Bitterness flavors Dec. rush on bills

End-of-session logjams are hardly atypical, but lobbyists say this year’s version could be particularly challenging given lingering bitterness between the White House and Democratic leaders on Iraq and other spending issues.   

“You have an unusual confluence of events,” said Gerald Warburg, executive vice president at Cassidy & Associates.

{mosads}“You have major policy bills like energy. You have major national security issues with the country at war. And you have a blanket refusal by the administration to work with Congress on the appropriations process.”

Lawmakers had yet to agree to deals on spending levels for most federal agencies, a children’s health insurance program, new consumer safety protections, an Alternative Minimum Tax patch and two broad bills on energy and farm policies.

Democrats on Monday were continuing to piece together a massive omnibus to fund the government and to pay for the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Through his budget advisers, President Bush again showed little interest this weekend in signing a bill that went above his top-line budget request.

Democrats were reportedly considering a bill that would provide around $18 billion more in federal spending than the president requested, although House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) on Monday threatened to adhere to the president’s number by cutting Republican budget priorities.

Lobbyists say their ability to influence the process is usually diminished this time of the year as most of the negotiations take place behind closed doors and include only a small number of legislative leaders.

But K Street’s institutional memory can provide guidance to clients on what to expect. Warburg predicts Bush may veto one spending bill to reaffirm his budget-hawk bona fides.

But he added that Congress and the president would ultimately reach a deal in part because lawmakers of both parties will likely be unwilling to cede their budget authority by passing a continuing resolution, which basically extends the prior-year funding levels, for a second year in a row.

“Members want at least some say in where the money is going to go,” added another appropriations lobbyist.

Clients, meanwhile, are still waiting to know whether they’ll get federal money or not, three months after the start of the fiscal year.

“A lot of people are on hold,” the lobbyist said.

Warburg, for example, represents a group of communities that have a reduced tax base because they lie near federal lands off-limit to development. Congress has a long history of supplementing the budgets of these local governments to help pay for schools. Lawmakers have agreed to send $1.8 billion to these communities but have yet to pass a bill that does so. Some county governments will have to send out “pink slips” to employees soon without knowing what their fiscal 2008 budgets will be, Warburg said.

A number of policy disputes remain to be settled as well. Lawmakers are likely to have to return next year to complete their work. But Democrats want to get as much done as possible to show constituents back home during the long recess and to avoid the increasingly political pressure of a presidential election year that makes legislating even more difficult.

An agreement that limits the number of amendments will apparently push the farm bill to the Senate floor this week, although lawmakers are unlikely to resolve outstanding differences between House and Senate bills prior to the holiday break.

More likely, lobbyists said, is a deal on the energy bill. A vote to end debate on an energy bill passed earlier by the House failed in the Senate last week. Lobbyists said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) planned to try again this Thursday by taking out a controversial provision that required utilities to get 15 percent of their power from renewable energy like wind and solar power.

But for now it appears that Democrats are still hoping to find 60 votes to support a $21 billion energy tax package largely paid for by repealing breaks on oil and gas companies.

One lobbyist close to the negotiations said so far only minor changes have been made to the tax package. That package could be further limited if it becomes clear to Reid that he cannot reach 60 supporters.

The time crunch may mean completion of an energy bill, like the farm bill, will have to wait until next year. But lobbyists said Democratic leaders are eager to pass the energy bill before returning home given the unusually high gas prices for this time of year.

There seems to be broad support for gas mileage standard improvements for the first time in over two decades and a broad new mandate for renewable fuels production.

Democratic leaders are also keen on passing a bill to beef up the Consumer Product Safety Commission after a number of high-profile toy recalls this year.

Industry lobbyists say they feel confident that a bill authored by Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) does not have the support to pass the Senate. Instead, they favor a House bill that provides more money to the Consumer Product Safety Commission and has lower fines for violations of the law than the Senate version.

“The House did a good job of listening to both sides and attacking the problems that have been ongoing with realistic solutions,” said Ed Krenik, a Bracewell & Giuliani lobbyist who represents the Power Tool Institute and the Coalition for Safe and Responsible ATVs.

The bill is expected to be marked up by a House committee this week. Jonathan Gold, vice president for supply chain and customs policy at the National Retail Federation, said his group was lobbying to lengthen the time period businesses would have to comply with tougher lead standards in the bill.

But Gold agreed that the House measure is more favorable to retailers than the Senate version, which includes new consumer safety disclosure rules and big increases in fines for violations of the law that businesses oppose.