New Senate Rules Might Prevent Passage Of Omnibus Budget Package

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 21 Nov 2007 - 7:00 PDT

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Senate Republicans likely will invoke new ethics rules and raise a point of order to separate 11 fiscal year 2008 appropriations bills included in a $484.2 billion omnibus package proposed by Democrats, The Hill reports. The rules -- used by Republicans earlier this month to separate the FY 2008 Labor-HHS-Education bill (HR 3043) and the FY 2008 Military Construction-Veterans Affairs (HR 2642) appropriations bill in a package proposed by Democrats -- allows senators to eliminate provisions in a conference report that did not appear in bills passed by either the House or Senate.

According to The Hill, the rules, established earlier this year by Democrats, "have given Senate Republicans so much power that it will be more difficult to pass an omnibus spending bill than in previous years." Scott Lilly of the Center for American Progress, who previously served as a senior staff member for the House Appropriations Committee, said, "It makes it harder for Democrats to package things in a way that will let them get their work done."

As a result of the rules, Democrats could lose billions of dollars in additional spending on health and other social programs, but Republicans also could lose spending on their priorities. Lilly said, "If Republicans in the Senate continue to insist on it, they're going to end up in a situation where a lot of the things they've put in these bills are lost. All of these appropriations bills are done on a bipartisan basis."

According to The Hill, with "appropriations bills funding some Republican priorities, it could be difficult" for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to "rally his conference to sustain procedural objections to an omnibus combining 10 bills." Without an "omnibus, Democrats would have little time to send Bush all the bills individually," and the "dwindling number of work days and Bush's veto threats mean many programs would likely be funded at 2007 levels," The Hill reports (Bolton, The Hill, 11/20).

Cancer Study
The Labor-HHS-Education bill vetoed last week by President Bush would have provided $3.2 million to fund a study of cancer rates among IBM employees in Endicott, N.Y., the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin reports. The legislation would have ordered the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health to conduct a study to determine whether IBM employees have disproportionately high rates of cancer based on 28,000 personnel files, as well as cancer and death records.

The study also would examine hygiene records from IBM to track the chemicals used by the company and determine possible exposure for employees. According to the Press & Sun-Bulletin, the study would have made "a significant contribution to worldwide occupational safety." Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, said that funds for the study will remain a priority in the FY 2008 budget process (Wilber, Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin, 11/17).

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