On May 24, Congress cleared the FY2007 emergency supplemental spending bill (P.L. 110-28) after first adopting two House amendments. The first amendment, sponsored by Rep. David Obey (D-WI), was adopted by the House, 348-73, and allocates $22.152 billion for domestic spending programs. The second amendment, also sponsored by Rep. Obey, adopted 280-142, provides $97.844 billion, primarily for Department of Defense activities in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Senate agreed to the House amendments, 80-14, later the same day. President Bush signed the bill into law on May 25.
The House initially approved the FY2007 supplemental spending bill on May 10 (see The Source, 5/11/07). The Senate approved the bill on May 17 (see The Source, 5/18/07) after stripping the House language and inserting placeholder language. The bills then were sent to a conference committee to resolve the differences between the House and Senate versions; the areas of disagreement were related to funding and timetables for withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Spending proposals affecting women and families are detailed below.
Department of Agriculture
The Office of Women’s Health at the Food and Drug Administration would receive $4 million in FY2007. International food aid programs would receive $460 million “to help fight starvation and malnutrition in some of the most desperate places on earth.”
Department of Defense
The measure would provide $3 billion for Department of Defense health programs and $1.1 billion for housing for military personnel. The bill also would extend the provision allowing service members to designate a portion of their death gratuity benefit to someone other than their next of kin; this provision expires September 30, 2007.
Department of Education
The Safe and Drug Free Schools program would receive $8.594 million for youth violence prevention activities. Elementary and secondary schools, colleges, and universities affected by Hurricane Katrina would receive $60 million.
Department of Health and Human Services
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services: The measure would provide $650 million in FY2007 to cover the shortfall in the State Children’s Health Insurance program (SCHIP). The bill includes three provisions to offset $250 million of the estimated cost of SCHIP: a repeal of the limit on the continuous enrollment of some beneficiaries under the Medicare Advantage program; a requirement that Medicare prescriptions be written on tamper-resistant pads to reduce fraud and abuse; and a rescission of unspent FY2005 and 2006 funds for the provision of emergency medical services to undocumented individuals.
Department of Homeland Security
Immigration and Customs Enforcement would receive $1 million for the Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center to coordinate efforts to stop human trafficking.
Department of Justice
The bill would allocate $50 million for the Edward Byrne grant program to assist Gulf Coast states in fighting the increase in violent crime resulting from Hurricane Katrina.
Department of State
International disaster and famine assistance would receive $165 million. Peacekeeping operations would receive $513 million. The Democracy Fund would receive $255 million.
Migration and refugee assistance programs would receive $185.5 million.
The Child Survival and Health Programs Fund would receive $161 million. The bill would provide authority to the president to use funding under the Millennium Challenge and Global HIV/AIDS programs to combat bird flu “if [he] determines and reports to the Committees on Appropriations that the human-to-human transmission of the avian influenza virus is efficient and sustained, and is spreading internationally.”
Other Provisions
The bill also would extend the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) through August 31, 2011. The WOTC, authorized by the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-188), encourages employers to hire eight targeted groups of job seekers by reducing employers’ federal income tax liability by as much as $2,400 per qualified new worker. The eight targeted groups include Temporary Assistance for Needy Families recipients, 18-24-year-old food stamp recipients, disabled veterans, ex-felons hired within a year of release from prison or the date of their conviction, and Supplemental Security Income recipients. Established Women’s Business Centers would be allowed to apply for a three-year grant of $150,000 or less per year.
