Congressional Break a Great Time to Survey Political Landscape

Congress is out for two weeks which, as I have said before, is actually a great time to schedule productive meetings on the Hill.

In the next two weeks, our goal is to find out for sure that the Community Services Block Grant stimulus dollars will be extended another year past the Sept. 30, 2010, expiration.

I am also very interested in what’s coming up with the budget. I have been hearing rumblings that there will be no cooperation between House and Senate Democrats and Republicans for the rest of the year. The first real test will be on the upcoming budget resolution. We’re hearing that it will be very difficult to pass one in the Senate – a direct aftermath of the heated health care debate.

I am anxious to find out more about the politics and policy issues regarding these two items during several relaxed meetings on the Hill. While a lot of lobbyists kick back and stay off the Hill during breaks, I do just the opposite. As a result, meetings with key staff that are generally limited to 15 minutes when Congress is in session turn into 30-minute conversations, plus a cup of coffee. This time builds upon relationships, strengthens our hand and is a valuable part of our legislative strategies.

Continued Uncertainty in Weatherization

Weatherization stimulus still takes up a significant amount of our time.

It is clear that barriers remain to achieving the monthly goals for homes weatherized. First, Davis-Bacon is still an issue.

Second, Some states have imposed a much lower limit on expenditures per home, which creates unnecessary issues for weatherizers. For example, one state may create a $4,000 spending limit per home, when the stimulus legislation allows for $6,500.

There seems to new obstacles looming on the horizon. We are hearing about a potential Environmental Protection Agency regulation that may go into effect in the latter part of April regarding pre-1978 structures and lead. This could potentially hinder the number of homes weatherized.

Also, there are six programs within the federal government that are focused on retrofitting homes. I’m not sure that our friends in the federal government have it figured out how all six fit together and how the Weatherization Assistance Program links to all of them. It just seems to add to the uncertainty surrounding weatherization.

The negative press seems to continue unabated. Of course, we have been collecting several positive articles that highlight the numerous benefits and successes of the program. It just seems that for every positive article on stimulus, there are two negative ones. I seem to work on this hourly, and some days it seems difficult to get much traction.

Health Care Reflections

I mostly enjoyed the drama that unfolded with yesterday’s health care passage in the House.

It was rewarding to have been asked by House Democratic leadership to work on a couple of members of Congress in terms of their votes. One ended up voting “yes” and the other “no” after much consideration.

I take a lot of satisfaction in having both Democratic and Republican friends in Congress. I can honestly say there are a lot of fine members in Congress and I like the majority of them.

I must say, though, that I thought some of the partisan rhetoric on the House floor yesterday was above and beyond my comfort level. I was uneasy with how many times the words socialism and totalitarianism were thrown around and that comparisons to the Soviet Union were drawn. It went way over the top in some cases.

That said, I thought that House Republican Leader John Boehner’s comments were very principled and worthy of the body of Congress.  Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s comments were also well said.

Yesterday’s vote was certainly historic, but the unintended consequences of the partisan divide are yet to be seen. Cooperation on the upcoming spending bills may be tricky. What does this mean for the legislative process? Are the parties going to work together? Will governing become even more difficult? Are the appropriations bills now in jeopardy? We don’t know yet, but we’ll find out soon enough.

I have changed my thinking in terms of the impact of the health care bill in the November elections. I have now moved into the camp that believes that the more voters become aware of what is in this health care bill, the more they will support it. On the whole, I think it will be plus for Democratic candidates this fall.

Health Care Up This Week, Jobs On Deck

It isn’t a great week for Hill visits because all eyes are on the health care showdown. I do have a few meetings, but there is pretty strong resistance by most to put this off until next week or the week after.

Every Democratic House member I spoke with last week predicted they will have the votes to pass health care reform this week. Be watching this afternoon for a CAP-FACTS outlining more about health care.

Whatever happens in the next couple weeks, I would expect that Congress will be focusing on jobs for the rest of the year. The Hill meetings that I am trying to schedule are directly related to how Community Action Agencies fit into the jobs agenda and the spending outlook for 2011.

Economic recovery certainly has dominated the congressional agenda for more than a year. I look forward to members being able to focus on job creation and the possibility of a greater Community Action role in the legislation that emerges.

An Enjoyable Emerging Leaders Book Discussion

Our first Emerging Leaders’ Book Discussion Group meeting took place on Friday, and I was extremely impressed with the richness of dialogue.

We discussed the book The Age of the Unthinkable: Why the New World Disorder Constantly Surprises Us and What We Can Do About It by Joshua Cooper Ramo. Each member of the group had read the book and had thought at length about how it related to our work with Community Action Agencies.

There are about 25 individuals who have expressed interest in the group, and we are actively seeking additional members. If you are interested in participating, contact Ellen Kazary.

This group plans to read a new book each month and hold a meeting via phone each month to discuss. There also will be opportunity for online discussion.

I had high hopes for this first hour-long book discussion, and I was not disappointed. Working with these emerging leaders is a good investment of my time, and I look forward to building this discussion group.

Political Season is in Full Swing

I’ve never encountered a political environment quite like this one. Democrats are scared to death of the general election and good Republican friends are scared to death about the primaries.

Yesterday I spent some time with a senior southern-state House Democrat who has been absolutely beaten up about health care. He told me he received an average of 200 calls a day from his district about health care. (These were not calls to say, “Thanks for your leadership.”) He has a wealthy opponent in the fall and he is quite concerned.

I had coffee with a midwestern-state Republican from the Education and Labor Committee recently who is very conservative, but is smart, approachable and intellectually honest. He is deathly afraid of the Tea Party factor in the primaries.

I had lunch with a moderate border-state Republican, also from the Education and Labor Committee and also worried about the Tea Party and the possibility of a third party emerging.

In other words, no one feels safe in their political chances. If we can maintain our small political footprint, and be there to support our friends, the Community Action network should be in a good position through this volatile election campaign.

With the focus on the November elections, health care and the jobs agenda, a lot of secondary issues are placed to the side at the moment.  I feel Community Action’s core funding and basic programs are in relatively good shape. They’d better be, because no one in Congress is worrying about them right now.

I am trusting that, when the members I’ve been meeting with lately assure me that we’re going to be fine, they really know we’re going to be fine.

I continue to meet with members every day I'm in town. Even though it is a most political year, opportunities remain to plant ideas and build relationships that will pay off in the not too distant future.

NCAF Legislative Conference Begins Today

The National Community Action Foundation Legislative Conference begins today in Washington, D.C.

The conference kicks off with a Club 199 brunch for all prepaid 2010 Club 199 members. Our guest speaker for the brunch is Robert Dallek, an American historian specializing in American presidents. Later, he will be speaking to the entire conference about President Obama’s first year in comparison to the first years of other presidents. I think both will be substantial speeches.

Other conference speakers include Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee David Obey, Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, Atlantic Media Political Director Ronald Brownstein, political economist Geoff Friesen and several others.

We have a good turn out and good speakers. I think attendees will leave here with a better understanding of what is going on in Washington and why.

I have been looking forward to this conference for some time. However, I must admit, that I also look forward to Friday afternoon, when the conference adjourns! This is always a very busy week for me.

Congressional Retirements Continue

Every morning I wake up wondering, “Who is thinking about leaving today?” Georgia Republican John Linder announced his retirement over the weekend, and I think there are a few other significant retirements looming.

Although at this point we are seeing more Republicans than Democrats retiring, it seems a lot of members on both sides of the aisle are just not enjoying Congress in this tough working environment. 

I was stunned recently to realize that there are about 60 Democratic seats, and only four Republican seats, potentially at play in the House. The odds that Republicans capture control in the House are trending upward. At this point I still see Democrats retaining control in the Senate, but I can easily see a six or seven seat gain for Senate Republicans right now.

Voters appear to be speaking loud and clear that big spending matters and deficits count. We have to weave our way through the politics making sure that, whoever is standing after November, we have friends in both parties.

Unemployment Debate Symbolic of Senate Climate

Thursday night I watched the Senate debate the extension of unemployment benefits. It was a healthy, but heated, debate.

A unanimous vote to extend unemployment was ultimately blocked by Kentucky Republican Senator Jim Bunning because it would add to the deficit. He argued that the extension should be paid for by stimulus funding.

I think that the particular exchange between a few senators is representative of a larger experience going on within the Senate right now. It is getting worse rather than better. There are many forces at work: the debt and deficit, more spending a time when people want smaller government, party politics and the November elections.

There will be an attempt by House Democrats to extend the benefits for a full year, but I think unemployment benefits will eventually be extended for 30 days.