Friday, June 27, 2008
Congress Approves Harkin’s Push For Flood Disaster Aid & American Health, Employment And Research Priorities
Harkin helps deliver more than $2.5 billion for flood aid, delays harmful Medicaid regulations, extends unemployment benefits and supporting medical research at NIH
Senator Harkin, Chairman of Senate Appropriations Subcommittee that funds labor and health initiatives, successfully included major provisions to help Americans in the supplemental spending package that the Senate passed today by votes of 92 to 6. The bill will now go to the president for his approval.
Harkin worked to ensure the package restored investments in America, including Iowa communities hard hit by recent floods and tornadoes. Harkin also included provisions that would impose delays to damaging Bush Administration Medicaid rules that would hurt low income children and those with disabilities; extended unemployment benefits to Americans trying to get back on their feet; and increased funding for the National Institutes of Health for medical research. The bill will now go to the President’s desk for his approval.
Flood & Tornado Aid
The funding package includes $2.65 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Army Corps of Engineers, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Small Business Administration (SBA), Community Development funds (HUD-CDBG) and Economic Development Administration support for the recent disasters. In an effort to ensure that affected states are getting help, Harkin brought together a coalition of bipartisan Midwestern Senators to fight for funding for areas impacted by natural disasters this year - storms, floods and tornados.
"I will continue to fight to help Iowa recover from the natural disasters that devastated our state with our Congressional delegation, the state, local governments and the Administration," said Harkin. "This emergency flood relief funding is an important down payment on the long term recovery ahead. I intend to see to it that we maintain our responsibilities to the people of Iowa and other states as they work to recover and rebuild."
Harkin continued, "I expect and am working towards the movement of a second package of disaster assistance in the Senate in late July."
Harkin, a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, has received assurances that a separate Supplemental funding package may be brought up this year to include more disaster funding for Iowa and other states.
Delays to Medicaid Regulations that Would Hurt Vulnerable Iowans
Harkin worked to impose delays on six Medicaid rules issued by the Bush Administration that would force cuts in school-based, rehabilitation, and case management services. The package includes a delay in a rule the Administration implemented to eliminate federal funds aimed at enrolling more eligible poor children in Medicaid and transporting children with special health needs to school. Another rule would limit the types of rehabilitative services the state can provide with federal funds including special instructions and therapy for disabled children. Other rules that would be delayed include eliminating federal funding for teaching hospitals and limiting payments to hospitals that provide services to Medicaid beneficiaries.
"The regulations proposed by the Bush Administration will fall most heavily on low-income children and people with disabilities. We sent a message to the Administration today by showing them that they cannot balance their inflated checkbooks on the backs of vulnerable Americans," said Harkin.
Unemployment Compensation and Administrative Costs
Emergency Unemployment Compensation
The package would provide resources to extend unemployment benefits by 13 weeks for all workers nationwide. 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 also 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.
"Many Iowans are currently facing the loss of their homes and livelihoods, and so there is no better time to extend unemployment benefits and support states as they help struggling families. These dollars will provide an immediate boost for the economy, while at the same time help families make ends meet," said Harkin.
National Institutes of Health
The $150 million in funding in this package would be sufficient to fund approximately 246 additional research grants in Fiscal Year 2008. This week, Harkin worked to increase NIH funding by $1 billion in his Labor HHS appropriations bill. This increase would allow NIH to award the highest number of new research project grants in its history and keep up with the biomedical inflation rate for the first time in six years.
"The National Institutes of Health is the premier biomedical research agency in the world. It is vital for the Congress to support our scientists as they search for treatments and cures that could provide hope to millions of Americans," said Harkin.
