LEGISLATIVE REPORT

U.S. Congress


House of Representatives

Republicans attempted to trim the $1.2 trillion 2011 budget bill. At 4:40 a.m. on Saturday February 19, 2011 the House passed a Full Year Continuing Appropriations Act for 2011. The current Continuing Resolution expires on March 4th. The vote was 235 to 189 with 9 not voting. The actual amount that House Republicans cut ranges between $60 and $100 billion according to various sources. Senate Democrats are opposed to the House version and have said that Republicans want a "government shutdown," and President Obama has threatened to veto the bill. For NC Representatives, the vote was along party lines except that Republican Rep Jones (R-3) voted with the Democrats who voted against the budget cuts and continued funding of the government through the current fiscal year that ends on September 30, 2011.

Leading up to the Continuing Appropriations Act, over 100 amendments were debated and voted on. Speaker John Boehner made good on his promise to hear all amendments from the House of Representatives, in contrast to former Speaker Pelosi's leadership. Concerning Boehner's amendment proceedings, Pelosi said, the chamber is "driving itself to irrelevance with the amendment process here."

The most noteworthy amendments are the following:

Rep Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) proposed an amendment from the Republican Study Committee to cut $22 billion more from the bill by reducing the Legislative Branch Appropriations funding by 11 percent, and cutting other non-security funding by 5.5 percent, except for aid to Israel. On Feb 18, 92 Republicans including Rep Eric Cantor, House Majority Leader; and House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy joined all of the Democrats to defeat the amendment in a vote of 147 to 281 with 5 not voting. Therefore the pledge that $100 billion would be cut from the 2011 budget was not achieved, wrote Erick Erickson, Redstate.com, saying that Rep Cantor exhibited "a failure of leadership."

All NC Republican Representatives except Walter B. Jones, Jr. (R-3rd) voted for the amendment. All NC Democrat Representatives voted against it.

Four healthcare amendments met with considerable comment. (1) One amendment that passed 239 to 187 with 7 not voting was from Rep Rehberg (R-MT) that "would deny funding for the law from the Labor-HHS [Health and Human Services] Appropriations bill." Rehberg said, "It will create a firewall so that funds from this bill cannot be for that purpose."

All NC Republican Representatives voted for the amendment along with Mike McIntyre (D-7th). All other NC Democrat Representatives voted against it.

(2) Another healthcare amendment passed 246 - 182 with 5 not voting, was offered by Rep Emerson (R-MO) that would "deny funds to allow the Internal Revenue Service to enforce the individual mandate to purchase health insurance in the health care law."

NC Representatives voting for the amendment: Renee Ellmers (R-2nd), Walter B. Jones, Jr (R-3rd), Virginia Foxx (R-5th), Howard Coble (R-6th), Mike McIntyre (D-7th), Sue Myrick (R-9th), Patrick T. McHenry (R-10th), and Heath Shuler (D-11th).

NC Representatives voting against the amendment: G.K. Butterfield (D-1st), David E. Price (D-4th), Larry Kissell (D-8th), Melvin L. Watt (D-12th), and Brad Miller (D-13th).

(3) The House also passed two amendments "to defund the health care law in other parts of the budget," proposed by Rep King (R-Iowa). In both votes (No. 267 & 268) All NC Republican Representatives voted for the amendments, along with Democrat Mike McIntyre (D-7th). All other NC Democrat Representatives voted against them.

Rep Pence (R-IN) proposed eliminating over $75 million a year for Planned Parenthood. Although the Hyde Amendment bans the use of tax money on abortions, Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in the U.S., according to Rep Pence. The amendment passed 240-185 with 1 voting present, and 7 not voting. In an interview with an NBC affilliate in Richmond, VA President Obama was asked to respond to the vote to defund Planned Parenthood amid allegations against them for "sex trafficking of minors, secret abortions for minors, and giving 'pimp' discounts." President Obama said, "sometimes these issues get manufactured." (From RedState.com)

NC Representatives voting against taxpayer abortions: Renee Ellmers (R-2nd), Walter B. Jones, Jr(R-3rd), Virginia Foxx (R-5th), Howard Coble (R-6th), Mike McIntyre (D-7th), Sue Myrick (R-9th), Patrick T. Mc Henry (R-10th), and Heath Shuler (D-11th).

NC Representatives voting for taxpayer abortion: G.K. Butterfield (D-1st), David E. Price (D-4th), Larry Kissell (D-8th), Melvin L. Watt (D-12th), and Brad Miller (D-13th).

On Feb 18 the House passed an amendment that "would bar the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from using any funding to implement the network-neutrality order it approved in December." The vote was 244 to 181 with 8 not voting, and proposed by Rep Walden (R-OR). "If left unchallenged, this claim of authority would allow the FCC to regulate any matter it discussed in the national broadband plan," Walden stated. The FCC under their own "network-neutrality order" could influence the type of programming that airs over public airways, including conservative talk radio. NC Representatives voted along party lines with Republicans voting for the amendment and Democrats voting against it.

On Feb 19 the House voted to "slow implementation of E15 [a fuel blend containing ethanol]. The vote passed 285 to 136 with 12 not voting. Rep Sullivan (R-OK) offered the amendment that "prevents the U.S. EPA from spending any federal funds on E15" he said. The slow down gives Congress the time to study ethanol further.

NC Representatives voting for the amendment: Renee Ellmers (R-2nd), Virginia Foxx (R-5th), Howard Coble (R-6th), Mike McIntyre (D-7th), Larry Kissell (D-8th), Sue Myrick (R-9th), Patrick T. Mc Henry (R-10th), Heath Shuler (D-11th) and Brad Miller (D-13th).

NC Representatives voting against it: G.K. Butterfield (D-1st), Walter B. Jones Jr. (R-3rd), David E. Price (D-4th), and Melvin L. Watt (D-12th).

Rep Scalise (R-LA) proposed an amendment that would "strip funding for a select list of the so-called czars" that are among President Obama's Czar staff. Positions identified in the bill are: Director, White House Office of Health Reform; Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change; Special Envoy for Climate Change; Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovations, and Council on Environmental Quality; Senior Advisor for Green Jobs; Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury assigned to the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry and Senior Counselor for Manufacturing Policy; White House Director of Urban Affairs; Special Envoy to Oversee the Closure of the Detention Center at Guantanamo Bay; Special Master for TARP Executive Compensation, Department of the Treasury; and Associate General Counsel and Chief Diversity Officer, Federal Communications Commission. The vote was 249 to 179 with 1 voting present, and 4 not voting.

NC Representatives voting for the amendment: Renee Ellmers (R-2nd), Walter B. Jones, Jr (R-3rd), Virginia Foxx (R-5th), Howard Coble (R-6th), Mike McIntyre (D-7th), Larry Kissell (D-8th), Sue Myrick (R-9th), Patrick T. Mc Henry (R-10th), and Heath Shuler (D-11th).


NC Representatives voting against the amendment: G.K. Butterfield (D-1st), David E. Price (D-4th), Melvin L. Watt (D-12th), and Brad Miller (D-13th).

NC Representative Walter B. Jones, Jr (R-3rd) proposed Amendment No. 95 that would have reduced "by $400 million the amount made available to the Afghanistan Infrastructure Fund;" and "increase by $400 million the amount made available to the Defense Spending Reduction Account" that is "designated as savings." The amendment failed in a vote of 135 to 294 with 4 not voting.

NC Representatives voting for the amendment: Walter B. Jones, Jr (R-3rd), Howard Coble (R-6th), Larry Kissell (D-8th), and Heath Shuler (D11th).

All other NC Representatives voted against the amendment.

Senate

The Senate passed the FISA Sunsets Extension Act of 2011. Both Senators Burr and Hagan voted to pass the bill that extends some "expiring provisions of the Patriot Act for 90 days." (MegaVote)

Both Senators Burr and Hagan also voted to approve the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Air Transportation Modernization and Safety Improvement Act that reauthorizes $34.6 billion for two years. The House is working on its own version that would cover four years.

North Carolina Governor and the General Assembly

Balanced Budget Act of 2011

On Feb 10 the NC Legislature ratified the Balanced Budget Act of 2011 (Senate Bill #13). Governor Perdue vetoed the bill on Feb 22 which would have given ". . . her the authority she requested to cut $400 million in the current fiscal year and target another $400 million in immediate savings to help tackle next year's budget," according to Senator Phil Berger. Berger also stated, "Gov. Perdue's veto makes it more difficult to balance the state's budget without cutting teachers' jobs and negatively impacting our classrooms. And while her solution is to raise taxes that destroy private sector jobs, Senate Republicans refuse to reach further into North Carolinians' pockets."

The problem for Gov. Perdue may be that that the bill "diverts funds from business incentive programs Perdue supports, including Golden LEAF ($67.5 million), the Tobacco Trust Fund; the One North Carolina Fund, and Job Development Investment Grants," according to the Carolina Journal Online.

However, Gov. Perdue's veto may be overturned if three-fifths of the General Assembly votes to do so, according to Bloomberg News. House Speaker Tillis has said that about $10-$20 million is in dispute in a bill that will save tens of millions for NC.

House Bill 2 " Protect Health Care Freedom"

The bill passed in both the House and the Senate and was sent back to the House for a minor change approval before it is sent to the governor. The bill addresses Obamacare provisions requiring that citizens purchase health insurance indicating that a person should not be compelled to purchase health care services from an insurance provider. It also states that the NC Attorney General has the duty to represent its citizens in enforcing the NC law. Therefore, NC should join with other states in law suits against Obamacare. Gov. Perdue told the Charlotte Observer recently she would not veto the bill, but she does not intend to sign it either, saying 'it's not worth a battle,'" (Carolina Journal Online)

Governor Perdue's Budget

Governor Perdue presented her $19.9 billion budget proposal last week. She says there is a $2.4 billion budget deficit for NC. Her budget centers on extending a 1 cent temporary sales tax increase that was scheduled to expire; cutting the corporate tax rate to 4.9 percent, from 6.9; protecting education funding for teachers and teaching assistants; transferring funding from janitors and technology to the counties; eliminating 10,000 state government jobs (currently only 3000 are filled), and closing some state parks and welcome centers.

The legislators in Raleigh will review her budget and make their own proposals, but Perdue has veto power over the budget. Perdue has recently said, "I don't know how to spell tax increase," but that changed with her budget. Republican legislators have vowed to end the "temporary" tax that the governor wants to extend. On transferring funding liabilities to the counties, Republicans said the counties would have to either "raise taxes or cut services," according to the Greensboro News & Record.


Sources: house.gov; RedState.com," Eric Cantor's Failure of Leadership," Feb 22, 2011 and "On Obama's 'Trip to the Center,' He Stumbles Over Planned Parenthood," by Ben Howe, Feb 21, 2011; NationalJournal.com, "More Amendments Roll Through The House," by Humberto Sanchez, Billy House and Matthew DoBias, Feb 18, 2011 and "House Passes Amendment to Block Funds for Net Neutrality Order," by Juliana Gruenwald, Feb 17, 2011; ethanolproducer.com, "House vote to slow E15 a 'clarion call' for industry," by Holly Jessen, Feb 21, 2011; Foxnews.com, "House Votes to Defund 'Obamacare" as Government Inches Closer to Shutdown," Feb 18, 2011 and "House GOP Moves to Eliminate Obama 'Czars;'" Feb 21, 2011; grassfire.net Update, Feb 21, 2011; johnboehner.house.gov; Greensboro News & Record, "GOP Unhappy Perdue keeps extra sales tax," by Mark Binker, Feb 18, 2011 and "Editorial: Get serious about taxes," Feb 20, 2011; newsobserver.com, "Perdue's plan: a wily, political budget, by Rob Christensen, Feb 20, 2011 and "Veto foreseen, but it's a 'fight worth having;'" by J. Andrew Curliss, Feb 21, 2011: Senator Berger's Press Release, Feb 22, 2011; ncga.state.nc.us; carolinajournal.com, "Showdown between General Assembly, Perdue over budget cutting possible," by Sara Burrows, Feb 21, 2011; MegaVote, Feb 22, 2011; Bloomberg.com, "NC Legislature gives final ok to savings bill," by AP, Feb 10, 2011; and gop.gov.