.MjkyNA.MjkyNA

I , I THE URBAN COALITION ACTION COUNCIL JOHN W. GARDNER CHAIR MAN 1819 H STREET, N. W. July 12, 1968 WASHINGTON. D. C. 20006 WEEKLY LEGISLATIVE REPORT (Current as of July 12, 1968) FROM: THE STAFF rrHE STATUS OF SUBSTANTIVE LEGISLATION The Emergency Employme nt and Training Act of 1968 The bill lies in th e Senate Labor and Public Welfare Committee. The Committe e will hold one more executive ses s ion, but it is almost certain it will take no action on th e measure this session. The extension of th e Manpower Deve lopme nt and Training Act has be e n report e d b y the full Committe e (Labor and Public Welfar e ) and will be taken up on the Senate floor during the we e k of July 15th. There may be an attempt to amend MDTA, adding the Emergency Employme nt Act to it, on the floor. Status of House Legislation Th e Se l ec t Subcommittee on Labo r has no plans to mark-up the JOBS bill at this time. The MDTA exte nsion, unl e ss th e r e is obj e ction, will be take n up on th e Suspe nse Calendar (thi s avoids the n eed to g e t a rul e from the Rules Comm ittee) . The Ca l e nd a r · is call ed the 1st and 3rd Monday of the month or th e l as t 6 l egis l at i ve days o f th e session. MDTA could b e called up July 15th . TELEPHO NE : 2 02 2 93 · 1530 �:; -2- The Revenue and Expenditure Control Act of 1968 (formerly the Tax Adjustment Act o f 1968) The ten p ercent tax surcharge and the $6 billion in budget cuts is now Public Law 90-364. The President signed the measure on June 28th. Prevailing sentiment in Congress is for making every possible effort to ·accomplish as much of the $6 billion cut as possible. Many members view the cuts as basically a Congressional re sponsibility. Housing and Urba n Developme nt Ac t of 1968 Senate Tqe bill h as p assed both hous es and will now go to the Con ference Committee . Conferees are scheduled to meet at 2:00 p.m., July 15th. The problem sections for the Confe rence Committee will include a saving and loan s ec tion del eted by th e House , f lood insurance, the eligibility formula for the subsidization o f home acqui s ition b y p e rsons with l ow a nd moderate incomes . One particula rly thorny issue is an amendment allowing for FHA funding and supervision of private ho sp ital construction. This s quare l y cros ses jur i sdictiona l lines b etween th e Banking & Cur rency Committees and th e Labor a nd Public We l fare Committee which h as always h ad jur i s diction over Hill-Burton hospit a l construction . HUD is not t hat interes t ed in supervising such a p r ogram and HEW is opposed. One possible compromi se is to l et HUD finance construction and HEW provide a ll the t e chnical assistance. THE STATUS OF APPROPRIATIONS MEASURES The proposed schednle of a ction on Approp riat ion bills conce rning l e gis l at ion of inte r est to the Action Counsel is: 1. The Housing and Urban Deve lopment Appropriations bill fo r Fiscal Year 1969 .passed the house on May 8th. �I -3- The Senate Appropriations Committee has reported the Independent Offices Appropriation (includes HUD funding). The earliest it might be taken up on the Senate floor is July 17tho 2. The Labor-HEW (including OEO) Appr opriations bill pas sed · the House on June 26th. The Whitten Amendment, passed by a Telle r (unrecorded ) vote , prohibits the use of funds appropr i ated by the bill to force busing of school children, to abolish any schoo l or to force secondary school students t o att end a particular school aga in s t th e choice of pa rents. The House also app roved serious cuts in Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (aid to schools in impoverished areas ), t he Teacher Corp s and the Off ic e o f Economic Opportunity. The S enate Appropr i at ion s Subcommittee on Labor-HEW (including OEO ) hope s to complete mark-up of th e bill b y the middle of the week beginning July 15th. The ful l Comm i ttee will act the following week. Floor a ction is still at least two weeks away. Restoration of House Cut s of OEO and HEW r eques ts, incl uding Teacher Corps, and d efeat of th e Whitten Amendment should b e accomplish ed within the Committee. It i s crucial that every . effort be mad e in th e Sena t e to restore the amounts cut by the House. 3. The Second (r egular ) Suppleme11.tal Appropriations bil l for Fiscal Year 1968 went i nto confer ence where House conferees reduc ed the $75 million requested for summer j obs to $13 million and r educ ed the $25 million requested for Headstart to $5 million. The bill as amended by the conferees was subsequently passed by both the House and Senate and is now waiting the Pr es i dent's signature. �