Budget failure threatens Dems’ agenda

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5 (JTA) — The Republicans’ failure to fund government before they hand over Congress to the Democrats will have little effect on Israel, but domestic welfare programs Jews care about will suffer, community officials said.
In an extraordinary comment posted last week on its Web site, the United Jewish Communities’ Washington office fumed that the lame-duck Congress’ failure to pass most of its budget “is considered to be a politically motivated distraction for the newly installed Democratic Congressional leadership, preventing them from tackling their incoming agenda for the 110th Congress.”
The UJC, which generally abjures sharp criticism of either party, said retirement community and elderly-care programs would be affected by the delay.
Thomas Kahn, who doubles as the Democrats’ top budget official in the U.S. House of Representatives and as president of the American Jewish Committee’s Washington chapter, cited a “range” of issues of Jewish concern that will be affected, “from child care to education to environmental protection.”
“The bottom line is because the Congress failed to do its job and is going home for Christmas vacation, it means a number of critical domestic services will be underfunded” until Feb. 15 at the earliest, he said.
Spending that affects Israel is not impacted. Foreign operations, which accounts for the $2.8 billion Israel receives annually, is going ahead at 2006 levels, which differ little from levels promised for 2007. The Defense Appropriations Act, which affects collaborative U.S.-Israel programs such as the Arrow anti-missile program, is one of only two that were passed before the midterm elections.
Democrats are concerned that the domestic agenda they touted, and which helped them win back Congress, will be delayed as the new Congress deals with unfinished business.
House Democrats within three weeks pledged to pass legislation funding embryonic stem-cell research; raising the minimum wage; reforming ethics; reforming health care to open up bidding on federal purchases of pharmaceuticals; balancing the budget; funding research on energy alternatives; reducing interest on student loans; and implementing the Sept. 11 commission’s recommendations.
An array of Jewish groups was looking forward to the renewed stem-cell funding effort; a number of other groups, led by the Reform movement, also back the Democrats’ pledge to raise the minimum wage. Other groups, including the American Jewish Congress and AJCommittee, are looking forward to examining Democratic proposals for energy independence.
“We’ll have to figure out for the security of the nation how we fund those things” while passing appropriations, a senior Democratic staffer told JTA.
Both houses have passed versions of the appropriations bills. At issue are the versions of the bills that emerge after the Senate and House conference, and which must be passed on a second reading.
Congress rarely meets the Oct. 1 deadline for passing appropriations bills, and this year only Defense and Homeland Security appropriations packages passed, leaving another nine appropriations bills waiting for the lame-duck session.
In past years Congress returned after midterm elections to pass the remaining appropriations during the lame-duck session. This year, however, after losing the midterms and ending 12 years of dominance in the U.S. House of Representatives, Republicans decided to punt the remaining appropriations to the next Congress.
Instead they are passing “continuing resolutions” that allow the budget to go ahead at minimum 2006 levels with no add-ons.
Conservative Republicans, who are leading the effort to pass the continuing resolutions, deny they are playing politics with Democrats, saying it’s part of their recent efforts — which predate the elections — to strip earmarks, or “pork,” from spending bills. They’ve said they would be happy to pass “clean” budget bills, not the omnibus bills that typify appropriations.
Naturally occurring retirement communities, pioneered by UJC, are currently funded solely through earmarks, though there are plans for a federally funded program. The NORC programs help keep the elderly semi-independent and living close to family.
Another UJC-favored earmark is a new family caregiver support program that streamlines access to community services for people who are responsible for caring for their elderly relatives.
The UJC said the delay would affect 19 NORC programs, as well as pioneer caregiver support programs in Durham, N.C., and New Haven, Conn.
William Daroff, UJC’s policy vice president and director of its Washington office, predicted that the earmarks would be back in place by February. After that, he said, UJC would work to make NORCs permanent.
“One of our goals in the next Congress is funding for the Older Americans Act, which made NORCs permanent,” he said.