[Nfbf-l] The capitol insider for the week of Feb. 7th!

Tue Feb 8 02:57:27 UTC 2011

HI all, just passing this along  to keep us all informed! Kirk

Subject: The Capitol Insider for the Week of February 7, 2011

            The Arc Public Policy
            Update Profile

            February 7, 2011
            Vol 16, Issue 6

            Action Alerts

            None.

            Major Events Last Week

            Health Care Reform - Senate fails to repeal the Affordable Care 
Act

            The Senate vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) failed 
by a 47 to 51 margin.  Now that repeal of the entire bill is all but certain 
not to happen this Congress, Republicans are switching to a "death by a 
thousand cuts" strategy to defeat the law.  They have introduced 
smaller-scope bills to defund and to block hiring of staff to implement key 
provisions of the law. The Arc and UCP will work to oppose these and other 
similar anticipated measures.

            FY 2011 Appropriations - House Budget Committee announces 
spending levels; Targets for disability programs are more than 15% below 
current levels

            House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) announced the 
overall budget allocations for the Appropriations Committee to use to set 
spending levels for the remainder of the FY 2011.  Currently the federal 
government is operating under a Continuing Resolution (CR) which largely 
extended FY 2010 spending until March 4, 2011.  Under the plan, non-security 
programs would be reduced by an average of 15.4% below the current funding 
levels.  Using this amount, the House Appropriations Committee Chairman 
Harold Rogers (R-KY) announced the specific levels for each of the 12 
Appropriations Subcommittees.  The Labor, Health Human Services and 
Education Appropriations Subcommittee will need to produce a bill that is 
12.7% below funding for the remainder of the year.  The Transportation, 
Housing and Urban Development Subcommittee will have to cut funding by 26.1% 
to meet the target.  This does not mean that the subcommittees will need to 
cut all programs by this amount, but that the total funding for all programs 
within their jurisdiction cannot be above this level.  The Subcommittees 
will decide how much funding to cut from each program in the coming weeks.

            Budget - New bill introduced to radically cut federal spending 
across all programs, including entitlements

            Senators Bob Corker (R-TN) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) 
introduced S. 245, The Commitment to American Prosperity (CAP) Act, which 
would cap all federal spending at a set level.  This would include all 
entitlement spending (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and others) and 
all discretionary spending (education, housing, employment and others).  The 
cap would be tied to a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).  GDP 
is the total market value of all goods and services produced by our economy. 
If the spending cap is exceeded, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 
would be authorized to make automatic spending cuts across all federal 
programs.  A two-thirds vote in Congress would be needed to overturn any 
cuts.  The amount of the cuts would be in proportion to how fast each 
program is growing. Unlike previous laws to control spending (Gramm Rudman 
Hollings, Pay As You Go) there are no protections for low income entitlement 
programs such as Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid.  As a result, 
the impact of exceeding the cap would mean that the biggest cuts would come 
from Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.  These programs make up a 
significant proportion of federal spending and are growing faster than many 
other programs due to the aging of the population and rising per-person 
health care costs.

            Major Events Today

            Long Term Services and Supports - HHS Secretary promotes ACA 
provisions at briefing

            The Kaiser Family Foundation convened a panel of health care and 
insurance experts to discuss the many opportunities for long-term services 
and supports and home and community-based service programs (HCBS) in the 
health reform law.  The panel specifically highlighted the expanded 
eligibility for Medicaid and for the Money Follows the Person program for 
individuals transitioning from institutions to the community, as well as the 
Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) program. 
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius 
also address the group regarding CLASS and stated, "As more Americans come 
to depend on long-term services and supports, that's a freedom we should 
fight to protect".  See the briefing resources, including reports, 
presentation slides, and the archived webcast at:
            http://www.kff.org/medicaid/medicaid-long-term-services-briefing-resources.cfm

            Major Events Ahead

            Education - House to hold first hearing on No Child Left Behind 
reauthorization

            The House Committee on Education and the Workforce will conduct 
its first hearing concerning the reauthorization of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act (ESEA) (known as No Child Left Behind) on Thursday. 
The hearing is entitled: "Education in the Nation: Examining the Challenges 
and Opportunities Facing America's Classrooms."  The disability community 
has a number of important objectives for ESEA reauthorization.  Click here 
to read our legislative agenda for education, including specific goals for 
ESEA.  For more information on the hearing, see:
            http://edworkforce.house.gov/Calendar/EventSingle.aspx?EventID=223392

            Announcements

            Disability Policy Seminar - Are You Attending?

            The Disability Policy Seminar, February 14-16, is right around 
the corner, but there's still time to sign up. The final day of the Seminar, 
Wednesday, February 16, is set aside for you to make visits to your 
legislators on Capitol Hill and let them know what's important to you. There 
are more than 100 new Members of Congress and they need to know who you are 
and what you stand for! But before you do anything, you need to register for 
the seminar. Visit www.disabilitypolicyseminar.org for information on this 
year's event. We hope to see you there!

            Capitol Insider - No issue to be published next week

            Please note that we will not publish the Capitol Insider next 
week as all DPC staff will be attending the Disability Policy Seminar from 
February 14 - 16.

            Civil Rights/ADA - New Issue of DOJ publication includes 
Olmstead update

            The January 2011 edition of "Disability Rights Online News" is 
now available on line. This issue includes a summary of recent Olmstead 
actions  by the Department of Justice (DOJ).  See:
            http://www.ada.gov/disabilitynews.htm

            ?

Kirk Harmon
President & CEO
Florida Disabled Citizens
for Progress
P.O.Box 61794
Jacksonville, FL 32236
PH(904) 783-9896
Cell: (407) 473-2176
DAV/BVA
Life Member

" TURNING HOPE INTO REALITY"