California Capitol Hill Bulletin, 4/21/97 Page 1 THE CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE FOR FEDERAL POLICY RESEARCH 419 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, D.C. 20003 Voice: 202-546-3700 Fax: 202-546-2390 e-mail: ransdell@calinst.org California Capitol Hill Bulletin Volume 4, Bulletin 13 -- April 17, 1997 To expand communications between Washington and California, the California Institute provides periodic faxed bulletins regarding current activity on Capitol Hill which directly impacts our state. Bulletins are published weekly during sessions of Congress, and occasionally during other periods. The e-mail edition is made possible in part by a computer server donation from Sun Microsystems. BIPARTISAN CALIFORNIA DELEGATION CIRCULATING SIX LETTERS The first six articles of this bulletin describe a wide range of bipartisan letters being circulated by Californiaıs Congressional delegation members. (Members who have yet to sign the letters but wish to do so may contact the lettersı authors or the Institute.) * CALIFORNIA ISTEA LETTER NOW UP TO 40 SIGNERS A delegation letter outlining Californiaıs perspective on the reauthorization of ISTEA has been signed by 40 California members so far. As mentioned in last weekıs Bulletin, the California ISTEA Task Force is circulating a letter to House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bud Shuster suggesting that, while the fundamental structure of ISTEA is sound, it could be improved upon in several areas. In the letter, the Task Force identifies four policy areas of particular interest to California: trade infrastructure; border infrastructure; the CMAQ program; and transit programs. The Task Force is led by Reps. Jay Kim, Bob Filner, and Juanita Millender- McDonald. To sign on, contact Dan Mathews or Bryan Peebler in Rep. Kimıs office (x5-3201) or Victor Castillo in Rep. Filnerıs office (x5-8045). * CENSUS POVERTY DATA TO BE DECIDED MONDAY, WITH UP TO $100 MILLION AT STAKE FOR CALIFORNIA; CALIFORNIA DELEGATION SENDING LETTERS On Monday, April 21, Education Secretary Richard Riley is expected to announce whether federal Title I education funding will be allocated to schools for the fall semester according to 1990 data or 1994 data. The difference could mean a shift of as much as $100 million toward California over the long run. The Census Bureau recently estimated poverty levels for 1994; the Secretaries of Education and Commerce must now decide whether to use the old data, these new data, or a mixture of the two, to distribute FY97 funding. (For further details, see the 4/3/97 Bulletin.) The California Congressional delegation has been weighing in on the issue. Bipartisan California delegation letters urge Secretary Riley and Secretary Daley to employ the updated census figures. And Senator Dianne Feinstein wrote Secretary Riley last week regarding the same subject. * BIPARTISAN TASK FORCE CIRCULATING MEDICAID ³PER CAPITA CAP² LETTER The California delegationıs bipartisan task force is currently circulating letters to President Clinton and Speaker Gingrich urging the two to work to reimburse states for the costs of providing emergency medical services to undocumented immigrants. Although undocumented immigrants are ineligible for most welfare programs, Congress in 1986 amended the Social Security Act to make illegal aliens eligible for emergency medical services under the Medicaid program, including childbirth. The letter notes that "under the cost-sharing provisions of Medicaid the states are responsible for paying up to 50 percent of these costs. This federal requirement has placed an increasing financial burden on states as the numbers of undocumented immigrants in the United States increase." California currently pays $377 million of the states own money to cover the costs of these services each year. The bipartisan letter further points out that since "controlling the nation's borders is a federal responsibility, we believe that it is unfair to penalize states for the federal government's inability to stop this illegal influx." During last year's budget negotiations, a proposal was considered to include a $1.5 billion block grant in the Medicaid reform proposals to reimburse the states for providing emergency medical services. Unfortunately, that funding was not included in the final budget agreement. * BIPARTISAN LETTER ON EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES REIMBURSEMENT A letter to President Clinton and Speaker Gingrich is beging circulated for signatures among the Members of the California congressional delegation. The letter urges them to include in any negotiated budget agreement funds to reimburse the states for the costs of providing emergency medical services to immigrants. Although undocumented immigrants are ineligible for most welfare programs, Congress in 1986 amended the Social Security Act to stipulate that illegal aliens are eligible for emergency medical services, including childbirth, under the Medicaid program. The letter argues that this federal requirement has placed an increasing financial burden on the states as the numbers of undocumented immigrants in the United States increase. California alone now pays $377 million annually out of its treasury to cover these services. During last year's budget negotiations, a proposal was considered, but not adopted, that would have included a $1.5 billion block grant in the Medicaid reform proposals to reimburse the states for providing emergency medical services. The letter urges that this proposal again be included in any budget agreement negotiated between the Administration and Congress. * LEWISı "DEAR COLLEAGUE" LETTER SEEKS $18 MILLION FOR CALIFORNIA BUREAU OF NARCOTICS ENFORCEMENT Rep. Jerry Lewis (Redlands) is circulating a bipartisan "Dear Colleague" letter to Rep. Harold D. Rogers (Kentucky), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce-State-Justice Appropriations, requesting his approval of $18 million slated for California's Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement (BNE) to help the BNE implement its strategy to address the growing problems associated with the manufacture and use of methamphetamine in California. In his letter, Rep. Lewis states that "[methamphetamine] production and use is a nation-wide problem cutting across all income and racial divisions; the impact, however, is disproportionately felt in California. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has identified California as a "source country" of methamphetamine with literally hundreds of clandestine laboratories, or "clan labs," located throughout the state. In 1996 alone, the BNE raided 835 clan labs in California -- clearly, California is on the front line in the war on methamphetamine." To date, signers include a broad, bipartisan list of California members. Attorney General Dan Lungren sent a similar letter of support. For more information, or if your member would like to sign the letter, contact Alex Heslop of Rep. Lewis' office, x5-5861. * REP. CUNNINGHAM CIRCULATING LETTER SUPPORTING DEFENSE R&D Representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham (San Diego) is circulating a bipartisan "Dear Colleague" letter urging senior House National Security appropriators and authorizers to support Department of Defense research and development. In his letter, Rep. Cunningham and his co-authors note that "America's strong military is based on decades of innovative research and technology. Our leadership in advanced technology is a force multiplier wherever we deploy. Meanwhile, today's military is smaller than yesterday's, and tomorrow's will be smaller than today's....However, our investment in military R&D has declined by 30 percent compared with 30 years ago. In real terms, this type of basic research has declined by $350 million in just the past five years." California has long been an active participant in Department of Defense (DOD) research and development. In FY93 alone, California received 26.7 percent of DOD research and development dollars. For more information, or if your member would like to sign the letter, contact Frank Purcell of Representative Cunningham's office x5-5452. HOUSE CONSIDERS PATENT REFORM BILL On Thursday, the House of Representatives took up H.R. 400, the 21st Century Patent System Improvement Act, but did not finish consideration of the bill before adjourning. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Howard Coble (N.J.), Chairman of the Courts and Intellectual Property Subcommittee, will bring U.S. patent laws into harmony with other industrialized countries. Among other things, it will require that in most instances patent applications will be published 18 months after the original filing date. This provision will allow U. S. companies to take advantage of emerging technologies and eliminate the practice of submarine patents (See Bulletin Vol. 4, No. 7). The bill also converts the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office into a government corporation and ensures that all fees collected will be retained for use by the PTO, rather than diverted to the general treasury. Before adjourning, the House defeated, 178-227, an amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher. Among other changes, the amendment would not have required application publication until five years after the patent was filed. H.R. 400, as reported by the House Judiciary Committee, is widely supported by the high technology industry. HOUSE RESOURCES HOLDS BAY-DELTA HEARING On Thursday, the House Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power, chaired by Rep. John Doolittle (Roseville), held an oversight hearing on the President's FY1998 budget request for the CALFED Bay-Delta restoration program, which is designed to solve the state's water needs and establish future water management policies in the Bay-Delta estuary. Citing the potential overall cost of $4-$8 billion over 20 to 30 years, Rep. Doolittle stated that it was important that the stakeholders in the restoration program make a firm commitment now that they will continue to be involved in the program during its later phases. He also stated that criteria to assess successful implementation of the program must be developed, and that preferably any land purchases from private owners should be based on a "willing-seller willing-buyer" transaction. Deputy Secretary of the Interior John Garamendi was one of the Administration witnesses testifying. Mr. Garamendi discussed the cooperation shown to date among the federal, state, and private parties involved in the Bay-Delta program and stressed the need for everyone to continue to work together to ensure a long-term solution to the problem. The subcommittee also heard from Robert Perciasepe, the Assistant Administrator for Water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Mr. Perciasepe has been designated as the lead federal official in the CALFED program. Mr. Perciasepe discussed the achievements that have been made since the CALFED Accord was signed in December 1994 by federal and state officials and leading stakeholders in the project. He also testified that the President's FY98 budget request for CALFED be fully funded at $143.3 million, pointing out that the activities to be undertaken with that funding will focus on ecosystem restoration, and "investment in these Œno regretsı early actions is important to maintain momentum in preparation for the decades of work ahead." The Subcommittee also received testimony from several other witnesses, including: Douglas Wheeler, Secretary of Resources for the state of California; Lester Snow, Executive Director, CALFED Bay-Delta Program; and Sunne McPeak, President and CEO, Bay Area Council. The testimony of the witnesses will be available on the Committee's Internet Home Page at www.house.gov/resources. HOUSE PROCUREMENT PANEL HOLDS HEARING ON SUPERCOMPUTER SALES The House National Security Subcommittee on Military Procurement, chaired by Rep. Duncan Hunter (Alpine), held an oversight hearing Tuesday on the sale or transfer of supercomputers to foreign entities or governments engaged in nuclear weapons research. The hearing was initiated as a result of recent reports that allegedly improper sales of high performance computers, without export licenses, were made by Silicon Graphics' Cray Division to a Russian nuclear weapons facility. Current U. S. export regulations govern the sale of supercomputers based on the computerıs MTOP performance. An MTOP is the number of million of theoretical operations per second that a computer can perform. In 1995, the Administration's new regulations removed licensing requirements for common desktop computers. Export licenses are still required for companies to to sell high performance computers to Russia, China, and certain other countries when (1) intended for military end users or end users involved in proliferation activity and have a composite theoretical performance (CTP) of over 2,000 MTOPS, or (2) intended for a civilian end user and have a CTP of over 7,000 MTOPS. The Subcommittee, prior to going into a closed session, heard testimony from representatives of the Department of Commerce's Export Administration office, the Department of Energy, and the General Accounting Office, as well as others. The General Accounting Office representative pointed out that the Departments of Justice and Commerce, and the Customs Service were investigating the allegedly improper sale. William Reinsch of the Export Administration Agency informed the committee that the Administration was reviewing its regulations on supercomputer exports, and would reassess its 1995 regulations, as well as foreign availability of comparable machines and their military applications. Reps. Duncan Hunter expressed concern that the export of these high performance computers compromised U.S. national security. Rep. Ron Dellums, ranking minority member of the full committee, was concerned that their export could jeopardize efforts to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons. U.S. companies that manufacture supercomputers are concerned that rolling back the Administration's regulations to require individual export licenses for all computer exports will adversely affect their business operations and competitiveness. The witnesses' testimony is available on the subcommittee's Internet Home Page at www.house.gov/nsc/schedule.htm. CALIFORNIA ISTEA TASK FORCE HOLDS TOWN HALL MEETINGS BACK HOME; NORTHEAST SENATORS INTRODUCE STATUS QUO ISTEA LEGISLATION In an effort to provide local transportation officials and members of the Task Force an opportunity to discuss how to protect and advance California's interests during the ISTEA reauthorization process, several members of the Task Force will host town hall meetings back in California. The first such meeting, hosted by Reps. Filner and Kim, will take place April 18th in San Diego. The event is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Chula Vista City Council Chamberıs Public Services Building located at 276 Fourth Avenue in Chula Vista. Also planned for later this month is a Diamond Bar town hall meeting hosted by Reps. Kim and Millender-McDonald. The event is planned for Monday, April 21st from 9 a.m. to Noon at the AQMD Auditorium located at 21865 East Copley Drive in Diamond Bar. Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald also plans to hold another Los Angeles meeting in early May. The Institute will make the information on that meeting available as the plans are finalized. All Task Force Members are invited and encouraged to attend these excellent opportunities to showcase the California delegationıs efforts to improve transportation in the region and in his/her district. For more information on the scheduled meetings, contact Dan Mathews or Bryan Peebler (Rep. Kim) or Victor Castillo (Rep. Filner). The Task Force hopes to hold similar meetings in the future in different parts of the state. Any members interested in hosting such an event should contact the offices listed above. On a related note, earlier this week a group of Northeastern Senators introduced a new ISTEA reauthorization bill, S. 586, which would leave the current federal highway funding formula largely unchanged. In addition to reauthorizing ISTEA for another six years at more than $175 billion, the plan would double spending on the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program (CMAQ) to $12 million. The move is not surprising given that the transportation spending formulas adopted in the ISTEA legislation disproportionately funneled highway monies to the Northeastern states while leaving Southern and Western states, whose population and transportation needs have skyrocketed over the last decade, without needed levels of funding. A Congressional Quarterly article quoted Sen. Joe Biden (Del.) as saying that lawmakers from the East "don't complain" when asked to authorize funds to help Western states deal with earthquakes, fires and other natural disasters that do not affect Northeastern states. Rep. Susan Molinari (New York) is expected to introduce a companion measure in the House. HOUSE SCIENCE PANEL BACKS 10 MEASURES FOR FEDERAL R&D On Wednesday, the House Science Committee approved 10 bills to authorize fiscal 1998 and 1999 funding for federal research and development programs. Among the measures approved by the panel was H.R. 1275, a bill to authorize $13.8 billion in fiscal 1998 for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Notably, the committee agreed to the Clinton Administration's request of $1.4 billion for the Mission to Planet Earth Program. The committee also agreed to authorize $3.5 billion in funding for the National Science Foundation in FY98 (HR 1273). Other measures included R&D authorizations for: research programs on the health effects of electric and magnetic fields (HR 363); marine resource conservation efforts conducted through the National Sea Grant College Program Act (HR 437); Federal Aviation Administration research (HR 1271); the U.S. Fire Administration (HR 1272); the National Institute of Standards and Technology (HR 1274); research and technology activities in the Environmental Protection Agency (HR 1276); several programs in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (HR 1278); and for civilian research, development and demonstration projects in the Department of Energy (HR 1277). HOUSE COMMITTEES VOTE TO REMOVE RESTRICTIONS ON LEVEE REPAIRS In a move to expedite the rebuilding of levees and prevent future flood disasters, the House Resources Committee and the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee yesterday voted to exempt levee repairs from certain requirements of the Endangered Species Act. The Resources Committee adopted, 22-9, a measure (HR 478), sponsored by Reps. Richard Pombo (Tracy) and Wally Herger (Marysville), that would exempt basic maintenance of the nation's flood-protection levees from certain review processes required by the Endangered Species Act. The sponsors argue that the Endangered Species Act review process required by the species protection law is so time-consuming that it interferes with reclamation districts carrying out basic maintenance work. Moreover, Reps. Pombo and Herger claim that the ESA restrictions contributed to collapses during the floods which resulted in millions of dollars in damages. Rep. George Miller, the committeeıs ranking Democrat, argued that the measure goes too far and would weaken the Endangered Species Act. Members of the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee approved an amendment, offered by Rep. Vic Fazio, to a fiscal 1997 supplemental spending bill which would also allow the suspension of ESA-required environmental review on projects pertaining to the repair, construction and maintenance of levees damaged in the 1997 floods. At the insistence of Subcommittee Chairman Joseph M. McDade (PA), the amendment was broadened to protect against future levee failures where levee conditions were determined to pose an "imminent threat" to nearby citizens. 2000 CENSUS ISSUES VENTED IN SENATE COMMITTEE On Wednesday, the Senate Government Affairs Committee heard testimony from a series of experts, including Wisconsin Attorney General Jim Doyle, regarding the Census Bureau's progress towards the 2000 census, the Bureau's budget request to execute the census, and the Bureau's ongoing intentions to incorporate, for the first time, an enumeration that would employ a partial sampling overlay. Much of the dayıs dialogue was dedicated to the Bureau's occasionally controversial plan to incorporate a statistical sampling overlay to complement the direct enumeration efforts. The Bureau's statistical sampling proposal is to make direct contact with at least 90 percent of residents in a census neighborhood tract -- either by way of in-person visit, by U.S. mail, or by telephone -- and then institute a sample for the remaining 10 percent of residents who historically have proven to be the most difficult residents to count. In that regards, Chairman Fred Thompson (Tennessee) noted that both Congress and the Bureau were "moving into unchartered territory" and were faced with the fact that "Congress must give authority for the Bureau to sample....What I understand here is that the less we sample, the more the census will cost and the less accurate the census will likely be." Some members of Congress -- most notably Northeasterners and Midwesterners whose populations are declining relative to the populations in the West -- are steadfastly opposed to the Bureau's proposal in fear that their states may very well lose representation and federal funding, both of which are based upon accurate census results. Wisconsin, who faired poorly in the 1990 census, is one such state that is likely to vehemently oppose the use of sampling in 2000. However, under direct questioning from Chairman Thompson, Wisconsin Attorney General Doyle noted that he does not believe that the "enumeration clause" of the Constitution mandates physical enumeration, seemingly removing what some consider a major constitutional obstacle to adopting a system that employs modest sampling. In another statement, the Attorney General also conceded that "it is impossible to count everybody, at some point somebody has to make a reasonable estimate of the people." With regard to funding, the Census Bureau has requested $354.8 million for decennial census activities in FY98, an increase of $270.7 million over the FY97 funding level. The increase is a result of the requirements of the Bureau to: _ complete the initial phase of address list development for all city-style addresses; _ begin building an accurate address list for rural areas; _ conduct a full-scale dress rehearsal in Sacramento and a few other select areas in March, 1998 of all aspects of the 2000 census plan. Other critical activities planned for next year include awarding contracts for automated data processing and telecommunications, opening the 12 regional census centers and a number of field offices, and awarding the contract for the paid advertising campaign. REPRESENTATIVE TORRES NAMED TO BANKING COMMITTEE On Wednesday, Representative Esteban Torres (Pico Rivera) was named temporarily to the House Committee on Banking and Financial Services. Torres will serve on the Banking Committee for only one month until newly sworn-in Democratic members from New Mexico and Texas are seated. In his one-month stint on the Banking Committee, Representative Torres, who will retain his position on the Appropriations Committee, is expected to deliberate on issues such as the public housing bill. Rep. Torres formerly served on the House Banking Committee from 1983 to 1992. CLINTON EXPECTED TO REQUEST MFN RENEWAL FOR CHINA According to recent statements by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, President Clinton is expected to seek renewal of Chinaıs Most-Favored-Nation status again this year. Sec. Albright spoke to reporters on Wednesday after a speech at the Gerald R. Ford museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She stated that the Administration believes it is important to have a trading relationship with China, and believes that such a relationship ³creates an atmosphere where it is more likely that human rights and political freedom will be respected in China.² President Clinton has until June to decide whether to renew Chinaıs MFN status. If he seeks renewal, Congress will have the chance to vote on the issue.