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THE URBAN COALITION ACTION COUNCIL JOHN W . GARDNER CHAIRMAN 1819 H STREET. N . W . WASHINGTON. D. C . 20006 May 16, 1968 WEEKLY LEGISLATIVE REPORT (Current as of May 16, 1968) The Staff FROM: Action Council Legislative Goals The present legislative goals of the Action Council's program for this year are: Substantive Legislation 1. Passage of the Administration's tax increase as part of the Tax Adjustment Act of 1968. (H.R. 15414) 2. Passage of the Administration's Housing and Urban Development bill substantially as introduced. 3. Passage of of 1968 as reconciled Javits and the Emergency Employment and Training Act introduced by Senator Clark and alternately to similar bills introduced by Senators Prouty. Appropriations 1. Full funding for OEO 's Poverty Program with $75 million in additional funds authorized for summer job programs and an additional $25 million appropriated for yearr ound Head Start programs. 2. Full funding of programs, particularly Rent Supplements , Public Housing, Model Cities, and Urban Renewal. 3. Exemption of all education programs from budget cuts and additional funding for Title I of the Elementar y and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and the Teache r Cor ps . T E L EPHONE: 2 0 2 293-1530 �- 2 - The Status of Substantive Legislation The Emergency Employment and Training Act of 1968 Senate hearings are already in progress. Spokesmen for the Poor People's Campaign appeared before the Committee on May 8. Further hearings ended May 15 . The following parties, among others, have been asked to appear before the Subcommittee and testify on the proposed legislation: the Secretary of Labor; the Secretary of Commerce; Mr. Leo Beebe, the Coordinator of the national JOBS Program; Mr. I. W. Abel of the United Steelworkers; Whitney Young; William Zisch; Robert F. Cannagen of General Dynamics; the National Association of Manufacturers; and the u. s. Chamber of Commerce. The Subcommittee will hold its Ex ecutive Ses sion during the last week in May. The target date for Senate floor action is late June -- before the July 4 recess. The basic st r ate g y is to amend the Administr ation's bill S.2938 (with 33 co-sponsors) which is, in e ffect, a simple extension of the Manp ower De v e lopme nt a n d Training Ac t Program. The bill will be a Clark-Javits- F~outy compromise which, in effect, amends the National Manpower Act. Subcommittee members expe c t the compromi se manpowe r b i ll t o b e voted unanimous l y out o f Committee . Administration Position Al l indic ations are t hat the Administrat ion will take n o action to suppo rt t h e Clark-Javi ts-Pro uty bill. Coordination with House of Representatives At t his poin t, the Senat e has moved o n t he leg islation witho ut any specific reference to similar legislation which has been introduced in the Ho use and has not made any effort to coordinate its activities with the House Education and Labor Committee. �- 3 - The Status of House Legislation The Select Subcommittee on Labor scheduled hearings on H.R. 12280, the Guaranteed Employment Act, sponso r e d by Congressman James O'Hara {plus 80 others) , beginni ng Tuesday, May 7, for a week; to be continued May 20, for a week, with one additional week scheduled sometime during the month of June. Witnesses who have testified before the Subcommittee are as follows: May 7, George Meany ; May 8, Bayard Rustin and representatives of religious groups; and May 9, Ron M. Linton, representing John W. Gardner, Chairman of the Urban Coalition Action Council. The Subcommittee has scheduled separate hearings on H.R. 15045 which is the Administration's bill introduced by Represent a tive Elmer Holland to e x tend the Manpower Development and aTraining Act. The hearings took place on May 15 and 16. The outlook in the House for enactment of this legislati o n a ppears quite grim, a ccording t o Hous e propone nts . The Tax Adjustment Act of 1968 The Senate-House Conferees a greed on a 10 per cent tax sur c harge with $6 billion in bud get cuts. They have comple t e d a cti o n on the r e port a nd i t i s e viden t t h at if t h e $ 6 bil l ion is cut f r om t h e budge t, i t wi ll serious l y affect man y of the programs in which the Coalition is i nterested . Included in the Conferen ce r e port are other impo r tant measures in the Soc ial Sec urity f i e l d. (1 ) The freeze on aid to dependent children (AFDC) whi ch would have gone into e f f ect July 1, 1 968 is postponed o ne year to July l, 196 9. ( 2 ) Unemployed fathers will be entitled to receive AFDC (welf are ) benefits for those weeks in a month f or which they do not receive unemployment compens ation. Under existing law they cannot receive payments under both programs in the same month . �- 4 - The Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 Hearings have been completed on both the Senate and House versions of urban development legislation. The Senate filed the report on the bill (S.3497-S.Report 1123) on May 15. However, the Omnibus crime bill now before the Senate probably precludes action on the Housing bill for a week. The Housing Subcommittee of the House begins its executive mark-up of the bill on May 21. The subcommittee hopes to complete its mark-up of the bill that week, then go to full committee consideration the week of June 3. It should be reported out on or about June 15. House floor action will most likely be delayed until the Senate has a chance to pass the bill. Appropriations The proposed schedule of action on the part of the Appropriations Subcommittees concerning legislation of interest to the Coalition is: 1. The Housing and Urban Development Appropriation bill for fiscal year 1969 was passed on May 8, in the House of Representatives. Our objective was to hold to the Committee reported bill with $400 million for Model Cities, $100 million for Urban Renewal add-on, and $25 million for Rent Supplement . We achieved our objective . 2. The House Labor - HEW Appropriation bill for fiscal year 1969 is being marked - up in the subcommittee now with the hope of reporting it out of the full committee the first week of June . 3. The committee is holding up the Regular Supplementa l Appropriation for 1968 until it r ece ives the Federal Pay Supplemental. It is in this latter bill we hope to get fu n ding included for Head Start and summer job programs. The House Appropriations Committee is probably 20-40% mor e conservative by v o ting rec o rd than the House as a whole. To the e xtent that the Urban Coalition Actiqn Council members , parti cular ly those from the business sector, c an persuade " swing" members of the Hous e Appropriations Committee of the need for the OEO appropriat i ons , �- 5 - the Housing Appropriations, etc., and also persuade them that they are willing to see cuts in other less critical domestic areas, there is some possibility that the 90th Congress could close having provided the narrow minimum of resources needed to meet the most pressing urban needs. �