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THE URBAN COALITION ACTION COUNCIL JOHN W, GARDNER CHAIRMAN 1619 H STREET, N . W . May 24, 1968 WASHINGTON , D. C . 20006 WEEKLY LEGISLATIVE REPORT (Current as of May 23, 1968) The Staff FROM: The Status of Substantive Legislation The Emergency Employme nt and Training Act o f 1968 Senate hearings will have been completed as of Friday, May 24. The Subcommittee is expec ted to s tart ma r k -up sessions next week. Subcommittee Chairman Clark is a n x ious to move ahead and bring the measure to the floor of the Sena te b y the end of June. No problems are anticipated in developing an employment b i ll mutually a cceptable to Chairman Clark and Senators Javits and Prouty. However , the original strategy of taking the e mployment amendments to the floor as part of the Manpowe r Act extension is now being reevaluated. Administration Pos ition S e cre tary of Labor Wirtz t e stified in opposition to the bill s aying th at such legislati on could not be e n a cted until a "national will to do more about these problems has been created." Indications a r e that the Administration will actively opp os e the bill on t he floo r o f the S e nate. Coo r d i n ation with House o f Represen tatives House and S en a te le ade rs a re working together i n an effort to d e ve l o p bill s s ubstant ially identic al i n all major respects. Status of House Legislation The Select Subcommittee on Labor expects to schedule additional hearings during the early p a rt o f June. Several groups in favor of the legislation, including the Farmers' TELEPHONE: 202 293-15 3 0 �- 2 - Union, have yet to testify. Witnesses representing the private business sector will be invited, as well as individuals and organizations experienced in problems of job creation. Hearings on extension of the Manpower Development and Training Act (MDTA) have been completed. The Subcommittee is scheduled to go into Executive Session for three days beginning Monday, May 27, and may decide to report out the MDTA bill alone at that time. The Revenue and Expenditure Control Act of 1968 (formerly the Tax Adjustment Act of 1968) As previously reported, the Senate-House Conferees agreed on a 10 percent tax surcharge with $6 billion in budge~ cuts. The final Conference Report, however, has been delayed pending provision of additional back-up material on the tax exempt revenue bond financing provision. Majority Leader Carl Albert has announced that the Conference Report will not be debated on the floor of the House until some time after Memorial Day. When the Conference Report is debated, no amendments will be permitted -- the House must vote the report up or down. However, Representative Burke of Massachusetts, a membe r of the House Ways and Means Committee, will seek to amend the Conference Committee bi ll on Wednesday, May 29, before it is brought to the floor for final action by offering a motion ins tructing the House Conferees to insist that spending cuts be held to the $4 billion which President Johnson has sai d is acceptable. The Burke motion dese r ves Action Council support. Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 Senate The Senate has completed hearings on the measure and has filed a clean bill, S.3497. Debate was scheduled to begin on Thursday, May 23. �- 3 - While the bill apparently enjoys generally favorable support in the Senate, spending issues are certain to be raised by more conservative membe rs. The Administration will need all possible resources to sustain the Banking and Currency Committee recommendations and pass the bill substantially as reported out. House The Housing Subcommittee of the House Banking and Currency Committee began mark-up of its version of the bill on Tuesday, May 21. Mark-up sessions are e x pected to be completed b y the midd le of nex t we ek. Indications are that the House Committee will report out a bill substantially similar to the measure approved by the Senate Committee. House debate will not begin until after Senate action on the bill has b e en comple ted. The Status of Appropriations Measure s The proposed sche dule of action on the part of the Appropriations Subcommittees concerning legislation of interest to the Action Council is: 1. The Housing and Urban De v elopment Appropriation Bill for Fiscal Year 1969 passed the House on May 8 . Subcommitte e hearings have been completed in the Senate . 2 . The Labo r-HEW- OEO Approp r i ati on Bi ll is st i l l i n mark- up in t he Hou se Subcomm i t t ee. Exp ectat i o ns a r e that t he bill will n ot be r epo r ted out until around mid June . It p r obably will n ot be debated on the f l oo r o f the Hous e u ntil after t he Fourth of July. 3. The Re gu lar Supp l e ment al Appropri at i o n Me asu re f o r 1968, we u nderst and, i s still h eld up p ending r e c e i pt o f the Federal Pay Su pplemental. Th e cha nces o f seeing the Ur g ent Supplemental Conferees report out the additional $75 millio n for OEO Summer Programs a nd the additional $25 million for th e year- round Head Start are growing increasingly dim. If the Congress is to approve these badly needed additional funds, efforts to persuade "swing" members from the House Appropriations Committee will need to be intensified. �