LSA Washington – February 16, 2009

A regular publication from the LSA Public Policy Office

Congress Passes Economic Recovery Legislation

The House and Senate have passed the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act with hopes of creating jobs and stimulating the economy. The House and Senate both voted Friday, February 13 with seven House Democrats voting against the bill along with all House Republicans. In the Senate, Senators Collins (R-ME), Snowe (R-ME) and Specter (R-PA) were the only Republicans voting in favor of the legislation. Senator Kennedy (D-MA) did not vote for the legislation. Independent Senators Lieberman (CT) and Sanders (VT) voted in favor of the bill. The House vote was 246 to 183 while the Senate vote was 60 to 38.

The House Democrats who voted against the bill were Representatives Bright (AL), Griffith (AL), Minnick (ID), Peterson (MN), Taylor (MS), Shuler (NC) and DeFazio (OR). Rep. Lipinski (IL) voted present and Rep. Clyburn (SC) did not vote. Republicans not voting included Representatives Campbell (CA) and Lee (NY).

The legislation would provide significant funding for the Medicaid program and other domestic programs of concern to LSA members and the people that they serve. Please thank your Representatives and Senators this week when they are home in their states and congressional districts if they voted for this bill. Key provisions include:

HEALTH CARE

• Medicaid- temporary Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) would be increased for a 27-month period in all states by 6.2 percent with a similar increase in territories. States will be required to maintain eligibility: $86.6 billion.
• Medicaid- Extension through June 30 of moratoria on Medicaid regulations for targeted case management, provider taxes, hospital outpatient services, and school-based administration and transportation services: $105 million.
• Medicaid- foster care aid to states: $1 billion.
• Medicaid- prompt payment requirements for nursing facilities and hospitals: $680 million.
• Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH)- temporary increase in payments by 2.5 percent: $460 million.
• Prevention and wellness programs to fight preventable diseases and conditions with evidence-based strategies: $1 billion.
• Investments and incentives through Medicare and Medicaid to ensure widespread adoption and use of interoperable health information technology (IT): $19 billion

HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS

• Low Income Housing Tax Credit and HOME programs to fill financing gaps caused by the credit freeze and to move housing projects toward development: $2.25 billion.
• Section 8 project-based rental assistance- full-year payments to owners: $2 billion.
• A new program to upgrade Section 202, Section 811 and Section 8 housing for people with low-incomes,increasing energy efficiency and providing new insulation, windows and frames: $6.3 billion.
• Redevelopment of abandoned and foreclosed homes: $2 billion.
• Homeless prevention activities which will be sent to states, cities and local governments through the emergency shelter grant formula: $1.5 billion.
• Emergency Food and Shelter Program: $100 million.

CHILD WELFARE

• Child Care Development Block Grant- funds which provide quality child care services for an additional 300,000 children in low-income families who are unable to afford the high cost of day care: $2 billion.
• Head Start and Early Head Start- funds which would allow an additional 124,000 children to participate in this program. Head Start provides development, educational, health, nutritional, social and other activities that prepare children to succeed in school: $2.1 billion.

COMMUNITY

• Community Development Block Grant program for community and economic development projects including housing and services for those hit hard by challenging economic times: $1 billion.
• Compassion Capital Fund re-categorized as grants to nonprofit organizations: $50 million.
• AmeriCorps national service expansion: $200 million.
• Community Service Employment for Older Americans: $120 million
• Social Services Block Grant: none.
• Weatherization assistance to low-income households: $5 billion.
• Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP): None
• Child Support Enforcement: $1 billion.
• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF): $3 billion.

NUTRITION

• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (formerly Food Stamps)- increase in the benefit by 13.6 percent: $19.9 billion
• Women Infants and Children’s Supplemental Food Program (WIC): $500 million.

EMPLOYMENT

• Training and employment services, including State Formula grants for adult, dislocated worker and youth programs (including $1.2 billion to create up to one million summer jobs for youth): $3.95 billion.
• Job Corps: $250 million
• Tax incentives to hire disconnected youth: $208 billion.

TAXES

• Temporary increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit for working families with three or more children: $4.7 billion.
• Refundable child tax credit increase in eligibility. The conference agreement is refundable to the extent of 15 percent of the taxpayer’s earned income in excess of $3,000 : $14.8 billion

OTHER

• One-time $250 payment to retirees, disabled individuals and SSI recipients receiving benefits from the Social Security Administration or Department of Veterans Affairs: $14.2 billion.

For more information or questions about the provisions in the bill, contact Lisa Carr or Lisa Hassenstab

--Lisa Carr

Economic Recovery Package Supports LSA-DN's Efforts to Protect Medicaid

One of LSA-DN’s 2009 public policy priorities is to advocate for a temporary increase in the federal Medicaid matching rate due to the economic recession. On February 13, the House and Senate passed an economic recovery package that includes nearly $87 billion for a temporary increase in the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP). A 6.2 percentage point FMAP increase will be available to all states for the period of October 1, 2008, through December 31, 2010. Additional percentage increases will also be available for states based on unemployment rate increases. To receive the increased FMAP, states must have Medicaid eligibility levels that are not more restrictive than those in place as of July 1, 2008. States are also required to meet prompt payment requirements for Medicaid services provided by practioners, nursing facilities and hospitals.

The economic recovery package also provides for an extension of the current moratoria on certain Medicaid regulations, including the case management/targeted case management regulation until June 30. The package also includes a sense of Congress that the Administration should not publish in final form certain other regulations also currently under moratoria, including the rehabilitation services option regulation.

Please thank your Senators and Representative(s) who voted to support this legislation, which will help to protect the long-term services and supports that are critical to ensuring that people with developmental disabilities are able to live independent and productive lives in their communities. To determine who your Senators are, please visit www.senate.gov. To determine your Representative(s), please visit www.house.gov. For additional information on the economic recovery package, please visit www.lsadnadvocacy.org.

--Heather Ansley

Advocacy Resource of the Week

The Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN) offers great technology resources for nonprofits, including webinars, networking, monthly newsletters, online groups and much much more. Go to www.nten.org to sign up for their monthly newsletter and find lots of free resources; you can also become a member of NTEN to receive more benefits. You can also follow NTEN's executive director, Holly Ross, on Twitter (and don't forget to follow LSA Advocacy on Twitter, as well!).

LSA Annual Conference Corner

Lutheran Service in America will be hosting two outstanding keynote speakers at our 2009 Annual Conference. On Wednesday, April 29, LSA is proud to welcome E.J. Dionne, a well-known columnist for the Washington Post, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and professor at Georgetown University. Ami Dar, Executive Director and Founder of Idealist.org, will address the conference on Friday, May 1. For more information on these two speakers, please visit the LSA website.

Upcoming LSA Public Policy Conference Calls

Please join the LSA public policy team and featured speakers for a series of conference calls on LSA's priority issues. To RSVP for the calls, please e-mail the LSA DC office.