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THE URBAN COALITION ACTION COUNCIL J O HN W. GA R DNER CHAIRMAN 181 9 H STREET , N. W . August 2, 1968 WASHINGTON , D . C . 20006 WEEKLY LEG I SLATIVE RE PORT (Current as of August 2, . 1968) FROM: THE STAFF THE STATUS OF SUB STANTIVE LEGISLATION The Eme r ge ncy Emp loy me nt and Training Act of 1968 (Public Serv ice Emp loy ment) The me asure h a s not be e n reported b y the Senate Labor and Public We lf a:re Co mmittee. The e x tension of th e Man powe r Developme nt and Tr a ining Act has b ee n orde r ed rep or ted by the Commi ttee, and a ction on th e meas ure has b ee n d e l ayed . Ma jority Leade r Mans f i e ld has i n d ica t ed h e will ca ll it up in Septembe r. ¼The n t he bill i s co ns idere d by the f ull Se n ate , a bi pa r t i san co a lition comp ri sed o f Senators Cl a r k , J avits an d P r o u t y wi ll a ttemp t to ame nd it by add ing the Emergency Empl o yme n t Act to i t . The Ho u se Se l e c t Sub com.mi ttee st ill has n o p l ans t o mark up th e J OBS b ill. The MDTA extens i on measure h as rece i ved a ru l e by the Ho u s e Rul es Committee cleari n g it fo r f l o o r act ion, but wil l n ot b e acted o n un t i l Co ngress returns after the p ol i t ical convent ions. Ho using and Urban Development Ac t of 1 96 8_ On Augu s t 1 st, t he Preside n t s i gned into l aw the Hous i ng a n d Urban Development Act of 1968 . Representat i ves 6f the Urb an Co alit i on Action Coun cil were present by invitat ion for t h e c eremony. A SlLmmary of the more i mp ortant provisions of this very significant new act is to be found at the end of this we e kly report. The Urban Coalition will be prep a ring a more detai.led analysis · of the l aw focusing on the new TELEPHON E : 202 29 3 · 15 30 �- 2 - potenti a l it presents for local a6tion . · This analysis will be distributed to local coalitions an~ made available to oth er parties on request when comp l eted. THE STATUS OF APPROPRIATIONS _1\1EASURE S The proposed sch edule of action on Abpropriat ion bills concerning legisl ation of interest to the Ac t ion Council is: 1. The Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill fo r Fiscal Year 1969 passed the House on May 8th and the Senate on July 12th. It now goes to the Conference Committee, which has waited un- · til the HUD authorization bill was enacted into law. I t will meet sometime in September although no meeting date has been set~ 2. As previously reported, th e Labor-HEW (including OEO) Approp r iations bil l passed the House on June 26th. Th e Wh itten Amendment , passed by a Telle r (un recorded ) vote, prohibits the us e of funds appropriated by the bill to fo rce busing of school children, to abolish any school or to force secondary school students to atten d a particular school against the choice of parents. The House approved serious cuts in Title I of th e Elementary and Secondary Education Act (aid to schools in i mpoverished areas ) , th e Teacher Corps and the Office of Economic Opportunity. The full Senate Appropriations Committee has marked up th e bill. The Cammi ttee did n·o t restore much of th e education funding. The following li s t indicates how th e Committee acted on the requests made by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare to restore funds cut by the House: - REQUESTED APPROVED $126 mil $50 mil Drop Out Prevention 30 mil 10 mil Bilingual Education 5 mil .10 mil 9.6 mil 2.3 mil Titl e I' ESEA Teacher Corps �- .3 - In add ition, the Committee kept the OEO appropria tion a t t he low level approved by the House and retained t he Wn itten A.mendment . New l anguage was added to the Whitten Amendment by the Committee. It is believed th at this language will substantially ameliorate its impact. The bill is scheduled for the Sena te floor on September 4th. · rt is very imp ortant th at every effort be made in the Se nate to re s tore the House cuts in the HEW and OEO requests, and to defeat the Whitten . Amendme n t, even though it has been amended . If vou wish more inf ormation on the specific cuts in ihe HEW a nd OEO a ppropri~tions, pl~ase contact Th e Urb a n Coaliti on Action Council office. NOTE : Due to th e Congressional recess for the party conventions, the Action Council wi ll not issue f urther weekly reports until the Congress reconvene s in Septembe r. �