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August 14, 1997 This letter was sent to the following members of the 105th Congress:
Newt Gingrich, Speaker of the House On behalf of the nation's state legislators, we write to express our appreciation for enactment of budget reconciliation legislation, H.R. 2014 and H.R. 2015. For the past decade, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) has urged federal policymakers to balance the federal budget. These two bills put you on that course. We also write to urge you to ensure that the appropriate federal agencies include state legislators in the development of regulations needed to implement several of the new programs contained in the legislation. We have generally advocated that your efforts avoid cost shifts to states and unfunded mandates, guarantee program and administrative flexibility, preserve the integrity of the intergovernmental fiscal system, retain state authority and accomplish proportionate spending reductions. Not all of the issues in the budget reconciliation bills were resolved to our satisfaction. On balance, however, the reconciliation package satisfied the preponderance of our concerns. We are particularly pleased with the restoration of SSI and Medicaid benefits for legal immigrants. H.R. 2015 terminates an unsatisfactory cost shift contained in last year's welfare reform legislation. The technical corrections to that same welfare law should facilitate its implementation by states. Also, the welfare-to-work grants, while structurally imperfect, address the need for creating work opportunities. On this latter subject, we urge you to oversee implementation of this program to ensure that states are assured program and administrative flexibility and that unfunded mandates are avoided. The numerous modifications to the Medicaid program, such as the Boren Amendment repeal and managed care without waivers, were overdue. States have long sought the program flexibility these changes will bring. Two other provisions, one funding Medicare premiums for low-income senior citizens and a second allowing states to use Medicaid payment rates for determining cost-sharing for qualified Medicare beneficiaries and dual eligibles, address our concerns regarding flexibility and mandates. The children's health package builds on initiatives underway in several states. While we preferred greater flexibility regarding benefit determination and coverage options, our initial review indicates that the compromise package gives states leverage to successfully undertake this effort. We feel it is critical that, as regulations are developed, state program and administrative flexibility and avoidance of unfunded mandates be your guide. We are pleased with the redirection of 4.3 cents of the federal gas tax to the highway trust fund. We encourage you to insist that these monies be spent on our pressing infrastructure needs. There are several provisions not in the conference agreement that we believe were appropriately excluded. Provisions preempting state authority regarding regulation of multiple employer welfare associations and medical malpractice and product liability were dropped. We will continue to oppose these provisions whenever they resurface. Attempts to cap federal funding of state administration of Medicaid and Food Stamps were considered but, fortunately, excluded from the final agreement. We look forward to working with you in implementing this budget reconciliation agreement. We urge your oversight of the implementation of both the children's health and welfare-to-work programs to ensure state program and administrative flexibility and avoidance of unfunded regulatory mandates. Sincerely, Senator Richard FinanPresident of the Ohio Senate President, NCSL Representative Michael Box House Majority Chairman, Alabama Immediate Past President, NCSL NCSL Washington Office Staff Contacts Washington Office: 444 North Capitol Street, NW Suite 515 Washington, DC 20001 Phone: 202/624-5400 Fax: 202/737-1069 Denver Office: 1560 Broadway Suite 700 Denver, Colorado 80202 Phone: 303/830-2200 Fax: 303/863-8003
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© 2008 National Conference of State Legislatures, All Rights Reserved
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Washington Office: Tel: 202-624-5400 | Fax: 202-737-1069 | 444 North Capitol Street, N.W., Suite 515 | Washington, D.C. 20001
