by Stacy Casimiro and David Parkhurst

With a Sept. 29 recess date looming for the mid-term elections, Congress stepped up action on several issues including immigration reform and funding for critical housing programs. 

A key outcome in the last five days before the recess will be passage of a short-term continuing resolution to keep the federal government solvent until Congress returns in November for a post-election, lame duck session.

The following is a summary of key legislative issues affecting municipalities that Congress may deal with before leaving for the elections.

Immigration Reform
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) reopened the highly controversial immigration debate by bringing up legislation for consideration by the Senate.

In the last few weeks, the House has adopted three individual immigration bills dealing with enforcement that were originally part of the House-passed Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005. These bills include HR 6061, which would authorize construction of a 700-mile fence along the U.S.-Mexican border.

NLC has supported the Senate-passed bill, S.2611, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006, a comprehensive approach including enforcement and a path to citizenship.

A key concern as action unfolded last week was renewed discussion of the Clear Law Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal (CLEAR) Act, which would expand the role of state and local law enforcement agencies in enforcement of federal civil immigration laws.

NLC has joined with other state and local public interest groups as well as law enforcement groups to oppose the CLEAR Act that the House passed last December because of its potential to create distrust among immigrant communities, make inroads of trust more difficult and siphon limited local resources from other public safety needs.

While these individual bills cannot get through Congress before adjournment, House leaders hope to attach them onto the Fiscal Year 2007 Department of Homeland Security funding bill (HR 5441), which is currently in conference committee between the House and Senate and may be one of the only pieces of legislation adopted before Congress leaves for the mid-term elections.

FEMA Reform
House and Senate leaders have reached agreement on reorganization of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which would keep FEMA in the Department of Homeland Security, but provide more autonomy for the agency and strengthen its role.

The consensus agreement will be included in the House-Senate conference report for HR 5441, one of the few pieces of legislation that Congress will pass before it adjourns.

The agreement on FEMA includes portions of the three major FEMA reform bills addressed by Congress this year ?The RESPOND Act (HR 5316), the National Emergency Management Reform and Enhancement Act (HR 5351) and the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act (S. 3721).

The agreement reached last week by House and Senate leaders will incorporate an all-hazards, comprehensive approach to emergency management, reunite preparedness activities with emergency response activities within FEMA, provide FEMA greater authority and autonomy within the department, strengthen coordination at the national and regional levels, and reaffirm the intergovernmental partnership for emergency management. The agreement addresses programs with housing for disaster victims by requiring development of a National Housing Strategy, giving FEMA greater flexibility in providing housing assistance and authorizing increases in funding for FEMA grant programs.

The accord on FEMA will be considered as part of the House-Senate reconciliation talks on HR 5441 that have been taking place for the past few weeks. As one of the only spending bills approved by both the House and Senate, the bill has become a magnet for other provisions that legislators hope to pass before going home for the November elections.

CDBG and Housing
Although the House passed HR 5576, the Fiscal Year 2007 Transportation-Treasury-Housing and Urban Development Appropriations (TTHUD) bill in June, the Senate has yet to consider the bill.

The House TTHUD bill designates $3.9 billion for Community Development Block Grants (CDBG). The Senate TTHUD bill, which passed the Senate Appropriations Committee but has yet to receive consideration in the full Senate, tentatively designates $4.1 billion for CDBG.

Both bills fund Section 8 tenant-based vouchers at the president?s requested level of $15.9 billion, a small increase over the FY06 level of $15.8 billion. Both bills also provide $1.9 billion for the HOME Investment Partnership Program, which is a $184 million increase over last year; and $1.5 billion for Homeless Assistance Grants, a $185 million increase. The Senate will not consider the TTHUD bill until after the November elections.

Telecommunications
Currently, the Senate is considering a telecommunications bill, HR 5252, which includes provisions that would severely restrict the ability of local and state governments to tax certain telecommunications services. Although the Senate bill would restrict only two sources of revenue for local governments, these provisions could represent the first step toward eliminating all telecommunications-specific state and local taxes.

A recent study released by NLC and its coalition partners debunks claims by the telecommunications industry that it pays an unfair share of state and local taxes relative to other businesses. Instead, the coalition?s study shows that the telecommunications industry pays essentially the same level of local property taxes and, in some cases, lower state corporate income taxes than many other businesses such as the utility industry.

It is unlikely that the Senate will vote on the telecommunications legislation before its September recess, but NLC is concerned that Congress might consider the legislation, or take pieces of the bill and add them as amendments to must-pass legislation when it returns in November for a post-election, lame duck session.

Alexander Ponder, Michael Wallace and Leslie Wollack contributed to this story.