WASHINGTON — The 108th Congress reconvenes Tuesday for an election-year session that will likely see few legislative breakthroughs and more of the partisan acrimony that has stalled action on key issues.
Still, election-year sessions are not automatic deathtraps for bills. Some lawmakers say there is a chance for passage of some legislation left over from last year, as well as some voter-pleasing proposals, before the November elections.
With Republicans narrowly in control of both chambers, President Bush will likely continue to exert enormous influence, although it is not yet clear how hard he will fight for his most controversial proposals on taxes, immigration and other issues.
Some of the major issues facing Congress:
The Senate plans Tuesday to take up a $328 billion "omnibus spending" bill to fund most civilian federal operations. Democrats held it up last year in a dispute over overtime pay, media consolidation, country-of-origin labeling for food and other issues. They are weighing whether to continue stalling tactics to force changes in these provisions.
The European Community is threatening trade sanctions unless the U.S. changes export subsidy laws. Top Republicans want to extend earlier income tax cuts and expand retirement savings accounts to shelter investment income. A bill to increase tax breaks for charitable giving is near passage. Some key lawmakers oppose tax cuts that cannot be offset by other savings, dimming prospects for big reductions.
Republicans will try to revive a $31 billion bill to rewrite energy programs. It stalled in the Senate in a dispute over protecting makers of a gasoline additive from lawsuits related to groundwater contamination. Republicans are searching for the two votes they need to overcome a Democratic filibuster.
Supporters of the president’s proposal to grant temporary legal status to millions of undocumented immigrants will attempt to pass the measure this year. But it has prompted criticism from conservative Republicans as well as Democrats, and appears unlikely to be resolved this year.
Congress plans to begin consideration of President Bush’s bid to send Americans to the moon and Mars and to increase spending for NASA, although many lawmakers are criticizing the long-term costs.
Supporters hope to authorize new highway, transit and other transportation-related projects, generally popular but contentious. The House wants $375 billion over six years, an increase of nearly 75 percent over current spending and significantly more than the $247 billion Bush proposed. The Senate falls about midway between the Bush and House proposals. The House plan would be financed in part by a gasoline tax increase, opposed by the administration, the Senate and House GOP leaders.
Revamping and extending the 1996 welfare law has been approved by the House and could come up shortly in the Senate, where it is likely to be expanded to include more child care funding. Senate passage is considered likely, but it may be difficult to resolve differences with the House over issues such as marriage promotion, work rules and participation by religious organizations, congressional aides say.
Democrats, still angry over elements of the Medicare prescription drug bill passed last year, plan to seek votes to plug gaps in drug coverage, allow people to re-import medicines from Canada, reduce payments to private health plans and kill an experiment on cost competition between Medicare and private plans.
Partisan warfare over Bush’s most conservative nominees to federal appeals courts is likely to pick up where it left off. Democratic filibusters left a handful of nominees in limbo. Others face likely Democratic opposition in the Judiciary Committee.
Efforts to curtail what Republicans see as excessive awards in liability cases failed last year but produced a compromise on class-action litigation that could pass this year. After failing by one vote in the Senate, sponsors modified the House-approved class-action measure and hope to win Senate approval. Also pending are bills dealing with medical malpractice, liability protections for gun manufacturers and compensation for victims of asbestos exposure.
Both chambers will try to pass bills to help airlines and other businesses pay for pension benefits. A long-stalled bill rewriting bankruptcy laws may re-emerge. Gun control advocates will try to extend the federal assault weapons ban. Bills to reauthorize programs covering colleges, disabled students and early childhood education will be on the agenda. Foes of gay marriage may seek votes on a proposed constitutional ban on such unions. Democrats are likely to try to extend unemployment benefits and raise the minimum wage.
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