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I THE URBAN COALITION ACTION COUNCIL J OH N W . G A RDN ER CHA I RMA N 18 19 H S T R EET . N . W , 20 June 1968 . WAS HI N GTO N, D . C . 2 0006 WEEKLY LEGISLATIVE RE PO RT (Curre nt a s o f June 20 , 1968 ) THE STAFF FROM: THE STATUS OF SUBSTANTIVE LEGISLATION The Eme r ge ncy Emp loy me nt and Trainin g Act of 1968 (Pub lic Ser vice Employme nt Bill ) Senate he a ri n gs hav e b e e n comp leted. Subco mmittee Ch a i r ma n Cl a r k e xp ects to comp l e t e ma rk-up the we e k of June 2 4th of a b i- par tis a n pub lic se r v ice e mp loyme nt bill. No dec isi on h as bee n made on str ate gy - wh e th e r to ame n d t h e Manp ower Ac t e x t e n si o n o r tes t Eme rgency Emp loy me nt in a v o te str ic t l y on its mer its. St at u s of Ho use Le gis l at ion Th e Se l e c t Subcommitte e on Lab or h a s schedul e d its l a s t he a rings f o r J u ne 26 t h and 27th. No de cision h as b ee n made on mark i ng up t h e b ill. The Reve n ue and Expe nditu re Co n trol Act o f 19 6 8 ( f o r me r l y t he Tax Ad jus t me nt Act o f 1968 ) The b ill contai n s a ten perce n t t a x s urch a rge a n d $6 billion i n budge t cut s . The Ho use pas sed the Confere nce re p o r t (th e b ill as agree d t o by t h e Confe r ees ) on J u ne 20 t h b y a vot e o f 26 8 to 150. The Se nat e comp l e t e d favor ab l e action on it on t h e 21s t, c l e a ring it for th e Pres i de nt ' s s i gn a t u re. The Pre si de nt h as r e lucta nt l y agree d to a c cep t t he $6 b ill ion in budge t cuts . Indications are a s ubs t a ntia l amo u nt of this will be out of n o n -essent ial de f e n se a nd spac e p rogr a ms . Al though ' Ways and Means Commi ttee Ch a irman Mills info rme d u s t hat the f ul l $6 bi l lion of cuts c oul d h e take n without a ff ec ti n g the urban a n d p over t y p ro gr ams, th e Ho u se Appro p ri a tions Cammi t t ee is pro_cee di n g t o ma k e si g ni f i can t cuts in th e se v it a l pro g r ams. TELEPHONE : 202 293- 153 0 �- 2 - Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 Senate The Senate filed a clean bill, S.3497, and passed it substantially as introduced on May 28th. House The bill has been ordere d reported by the full committee and the report should be filed on Tuesday, June 25th. The House Committee dropped Title IV (bonding for New Communities) wh ich the Senate had retained at ·a $250 million level. This is one issue to be resolved in Con fere nce. Target d ate for House action is still mid-July. The Status of Appropr iations Measures The proposed schedule of action on the par t of the Appropriations Subcommittees concerning l egislation of interest to the Action Council _ is: 1. The Housing a nd Urban Development Appropriat ions bill for Fis c a l Year 1969 pass e d the House on May 8th. It is in the Senate Appro pri at ions Subcommittee on Indep e ndent Offices. Final hearings are sch edul ed f or June 24th to hear NASA officials. The Subcommittee will then begin mark- up. The appr o priations proce ss for HUD is complicated by the fact that HUD is ask i ng the Senate Committee to approve appropriations which a re authorized in this year 's pending Housing Act: $1.4 billion for Urban Re newal (including projects in Model City areas ) for Fiscal Year 1970 plus $350 million in renewa l grants for Model City areas for Fiscal Year 1969. To avoid the need for a suppl e men tal appropriation , the Administr at i o n would prefer holding up action on the Appropr i ati ons hill until the Housing Act of 1968 is passe d and signed. �- 3 - 2. The Labor-HEW (including OEO) Appropriat ions bill has been completed by the full Conuni ttee in the House and is sch e duled for House action on June 25th. Congre ss man Jamie Whitten (D-Miss.). amended the bill in the Committe e to prohibit use of funds app r opri a t e d by the bill to force busing of school children, to abolish any school or to f orce secondary school students to attend a particular school against the choice of parents. Every effort should be made to strike this amendrne nt on the floor of the House. Seve re cuts were ma de in the bill t h a t will a ffect e ffo r ts in gh e t t o schools. One o f these is the · cut in the Teacher Corps, $2.3 million below the approved level in 1968. The Administrati on budge t r e que st was $31.2 million (th e Hous e Committee approve d $15 million), but the Teach e r Corps could conti nue i t s pro g rams (including f o rward funding) with $24 million. 3. Th e Regular Supp lemental fo r Fiscal Year 1968 passed th e House and h a s b een re porte d by t he Senate Appropriations Commi t tee . Se n ato r s Yarbo rough and J avits su c ces s f ully ma n age d to amend t h e b ill in t he Commi ttee t o provi de $25 million for Head- S tart and $75 million fo r SunLme r Jobs p rogr ams. Many Co a lition members as si sted t h is e f fo r t by wi res and te l e phone calls t o k ey Commi ttee members. The b ill is schedul ed for Senate acti o n after th e Military Construction b ill - probab l y J u ne 25th. The House kill e d fundin g f o r these two programs when money for them was p u t in th e Urge nt Supp lemental two mon t h s ago. Key members i n the Hous e who wi ll l ike l y be Conferees are Represe n tatives F l ood , Natch er , Ne il Smith, Hull, Cas ey , Mahon, Laird , Mich e l , Shri v er , and Bow . I f the Senate does no t retain funds for t h ese t wo programs i n the Supp l emental appropriations bi l l , i t is unlike l y any other effort wi ll s u cceed . �