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U.S. Sen. Harkin: Senate approves Harkin measures in supplemental appropriations package
5/22/2008

Contact: Jennifer Mullin / Semonti Mustaphi (202) 224-3254

War-funding package to address needs in American communities, including extending unemployment benefits, funding medical research at NIH, and restoring funding to the Byrne Grant program

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Senate today approved efforts made by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee that funds labor and health initiatives, to include more than $8 billion for investments in American priorities, including health care initiatives, safety nets for families and grants to fight crime in neighborhoods throughout the country. The package will fund the Bush Administration’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Harkin and his colleagues in the Senate fought hard to ensure it also restored investments in American communities. The bill must now be approved by the House before reaching the President’s desk.

One of the major victories in the package for communities of all sizes is restoring $490 million to the Byrne Grant program. Harkin led the fight in the Senate to restore funding to the program that helps communities band together to prevent crime. Byrne Grants fund drug task forces that have been vital in reducing methamphetamine labs around the country, and helps pay for police, technology and crime prevention programs. The supplemental appropriations package will increase Byrne grant funding to $660 million – the same level the Senate originally approved in the Commerce, Justice and Science appropriations bill.

“I am glad my colleagues in the Senate chose to fund the urgent needs in our own backyards,” said Harkin. “These investments will give our economy a shot in the arm while also helping struggling families. It will allow our scientific community to deliver the life-saving research that give Americans hope. And it will help our local law enforcement community keep criminals off of our streets. We are now spending $16 million an hour in Iraq, it is high time we make these investments in American communities.”

The Senate also passed the 21st Century GI bill as part of the package. The provision – similar to the original GI Bill – would provide service members who have served since September 11, 2001 with improved educational benefits similar to those provided to World War II-era veterans.

As Chair of the Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee, Harkin led the fight to include the following priorities in his title of the package:

National Institutes of Health

The $400 million in funding in this package would be sufficient to fund approximately 700 additional research grants in FY 2008.

Emergency Unemployment Compensation

The package would provide resources to extend unemployment benefits by 13 weeks for all workers nationwide and provides an additional 13 weeks for workers in high-unemployment states.  By extending unemployment benefits now, Congress can provide an immediate boost for the economy, and at the same time, help families weather the storm.  Economists agree that extending unemployment benefits is a powerful, cost-effective way to stimulate the economy—every dollar spent on benefits leads to $1.64 in economic growth. 

State Unemployment Insurance and Employment Services Operations

This package would provide a supplemental appropriation of $110 million to reimburse states for the costs of administering the unemployment insurance program. Currently, states are being reimbursed roughly 30 cents for every dollar of costs above their fixed costs for running their unemployment programs.   As a result, the funding shortfall is likely to result in service delays, delayed first payments, appeals backlogs, higher overpayments which contribute to higher taxes on employers, and decreased tax enforcement.

Medicaid/Medicare Provisions

This provision imposes delays on seven Medicaid rules issued by the Bush Administration that would force cuts in school-based, rehabilitation, and case management services and graduate medical education. The package would prohibit new physician-owned hospitals from participating in Medicare and place additional requirements for existing specialty hospitals. This legislation also included a moratorium on an Administrative directive that was issued to states that prevented the coverage of uninsured children if their family income was above 250 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) in the SCHIP program. 

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

The package would provide $350 million for hospitals that continue to struggle in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.  Over 6,000 physicians left the gulf coast after Katrina and have not returned.  On an average day in the New Orleans area, 70% of residents brought to a hospital by ambulance have to remain in the ambulance for approximately two hours before room can be found in the emergency room.  This funding will help hospitals hire and retain staff at hospitals that are struggling to provide care for a population that is at higher risk because of their living conditions and the exposure to disaster-related toxins.

Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)

The additional $1 billion for home energy assistance would help the estimated 15.6 million low-income households across America who are overdue in paying their energy bills and are at-risk of having their utilities shut off. 

CDC/Disease Control, Research and Training: Infectious

The package would provide $26 million for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to educate patients and health care providers on safe injection practices in outpatient clinics and to assist local public health in responding to problems.   


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