Undeterred by the uncertainty of America’s financial markets and other more pressing national concerns, Senator Reid announced this morning that he may again file cloture on the motion to proceed to the “Advancing America’s Priorities Act,” also known as the omnibus. This bill contains 35 separate pieces of legislation authorizing more than $10 billion. Over the past week, Dr. Coburn has worked to negotiate improvements to many of these bills. As of today, seven have been passed by the Senate, four more are expected to pass maybe as early as today, another three are now being held by other offices, and several others are still being negotiated. Still remaining unresolved in the “Advancing America’s Priorities Act” is the creation of a War of 1812 commission costing $4 million, the construction of a $12 million greenhouse in Maryland, new regulations on the non-human primates that would cost $17 million to enforce, $5 million for a museum in Poland, a $1.5 billion earmark for the Washington subway, and a handful of other narrow proposals that are either unneeded or unpaid for. Here is an update on each of the bills that we have reached agreement on:
APPROVED BY SENATE S. 2982, Runaway and Homeless Youth —authorizations reduced, new program struck, and one substantive change (passed last night) S. 535 Emmett Till — no changes (passed earlier this week) H.R. 3845 PROTECT Our Children — reduced authorizations by $700 million, some substantive changes, added SAFE Act (passed last night) H.R. 4120 Effective Child Pornography Prosecution — never held, no change (passed earlier this week) S. 2869 Enhancing the Effective Prosecution of Child Pornography — never held, no change (passed earlier this week) H.R. 1199 Drug Endangered Children — never held, no change (passed earlier this week) S. 1382 ALS registry – changes made (passed this week) EXPECTED TO BE PASSED SOON H.R. 3992 Mentally Ill Offender — no increase in authorizations, new program struck, 50/50 matching with no waiver in grant program (cleared both sides yesterday, should pass today) S. 3169 Sea Grants – never held (will be hotlined tonight) H.R. 390 Preservation of Records – Eliminated the new program, struck the authorization and made change to allow rather than require provisions to be enacted (hotlined today as a component of S. 3477) H.R. 1492 Broadband Data Improvement – Authorization level to be removed (expected to be hotlined again soon) BEING HELD BY ANOTHER OFFICE S. 1582 Hydrographic Services – changed authorization from “such sums” to level funding from previous authorization bill (hotlined last night, was held by another office) S. 2844 BEACH Act – reduced authorization, eliminated expansion and made policy change prohibiting earmarking of funds (now being held by Majority appropriations committee staff) S. 496 Appalachian Regional Development – no change (being held by Majority) More detailed information on the full contents of the omni are available here
