Publications :  The Watcher :  OMB Watcher Vol. 8: 2007 :  September 25, 2007 Vol. 8, No. 19 : 

In This Issue

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Congress Hears Pleas for Expanded Authority and Resources at CPSC (09/25/2007)
A proliferation of children's product recalls due to potentially dangerous exposure to lead has left many turning to the federal government for answers. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has borne much of the brunt for the regulatory failures. Congress is considering solutions including new federal standards for lead, expanding the agency's regulatory authority and increasing agency resources.

New White House Guidelines Fit into Broad Attack on Federal Protections (09/25/2007)
The White House has issued new guidelines for federal agencies in conducting risk analysis. Risk analysis, of which risk assessment is a central factor, is a process by which agencies identify and evaluate risks such as toxic exposure or structural failure. Risk analysis often lays the scientific or technical foundation for public health and safety rulemakings.

Senate Reviews Agencies' Attempts to Preempt Congress and the States (09/25/2007)
The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing Sept. 12 about federal agencies' practice of inserting into regulations language that removes consumers' ability to sue under state tort law those corporations whose products cause harm. In addition, the use of this preemption language limits the ability of state and local governments to protect the health, safety and welfare of their citizens. Federal preemption removes the targeted policy area from state and local jurisdiction and makes it almost exclusively a federal policy issue.

Congress Expands FDA User Fee Program, Reforms Drug Safety Process (09/25/2007)
Congress has passed legislation which will reauthorize a program allowing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to collect fees from pharmaceutical companies in order to conduct drug approvals. The bill will also dramatically expand FDA's regulatory authority in response to recent controversy. President George W. Bush is expected to sign the bill into law soon.

Wartime Commission Would Investigate Contracting Abuses in Iraq and Afghanistan (09/25/2007)
Sens. Jim Webb (D-VA) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) have sponsored a bill (S. 1825) that would set up a commission to investigate and reform wartime contracting. It is likely the bill will be introduced as an amendment to the Defense Reauthorization Act that is currently being debated in the Senate.

FY 2008 War Funding Could Top $200 Billion (09/25/2007)
In May, Congress passed a $99.5 billion supplemental war spending bill that expires on Sept. 30. The next supplemental bill for FY 2008 war spending is expected to total close to $200 billion. That total, however, is an estimate based on speculation in Washington and continuously changing conditions in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Congress to Vote on Compromise SCHIP Package (09/25/2007)
House and Senate negotiators have agreed to an expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) that closely mirrors the earlier Senate version. The House is scheduled to vote on the package today, Sept. 25, with the Senate voting later in the week. President Bush has promised to veto the bill.

U.S. Reaches Debt Limit: The Case for Long-Term Analysis (09/25/2007)
The Senate will vote soon on legislation to raise the ceiling on the national debt to nearly $10 trillion. This action is imperative as the statutory limit of $8.965 trillion on the United States' level of public debt will be reached by Oct. 1, according to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

Wiretapping Law the Focus of House Hearings (09/25/2007)
The House Committee on the Judiciary and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence held several hearings the week of Sept. 17 on the implications of the Protect America Act (PAA) and its revisions to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Mike McConnell argued that the changes need to be made permanent, while others argued that PAA unnecessarily violates civil liberties.

Secrecy on the Rise, Reports OpenTheGovernment.org (09/25/2007)
OpenTheGovernment.org released a report in September detailing an increase in government secrecy in the realms of national security, government contracting, and state governments, among other areas. The Secrecy Report Card 2007 is the latest report in an annual series by the coalition that analyzes objective measurements of secrecy in government.

NRC to Release Documents on Spill (09/25/2007)
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has revoked a three-year-old secrecy policy and plans to release documents from two nuclear fuel processing plants in response to congressional demands. This about-face was precipitated by a congressional inquiry into a uranium leak kept secret from the public for more than a year.

Don't Go into the Water: It's Not the Jellyfish, It's the Sewage (09/25/2007)
Jellyfish aren't the reason U.S. beaches are being closed — it's sewage, and legislation in the Senate and House seeks to ensure that people know when sewage is in their water.

Lobby and Ethics Reform Bill Becomes Law (09/25/2007)
On Sept. 14, President Bush signed into law the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, S. 1. The new law amends some provisions of the federal Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) to make the relationship between lobbyists and lawmakers more transparent by requiring increased public disclosure of funds spent by lobbyists and of the actions of members of Congress. Because of rumors that President Bush would veto the measure, it was sent to him after Labor Day to avoid a veto while Congress was in recess.

IRS Ends Two-Year Probe of California Church's Anti-War Sermon (09/25/2007)
All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, CA, recently announced that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) investigation which began in June 2005 has now been closed. The IRS will not revoke the church's tax-exempt status because of a 2004 anti-war, anti-poverty sermon delivered by its former pastor Rev. George F. Regas on the Sunday before the 2004 presidential election. However, the IRS concluded that the church in fact intervened in the election. While churches and other tax-exempt organizations are prohibited from endorsing or opposing political candidates, the 2004 sermon did not urge anyone to support either President Bush or Sen. John Kerry (D-MA).

Nonprofits Challenge Two Florida Laws Regulating Voter Registration (09/25/2007)
Nonprofit groups have launched two separate efforts to challenge voter registration laws passed by the Florida legislature that would suppress voting, especially among minority populations. First, the U.S. Department of Justice has been asked to reject a recently passed law that would discourage nonprofit voter registration drives by making it difficult to collect and submit completed registration forms in batches. Second, a lawsuit was filed Sept. 18 challenging a requirement that all voter registration applications match Social Security or driver's license numbers. When spelling errors or other glitches occur, voters are required to go through a complicated process that discourages voting.

Holy Land Jury Deliberates When Aid is Support for Terrorism (09/25/2007)
On Sept. 20, a Texas jury began deliberations on criminal charges of supporting terrorism brought against the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) and five of its leaders, nearly six years after the charity was shut down and its assets seized by the U.S. Department of Treasury. The two-month long trial was the first opportunity the charity had to hear the evidence against it and present evidence in its own defense. The government did not claim HLF provided direct support of Hamas or a terrorist group. Instead, it argued that charitable aid that provides a public relations benefit to Hamas is a crime, even though the local charities involved are not on any government lists of terrorist organizations. A conviction on these facts will leave many international aid organizations in the impossible position of guessing about the political beliefs of their grantees and the potential political impact of their programs.

Comments Urge IRS to Take Time with Form 990 Revisions (09/25/2007)
On Sept. 14, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) closed comment on its proposed revisions to Form 990, the annual information return filed by nonprofits. A host of organizations have weighed in with extensive recommendations, and many are calling on the IRS to delay implementation until a second draft can be published for further comment and nonprofits have time to adjust their recordkeeping systems to track the new information that will be required. OMB Watch's comments focused on flaws in proposals for reporting advocacy-related activities. Other organizations, such as the Alliance for Justice, addressed problems with proposed collection of governance information that is beyond the IRS' regulatory authority. The IRS is expected to act on the comments by the end of 2007.

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