LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Spring 2003
Inside This Issue
- Improving Transportation
- Keeping Our Water Clean
- Space Exploration
- Investment Tax Incentive Act
- Economic Recovery
- April Field Offices
- Service Academy Information Nights
- Congressional Terms & Procedures
One of the toughest challenges we face in our region is traffic congestion. While last year’s opening of the 210 Extension was a step in the right direction, we still have more to do. That is why I am excited that the Congress recently completed work on legislation that will provide much needed support for several important local transportation projects. Specifically, Congress has approved:
- $2.9 million for the Gold Line Light Rail Extension from Pasadena to Claremont;
- $1.495 million for continuing work on the Alameda Corridor East project to reduce traffic congestion and improve safety at rail crossings in our area;
- $1 million for Metrolink double tracking from Pomona to Montclair to increase capacity on this heavily used commuter rail line;
- $3 million for the Blue Line Construction Authority Intermodal Center transit facility in Pasadena; and,
- $1.5 million for the purchase of Compressed Natural Gas buses for Foothill Transit to modernize their fleet and reduce air pollution.
Since 1999, I have worked with local officials and my colleagues in Congress to initiate the San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Initiative, a project that will ensure the safety of drinking water for almost three million area residents. Last May, construction began on the Baldwin Park water treatment facility -- the first project funded by this initiative -- and Congress recently approved an additional $10 million to continue these important efforts.
This locally-crafted, bipartisan, and innovative clean-up plan focuses on achieving tangible water protection rather than drawn out litigation. I will continue to support efforts to assist already financially stretched local area governments to find a similarly effective solution to eliminate groundwater pollutants.
California is home to many of the world’s premiere research facilities, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), here in the Foothills, is one of them. Best known for operating missions that have seen spacecraft visit every planet in our solar system save Pluto, the work of JPL researchers has also led to products that have improved our lives here on Earth.
As we remember the sacrifices of the space shuttle Columbia crew, we also know that we cannot afford to stop our pursuit of knowledge and discovery. That is why I am pleased that the President’s recently released FY04 budget includes continued support for NASA and JPL activities, including the continuing Mars and moons of Jupiter missions.
Innovative businesses, technologies, and ideas are what drive the American economy, maintain our prosperity, and create jobs. This can only continue if investors are willing to take a chance on these innovations. Cutting the capital gains tax rate is one way to encourage investment. I have introduced legislation, the Investment Tax Incentive Act of 2003 (H.R. 44), that does just that.
H.R. 44 creates a two-year window of opportunity during which purchased assets will lock-in a reduced capital gains tax rate when they are sold. The capital gains tax rate for investments purchased during the two-year window would fall from 20 percent to 10 percent for individuals and 35 percent to 20 percent for corporations.
This proposal focuses on the need for an immediate stimulus that will reinvigorate business investment and job creation. It will also increase opportunities for America's "Investor Class", who invest in order to provide for their children’s education, purchase a new home, or plan for retirement.
Today, our economy is growing, but not nearly fast enough. That is why President Bush has announced a plan that will boost our recovery and create more jobs by speeding up the tax reductions passed in 2001 and encouraging individual and business investment while delivering needed help to the unemployed.
Under the President’s plan, 92 million taxpayers, especially middle-income Americans, would receive an average tax cut this year of $1,083. This includes an acceleration of marriage penalty relief and a faster increase in the child tax credit. In addition, everyone who invests in the stock market and receives dividend income -- especially seniors who often rely on those checks for a steady source of retirement income -- will benefit from elimination of the double taxation on dividends. In California, that is 11 million taxpayers who will benefit, including:
- 4 million married couples who will receive marriage penalty relief;
- 3 million families who will benefit from an increase in the child tax credit, and;
- 4 million taxpayers who will see relief from the unfair double taxation of dividends
I am committed to working with the President, along with my colleagues in the Congress, to enact a package that will strengthen our economic recovery and get more Americans back on the payroll.
In an effort to bring constituent services closer to you, my staff schedules field offices in city halls and community centers throughout the district.
Constituents are encouraged to bring along all letters and records pertinent to the matter they would like to discuss.
Tuesday, April 15th
9:00 am to Noon
Rancho Cucamonga City Hall
10500 Civic Center Drive
Wednesday, April 16th
9:00 am to Noon
Monrovia City Hall
415 South Ivy
Thursday, April 17th
9:00 am to Noon
Claremont City Hall
207 Harvard Avenue
Congressman David Dreier's annual United States Service Academy Information Nights for area high school students will take place April 1st and April 8th at 8:00 PM at the following locations:
Tuesday, April 1st - Arcadia Community Center
365 Campus Drive, Arcadia.
Tuesday, April 8th - Rancho Cucamonga City Hall (Council Chambers)
10500 Civic Center Drive, Rancho Cucamonga.
Representatives of the U.S. Air Force Academy, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, U.S. Military Academy, and U.S. Naval Academy will be in attendance to discuss opportunities available at the academies as well as the steps involved in the admissions process.
INTRODUCING A HOUSE BILL OR RESOLUTION
Developing Ideas for Legislative Language. Ideas and recommendations for legislation may come from private sources, such as ordinary citizens or interest groups; executive branch agencies and the White House; state and local initiatives; and, of course, individual Members, committees and other work groups, and party and chamber leaders. Any or all of these entities may also participate in drafting legislation (resolutions as well as bills).
Some of the most common considerations that may be taken into account when drafting a bill are:
- Will the measure attract cosponsors?
- To what committee or committees is the measure likely to be referred?
- Does the measure have bipartisan appeal?
- Is the measure best introduced at the start of a session of Congress, or later?
- What are the budgetary or appropriations implications?
House Office of Legislative Counsel. Although there is no requirement that bills and other measures introduced in the House be drafted by the House Office of Legislative Counsel, the office usually plays a critical role. Its staff attorneys are both subject-matter specialists and experts in legislative drafting.
Legislative counsel staff are often assigned to a specific committee or committees and focus almost exclusively on related policy areas in which they are expert. They act as nonpartisan, shared staff, working closely with committee members and staff. Personal office staff assigned responsibility for drafting legislation may seek assistance from legislative counsel at any stage. Numerous drafts of a bill or resolution may be required before a measure is formally introduced.
Seeking Cosponsors. The chief sponsor of a bill or resolution commonly seeks cosponsors prior to its introduction as an indication of support.
One of the most common techniques for informing Members of the pending introduction of a bill or resolution, and for soliciting support, is the "Dear Colleague" letter, sent to most or all Members. These letters are so called after the appellation with which they nearly always begin. Typically, "Dear Colleague" letters briefly state the issue the bill addresses, its major components, and remedial impact, and include an appeal to become a cosponsor. Almost always, they carry the name and phone number of a staff aide.
A Representative who wishes to become a cosponsor may contact the chief sponsor's office and request that his or her name be added. A form listing cosponsors is kept, usually by a staff aide, and submitted along with the bill or resolution when it is introduced. Before a bill is reported, a Representative may remove his or her name as a cosponsor by seeking unanimous consent on the floor.
Introducing a Bill. House Rule XII deals with the introduction of measures in the House, but in fact, the formal procedures that govern the practical activity of introducing legislation are few. Former House parliamentarian Wm. Holmes Brown in House Practice: A Guide to the Rules, Precedents and Procedures of the House (Washington: GPO, 1996) states: "The system for introducing measures in the House is a relatively free and open one."
When a Member has determined that a bill or resolution is ready for introduction, the measure is printed in a form that leaves room for the parliamentarian’s office to note the committee or committees of referral and for a clerk to insert a number. The Member must sign the measure and attach the names of cosponsors. The Member then deposits the measure in the box, or "hopper," at the clerk’s desk in the House chamber. A Member need not seek recognition in order to introduce a measure.
Bills and resolutions may be introduced at any time when the House is in session. House rules do not limit the number of bills a Member may introduce. Moreover, House precedents permit a Member to introduce a measure at the request of an individual who is not a member of the House, for example, the President, even though the Member may be personally opposed to its passage. In such a case, the phrase "by request" appears on the bill following the name of the primary sponsor.
If a Member has second thoughts after introducing a measure, he or she may reclaim it from the clerk so long as the measure has not been assigned a number and referred to committee. Thereafter, once a measure has been referred and numbered, it becomes the property of the House and cannot be reclaimed. The House has the authority to consider an introduced bill or resolution even if the sponsor resigns from the House, or dies.
Referral. From the hopper at the clerk’s desk in the chamber, most measures are taken to the parliamentarian’s office where they are referred to one or more committees (per Rule XII, clause 2). (Most of the time, the referral is determined before a bill is assigned a number.) Formal authority to refer legislation is held by the Speaker but exercised through the parliamentarian. Almost all legislation is referred to committees pursuant to jurisdictions set forth in Rule X. The Speaker has the authority to make multiple referrals, to designate a "primary" committee, and to impose time limitations on the referral.
