On May 10, the House approved, 221-205, the FY2007 emergency supplemental spending bill (H.R. 2206). The bill includes funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan $42.8 billion which would be available for expenditure until late July; an additional $52.8 billion would be available for the remainder of the fiscal year if approved by a second vote in July. The bill also incorporates the provisions of the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 (H.R. 2) (see The Source, 2/2/07). President Bush vetoed a previous version of the FY2007 supplemental spending bill on May 1, 2007 (see The Source, 4/27/07); the president has indicated that he intends to veto this bill as well.
Department of Agriculture
The Office of Women’s Health at the Food and Drug Administration would receive $4 million in FY2007.
Department of Education
The Safe and Drug Free Schools program would receive $8.594 million for youth violence prevention activities. Colleges and universities affected by Hurricane Katrina would receive $30 million.
Dpartment 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 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 Housing and Urban Development
The legislation would allocate $400 million for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
Department of State
International disaster and famine assistance would receive $165 million. Peacekeeping operations would receive $518 million. The Democracy Fund would receive $260 million, including $10 million for women’s programs.
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.”
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 Aid to 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 people receiving Supplemental Security Income.
