|
|
ATU Action Weekly Update - 06/12/06
There will be no ATU Action Weekly Update during the weeks of June 19th or 26th. The ATU Action Weekly Update will return on July 3rd.
House Committee Approves Transportation Funding On June 6th, the House Committee on Appropriations approved the Fiscal Year 2007 Transportation-Treasury-HUD-Judiciary-D.C. spending bill by voice vote. The bill funds Federal Transit Administration (FTA) programs at the record-high level of $8.975 billion - the amount authorized and guaranteed by the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act - A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). The bill provides a 5.5 percent increase over the final amount appropriated for FY 2006. In February, the Bush Administration released its proposal, which recommended a funding level of $8.87 billion for the federal transit program - $100 million less than the authorized level. Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-CA), said the measure should move to the House floor this week. The Senate is expected to consider its version of the transportation appropriations bill this summer.
No Estate Tax Repeal for Millionaires Last Thursday, the U.S. Senate blocked a bill to permanently eliminate the multi-millionaire estate tax. The bill would have eliminated the estate tax, which applies only to estates worth $2 million ($4 million for couples) or more. But backers failed to win enough votes to end debate and bring the bill to a vote. Just a fraction of 1 percent of all estates are worth enough to be subject to the estate tax. President Bush has pushed for and won larger exemptions and lower tax rates for moneyed estates in previous tax cut bills. Permanently eliminating the estate tax would have cost the government some $1 trillion in lost revenue in the first 10 years, according to government figures. Fed up with the tax handouts to the rich from the Bush Administration and his congressional allies, working families have been pelting their senators with e-mails and letters opposing the estate tax repeal. While their efforts may have been successful in blocking the legislation last week, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) has indicated that he plans to bring a so-called "compromise" bill to a vote soon. The compromises that have been discussed thus far would further increase the value of estates exempt from the tax to perhaps as much as $10 million and slash the tax rate by as much as two-thirds. The loss in government revenue under the compromise could run as high as $840 billion - 84 percent of the impact of the full repeal - according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
The AFL-CIO is inviting women to take part in the 2006 Ask A Working Woman survey. This Labor Day, the tens of thousands of responses will be delivered to every member of Congress and state and local officials around the country. If you are a Working Women, take a moment to fill out the 2006 Ask A Working Woman survey by clicking here: http://www.aflcio.org/issues/jobseconomy/women/wwsurvey2006.cfm Let's make sure that the candidates in this November's elections hear what matters to America's working women.
The following polling numbers are from this month's Cook Political Report/RT Strategies Poll:
|
