Plans have now been finalized for ACB's 2008 mid-year meetings and legislative seminar. ACB will hold the mid-year board meeting, affiliate presidents' meeting and legislative seminar all together in Washington, D.C. during the month of February 2008. This move was necessary because we were unable to locate affordable hotel space in which to hold a separate legislative seminar at any time during the remainder of February or March. The board meeting will be Friday, Feb. 8. If necessary, the board will finish its meeting on Saturday morning. The affiliate presidents' meeting will begin on Saturday, February 9 at 11 a.m. and run through Sunday, February 10 at noon.
The legislative seminar will begin at 1 p.m. on Sunday, February 10, and run through Tuesday, February 12. As usual, February 10 and 11 will be devoted to training and discussion of legislative issues; February 12 will be the day we visit Capitol Hill.
All of these events will be held at the Washington Plaza Hotel, which is located at 10 Thomas Circle NW, Washington, D.C. 20005. Room rates are $119 per night for singles and doubles, $139 for triples and quads, plus tax. Reservations must be made by January 8; call 1-800-424-1140.
For Presidents' Meeting: There is no registration fee for the presidents' meeting, but the meeting will begin with a working lunch on Saturday. Attendees wishing to purchase a lunch may do so for $10. Legislative Seminar: There is a $35 registration fee for the legislative seminar. Lunches will be available for purchase on Monday and Tuesday; they will cost $10 each.
With the end of the work year rapidly approaching for Congress, I thought the article below could provide some insight concerning the challenges they face in attempting to fund various federal agencies and the programs that function within them.
The final funding level for the Library of Congress's Digital Talking Book Program hasn't been decided but given the current political climate, the prospects of it receiving full funding at the originally requested $19,000,000 look bleak at this point. It is more likely that it will receive the House and Senate's proposed funding level of $12,500,000 which will enable the program to begin. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this or any other issue, please don't hesitate to contact me.
AS END OF SESSION NEARS, SO DOES APPROPRIATIONS END GAME
by Scott Cox
Congress returns from the Thanksgiving recess on Dec. 4, leaving Democratic leaders with three legislative weeks to send the 11 remaining fiscal 2008 appropriations bills to President Bush before the expected sine die adjournment. In light of the dwindling calendar and the administration's promised vetoes of most discretionary spending measures, House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) has indicated that he will cut $11 billion of the $22 billion gap between the president's topline request and Democrats' overall funding proposals. The chairman is then expected to wrap the pending appropriations bills into a massive $480-plus billion omnibus package. Obey is eyeing earmarks along with the president's spending priorities to find most of the $11 billion in spending cuts, a move that may be perceived as a message to the White House and GOP lawmakers that everyone will share the pain in an austere budget environment.
Although Bush has threatened to veto a year-end omnibus, the prospect of losing funding for pet projects just weeks before an election year may be enough incentive for House Republicans to support a potential veto override vote. If not, a full-year continuing resolution will probably be the final appropriations end game, and the last train out of the station this year.
A call to the Office of Management and Budget to find out if the administration would be agreeable to a "split the difference" proposition was met today with a cool response from an OMB spokesman.
"The president has made it clear that Congress can and should act to fund the federal government within his reasonable and responsible topline spending proposal," the OMB spokesman responded via e-mail. "With it now being more than two months past the fiscal year deadline, we sincerely hope Congress will come to terms with its failed tax-and-spend strategy and act in a fiscally responsible manner by passing individual spending bills before they go home for the holidays."
Aside from the 11 remaining fiscal 2008 appropriations bills, other high profile budget-related items will likely see enactment during the three weeks leading up to Christmas Eve. Due to the tight time constraints, all of them may hitch a ride on either a year-end omnibus package or full-year continuing resolution.
An extension of alternative minimum tax (AMT) relief and other widely popular tax breaks top both parties' lists. The holdup is Republican objections to Democratic efforts to offset the costs of these extensions. A yearlong AMT fix carries the largest price tag of roughly $50 billion. Extending the deductions for tuition expenses and state and local sales taxes, among other so-called "extenders," is estimated to cost $12.3 billion through 2009, and $21.1 billion over 10 years. It is doubtful, however, that Congress will adjourn for the year without extending current AMT relief, whether or not it is accompanied by offsets.
In light of the months-long stalemate between the White House and Congressional Democrats over the funding levels for a five-year extension of State Children's Health Insurance Program, the enactment of a long-term -- possibly a yearlong -- extension of the current program is also likely this year. Both parties support the program, which is currently being funded under a continuing resolution that expires on Dec. 14, so a final agreement on extending SCHIP will come into focus in the next few weeks.
Since the farm bill is on life support in the Senate, the prospect of House and Senate negotiators hammering out a final version by year's end is slim. Thus, some Agriculture Department programs with authorizations that expire this year, such as the Food Stamp program, may also get a funding extension within an omnibus package or long-term CR. Like the Food Stamp program, appropriators will also provide unauthorized funding for expired education programs within the No Child Left Behind Act.
On Nov. 19, a three-judge panel from the United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, heard oral arguments in ACB's suit against the United States Treasury Department. Presentations were made by lawyers for both the Treasury Department and ACB in defense of the positions they had previously taken in their written briefs. The judges peppered the lawyers with questions throughout the proceeding. A brief statement was also made by an attorney representing the National Federation of the Blind, who asserted that blind people already have access to United States currency and that the government has begun to take steps to make it more distinguishable by people with low vision. Therefore, access is not a problem, and besides, this issue is not that important to their membership.
As usual, Jeff Lovitky, arguing ACB's case, did an admirable job in setting forth our position that people who are blind do not currently have meaningful access to U.S. currency, that the decision of the District Court was appropriate, and that we need a court order that will result in the Treasury Department having to come up with a plan for addressing the accessibility issues surrounding paper currency.
At this point, we are engaged in another waiting game. Lovitky estimated that it could take as long as six months to get the decision from the Circuit Court. We will advise you as soon as we hear anything further on the subject.