CQ TODAY
Sept. 6, 2007 – 8:36 p.m.
The Week Ahead: Midweek Recess Shortens Congress' Legislative Schedule, With Few Bills on Tap
By Gregory Vadala and Chris Dally, CQ Staff
A truncated legislative session is in store for the House and Senate next week with lawmakers planning to attend the funeral of Rep. Paul E. Gillmor, R-Ohio, and recessing in observance of the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah.
The funeral for Gillmor, who died Sept. 5, is planned for Tuesday in Ohio. Back in Washington later that same day, a bipartisan observance of the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks is in the works.
House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., said votes were unlikely in that chamber beyond Monday. The Senate is expected to finish legislative business by Wednesday. Neither chamber is expected to be in session Thursday or Friday.
The House is expected to consider two bills. One measure (HR 811) would require states to use voting machines that produce a paper trail. It also would require states to perform random audits of voting results, make voting-machine software available for inspection and authorize up to $1 billion to help states replace old machines. It also would designate paper ballots as the ballots of record for audits or recounts.
Floor action on the bill was expected this week, but opponents of the measure succeeded in delaying its consideration. State and local election officials have raised concerns about the bill.
The House is also expected to take up a measure (HR 1852) that would revamp the Federal Housing Administration’s mortgage lending practices and designate certain agency surpluses for an affordable-housing fund.
Senate’s Spending Bill Scenario
The Senate is expected to begin debate on a fiscal 2008 appropriations bill (S 1789) covering the Transportation and Housing and Urban Development departments.
Like the House bill (HR 3074), the Senate version exceeds President Bush’s request by roughly $4 billion. The White House in late July threatened to veto the House-passed version, which totals $104.4 billion. It is likely that the $104.6 billion Senate version will receive a similar reception from the administration.
Both bills would provide highway programs with $40.2 billion, which is $1.1 billion more than was enacted in fiscal 2007 and $631 million more than Bush requested. The two measures also would provide Amtrak with $1.4 billion, which is $600 million more than the administration requested and about equal to fiscal 2007 funding.
Also possible is an amendment from Patty Murray, D-Wash., that would allow increased grants to states as part of the existing federal bridge rehabilitation and replacement program.
