Government Matters Articles

Court Says AmeriCorps Teachers in Catholic Schools Allowed to Receive Subsidies

On March 8, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that taxpayer funds can subsidize volunteer instructors that teach in religious schools. The ruling reversed a July 2, 2004 decision by U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler, who admonished the government for failing to monitor programs sufficiently to ensure compliance with the law and called the line between secular and religious activities "completely blurred." The American Jewish Congress (AJC) may appeal the decision.

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OMB Rejects Findings on Propaganda Using Federal Funds

On Feb. 17, David M. Walker, the Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) Comptroller General, issued a letter to all federal agencies reminding them that Congress banned use of federal funds for propaganda, and during 2004 “several prepackaged news stories produced and distributed by certain government agencies violated this prohibition.” On March 11, the Bush administration rejected these findings by sending a contradictory memo to agency heads.

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527 Reform Legislation Heats Up in the Senate

On March 8, the Senate Rules Committee held a hearing to consider the 527 Reform Act of 2005 (S. 271). The hearing revealed the complexity of issues raised by the proposed extension of federal election regulations to independent political committees (527s). The testimony and questions from senators highlighted the likely consequences of passing the bill in its current form, including migration of soft money to 501(c) groups, who, unlike 527s, do not disclose donors.

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Bill for DHS to Waive All Law Rides on Iraq War Supplemental

The House of Representatives voted to attach H.R. 418, the REAL ID Act — a bill that includes a dangerous provision empowering the Secretary of Homeland Security to waive all law when securing the nation’s borders — as a rider to the Iraq war supplemental, which passed the House and now is moving to the Senate. The House decided on March 16 to attach H.R. 418 as a rider by voice vote and subsequently voted out the must-pass supplemental with a vote of 388-43.

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House Committee Approves Government Performance Rating Bill

The House Government Reform Committee favorably reported out of committee the Program Assessment and Results Act, a bill that would have the effect of codifying the administration's controversial tool for rating program effectiveness. The bill is expected to move to the House floor this spring. The committee voted 18-14 to send the bill to the House floor during a March 10 markup session, after rejecting every amendment offered by committee Democrats.

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White House Endorses Parts of Anti-Regulatory Hit List

The White House released the final version of its 2004-05 anti-regulatory hit list, with a report detailing 76 out of 189 items from the industry-nominated list that received the endorsement of the White House and agencies.

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GOP Threatens to Turn ‘Unfunded Mandates’ Into Roadblock

Republican lawmakers in both the House and the Senate have fired the first shots in an upcoming battle to turn the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act into an insurmountable obstacle to legislation designed to address unmet needs. House Republicans fired first by launching a series of hearings, and Senate Republicans followed up with an under-the-radar section in the budget resolution that uses UMRA to make it harder to pass laws such as an increase in minimum wage or improvements in civil rights protections.

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Data Quality Act Debated

Data Quality Act experts, featuring OMB Watch’s Sean Moulton, will be debating the faults and merits of the Data Quality Act (DQA) at a March 30 discussion hosted by the Environmental Law Institute (ELI). Among the law’s aspects to be discussed are judicial review, and its implications for environmental protections.

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Sunshine Week Shines Surrounded by Secrecy’s Shadows

Government secrecy has become so pervasive and overgrown that journalists last week used newspapers, TV, and radio to focus public attention on the problem and promote open government as part of the first-ever national Sunshine Week.

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Healthy Californians Biomonitoring Program

On Feb. 18, California State Sens. Deborah Ortiz (D-Sacramento) and Don Perata (D-East Bay) introduced SB 600, a biomonitoring bill entitled “The Healthy Californians Biomonitoring Program.” The bill proposes establishing a statewide program to measure toxic chemical exposure levels of state residents by testing blood, tissue, and urine samples from Californian volunteers. If passed, California will be the first state in the nation to track and report on the presence of toxic chemicals in its citizens.

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