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CAPITOL TO CAPITOL
An Information Service of NCSL's Standing Committees
Vol. 12 #46 11/8/05
RECONCILIATION SAVINGS BILLS ADVANCE
States will be affected significantly in spending reconciliation bills that passed the Senate 52-47 on November 3 and emerged from the House Budget Committee 21-16 the same day. The legislation, S. 1932, and an unnumbered House bill would produce approximately $35 billion and $53 billion respectively in “savings” from mandatory and entitlement programs. While the Senate bill survived defections of three Republicans, the House bill is on very shaky ground as the week commences. The following synopses are incomplete in part because S.1932 was changed substantially through a floor “vote-a-rama” on November 2 and 3.
HUMAN SERVICES
The unnumbered House bill shifts about $8 billion in costs to states over the next five years by reducing match rates for child support administration, prohibiting states from claiming administrative costs for placing children in certain foster care homes, and reducing the number of children who become eligible for federal foster care assistance, particularly children living with grandparents or other relatives. NCSL opposes these measures and implores state legislators to contact their House members and urge they be stricken from the bill. These cuts are not contained in S.1932. A sense of the Senate amendment on the House child support administrative cuts puts the Senate on record as rejecting the House position. (NCSL staff contacts: Sheri Steisel, Lee Posey)
MEDICAID
S. 1932 reduces federal Medicaid payments by $4.3 billion for FY 2006-FY 2010, while the House has identified approximately $11.8 billion in reduced payments. An in-depth comparison of the House and Senate Medicaid provisions is available on NCSL’s Web page. Additionally, the Senate embraced a floor amendment (Senator Jeff Bingaman, D-New Mexico) that would hold all states harmless from FY 2006 FMAP reductions. S. 1932 has $1.8 billion set aside for Medicaid-related assistance for Hurricane Katrina victims and the House’s unnumbered bill has a $2.5 billion placeholder for Medicaid reimbursements. (NCSL staff contacts: Joy Johnson Wilson, Rachel Morgan)
FOOD STAMPS
The House bill would deny categorical eligibility to families who automatically qualify for Food Stamp assistance through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant. It also extends from five to seven years the period for legal immigrants to qualify for food stamps. This cost shift to states nets the federal government nearly $1 billion in savings. NCSL opposes both provisions and urges state legislators to contact their House delegations and urge they be stricken from the bill. (NCSL staff contacts: Sheri Steisel, Lee Posey)
EDUCATION
Most of the reconciliation savings in S. 1932 and the House bill come from hikes to interest rates and fees that students pay for higher education loans and reductions in subsidies to lenders. A floor amendment (Senators Mike Enzi, R-Wyoming and Ted Kennedy, D-Massachusetts) to S.1932 garnered a spending increase of $1.2 billion for direct financial assistance to local public or private schools affected by Hurricane Katrina and schools that have taken in displaced children. A floor amendment (Senator John Ensign, R-Nevada) to direct the flow of funds to the states failed. Similar House education assistance provisions were defeated in committee 21-26 but might re-emerge in the form of a House floor amendment. (NCSL staff contact: David Shreve)
OTHER PROVISIONS
The House bill includes a long-term reauthorization of the TANF program, while S. 1932 is silent on the issue preferring, as does NCSL, to address TANF outside reconciliation. S. 1932 now contains, per a floor amendment from Senator Trent Lott (R-Mississippi), language reauthorizing Amtrak until 2011 and authorizing $12 billion for operations and capital improvements. Attempts to spend $3.2 billion on avian flu pandemic preparations were dropped from the Senate bill on November 3. A Senate floor amendment (Senator Kent Conrad, D-North Dakota) that would have restored PAYGO controls (forcing offsets for mandatory program expansions or tax cuts) came up 10 votes short of the 60 needed to pass. The House bill contains a $1 billion increase for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
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