recession.

After several crashes involving pilots whose safety backgrounds had not been checked, Congress enacted a law in 1996 (PL 104-264) requiring airlines to gather and share past performance information on prospective pilots. However, this law only enables the release of information for the previous five years. Information beyond that time is not required to be released.

The oil and gas leases that were auctioned near the end of the Bush administration and then blocked by President Obama’s Interior Department, may be reinstated as the Administration reconsiders more than a third of the 77 oil and gas drilling leases. While an Interior Department report released this week criticized the process in which the leases were auctioned in the final days of the Bush administration, it also opened the door for the department to reinstate or re-auction 30 leases on parcels that lie in existing oil and gas development areas or are “not near particularly sensitive landscapes.” 

More Senate Democrats are joining the drive to put together a compromise measure aimed at making it easier for unions to organize in workplaces, in an attempt to draft a bill that can win 60 votes in the Senate.

A viable alternative to a public insurance plan is gaining momentum on Capitol Hill. Senate Finance ranking member Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) Wednesday became the latest Republican to give credence to the co-op alternative proposed this week as an attempt to bridge the divide between Democrats in favor of a public plan and Republicans who will not support any government involvement in coverage as part of a healthcare overhaul.

HAI has learned House Democratic leaders might be nearing a breaking point in negotiations with committee chairmen on a climate bill, as discussions continue to widen beyond key panels.

Transportation Department Inspector General Calvin Scovel Wednesday told the Senate Commerce Aviation Subcommittee that despite FAA regulations, regional air carriers do not always meet the same safety levels as national carriers. "When an American gets aboard an aircraft in this country he or she could reasonably think that the level of safety would be the same no matter what aircraft or carrier it is, yet that's not entirely true," Scovel said.

House Republicans are calling for a hundred new nuclear power plants to be built in the next two decades as part of legislation they say is a better alternative than one championed by Democrats.

The Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee today, Wednesday, June 10 approved a major spending increase for environmental and conservation programs that Democrats say were neglected under the Bush Administration. The bill funds the Interior Department and the U.S. Forest Service as well as a number of other agencies.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee agreed to open up the eastern Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling at a hearing in Washington yesterday. However, an amendment offered by Senator Byron Dorgan, D-North Dakota, did not provide revenue-sharing of the proceeds with coastal states and that prompted many Republicans, including Energy and Natural Resources ranking member Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alsaka) to oppose it.

Democrats in both chambers of Congress have now disclosed outlines of healthcare legislation they are drafting. The proposals are drawing support from many liberals and some interest groups, but scathing criticism from Republicans, who complained over their lack of input. Neither proposal goes into great detail on what its policies would cost or how they would be financed.