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LEGISLATION AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL
The re-election of President George Bush, and changes in the House and Senate
configuration, including chairmanships, is likely to have a major impact on the
development of next year’s legislative strategies. It is hard to be hopeful
about the prospects for legislation supported by clinical social workers. The
federal budget again faces serious problems. Appropriations may not be finalized
until next year and the operations in Afghanistan and Iraq complicate the
funding picture.
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Parity, Patient’s Bill of Rights, and Medicare Reform
Mental Health Parity (S 486/HR 953), the Patient’s Bill of Rights (HR 597), Medicare Reform (S 646 / HR 1314), and the Privacy Rule (HR 1709) will not be on the Congress’ agenda when it returns for a “lame duck” session in November following the elections. None of these bills cleared their house policy committee, so each will have to be reintroduced when a new Congress convenes next year.
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Suicide Prevention Bill
The Senate has passed Senator Smith’s (R-OR) S. 2634, named after the senator’s son Garrett, who died a year ago. The bill would establish grants for suicide intervention efforts directed at youth, assist campus suicide prevention programs, and develop technical assistance centers for local and state program providers. However, since the House will not be addressing the legislation when it returns in November, the legislation will have to be reintroduced next year.
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Funding The Government
Failing to pass the remaining nine appropriations bills necessary to fund the government by the October 1, the start of the new fiscal year, both the House and the Senate agreed to adopt a Continuing Resolution just short of the deadline to prevent government services from shutting down. The Continuing Resolution will remain in effect through November 20. Both houses will return for a “lame duck” session after the elections in an effort to finish the appropriations process. But Congressional aides are now stating out loud what were whispers just weeks ago – that at most only seven of the nine bills will be successfully addressed and these may be wrapped-up in an omnibus bill.
Left out of the package may the Labor, Health, and Human Services appropriations and the Veterans, Housing, and Urban Development funds. These appropriations are annually the subject of intense negotiations prior to passage and with the short time-line of the “lame duck” session, the predictions are that they will not be passed and will be left for next year’s new Congress – the third year in a row if it happens.
Further complicating the picture is the anticipation that the White House will be asking for special supplemental funds to support the war in Iraq and the Afghanistan operation immediately after the elections. Expenditures are now running about $5 billion per month for both and at that rate existing funds will run-out by February. While no official dollar figure has been communicated to the Congress by the Administration, fiscal committee staff expects the request to be “huge”.
The concern here by mental health organizations as well as other major interest groups is that the fiscal situation will drive both the dollars and policy considerations of the new Congress. No one is saying it yet, but we will probably be looking at severe limitations in both areas when Congress reconvenes in January.
Richard Yanes is the Executive Director of the Clinical Social Work
Federation (CSWF).