Senate Votes For Jobless Aid, Pressure Shifts To Boehner
Senate passes renewed long-term unemployment insurance. National Journal: "A five-month extension of unemployment-insurance benefits cleared the Senate on Monday on a 59-38 vote, with the same six Republicans supporting the bill who voted in favor of cloture last week. The Republicans are Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Susan Collins of Maine, Dean Heller of Nevada, Mark Kirk of Illinois, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Rob Portman of Ohio ... seven House Republicans signed a letter to Boehner encouraging him to take up the unemployment-insurance extension last week. They are Reps. Peter King, Chris Gibson, and Michael Grimm, all of New York; Frank LoBiondo, Jon Runyan, and Christopher Smith, all of New Jersey; and Joe Heck of Nevada."
Speaker Boehner still snubbing Senate bill. Politico: "The bill’s not high on the House agenda this week, and it won’t be much higher when the House returns from a two-week recess at the end of the month. There is talk of amending the bill and sending it back to the Senate with provisions favored by Republicans — but even that seems to be on the back burner ... said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), a House deputy whip[,] 'The prevailing view in our conference is that there aren’t adequate pay-fors and it’s time for this program to come to an end.'"
Minimum Wage Momentum
MD and MN join minimum wage parade. NYT: "The Maryland General Assembly voted for the pay raise [to $10.10] on the last day of its 2014 regular session, giving Gov. Martin O’Malley a victory on his top priority this year ... [Minnesota Democrats] said they reached a deal to lift the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2016 for large employers, from the current rate of $6.15 ..."
Obama executive orders on fair pay may do more for women than Lilly Ledbetter Act, argues TNR's Bryce Covert: "About half of American workers are either expressly barred or strongly discouraged from discussing pay with each other. Obama’s action won’t change that fact for everyone, but it will affect 22 percent of the workforce. And it can have ripple effects to other companies that might want to compete for federal contracts, changing standards over time."
Republicans poised to block Paycheck Fairness Act. W. Post: "This bill would make it illegal for employers to retaliate against a worker who inquires about or discloses their wages or the wages of another employee in a complaint or investigation. It also makes employers liable to civil actions ... The bill has no Republican co-sponsors, and they blocked it from going forward when it came up for a vote in 2012."
Cities Lead Progressive Resurgence
Cities taking the lead in enacting progressive policies. The Nation: "With the federal government frozen, cities are seizing the initiative and becoming laboratories for progressive policy innovation ... There’s little chance, for example, that Congress will give us a living-wage law anytime soon, but the city of SeaTac in Washington State just raised its minimum wage to an unprecedented $15 an hour ... San Francisco has adopted near-universal health coverage, including a program for the uninsured that functions like the 'public option' ... Obama’s proposal for universal pre-K, first made in last year’s State of the Union address, may not go anywhere, but New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has promised to bring it to the country’s largest city, and both San Antonio and Denver have approved sales tax increases to pay for their own expanded preschool programs."
"Will Maine Governor LePage Stand Up To Tax Dodging Multinationals? Montana And Oregon Already Have" says Benzinga's Abagail Field: "Governor LePage has ten days to sign the bill into law, veto it, or let it become law without his signature. According to Maine Revenue Services, closing the 'Water’s Edge' loophole will raise $10 million for every two year budget cycle ... if combined reporting stops at 'the Water’s Edge,' it only includes income reported within the United States.To get at offshore tax havens, the states can require worldwide combined reporting, or Water’s Edge plus a list of known tax havens. Maine, like Montana and Oregon, has taken the latter approach."
Dems Counter Ryan
House Democrats unveil counter-proposal to Ryan budget. WSJ: "...Democrats would increase non-military spending from 2016 to 2024 to invest in infrastructure, education and scientific research ... the federal deficit would grow to $636.8 billion in 2024. That is lower than the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office’s projected 2024 deficit of $1.074 trillion, but higher than Mr. Ryan’s proposal, which would eliminate the deficit by then. The current fiscal year’s deficit is expected to be around $514 billion, the lowest since 2008 ... Democrats emphasized that their budget would not reduce spending for federal safety-net programs, including Medicare and Medicaid."
WH reverses course on Medicare Advantage private insurance subsidies. McClatchy: " In a move that blunts a potent line of political attacks from Republicans, the Obama administration reversed itself on Monday, announcing that private health plans that provide Medicare benefits will see a slight increase in government payments next year ... The administration had proposed a two percent cut in Medicare Advantage payment rates ... to help bring the payments more in line with the regular Medicare program ... Senate Democrats, including Al Franken of Minnesota and Chuck Schumer of New York, joined House Democrats like Reps. John Barrow of Georgia and Patrick Murphy of Florida in asking that Medicare Advantage payment rates remain untouched next year ... [But] Max Richtman, President and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, called the move 'bad policy and bad economics for the Medicare program.'"
