VETO THREAT ON FUNDING FOR LOW-INCOME HEATING ASSISTANCE IGNORES SERIOUS NEED

By Heather Long and Richard Kogan / August 11, 2008

The Senate recently considered a bill (S. 3186) to provide $2.5 billion in additional funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to offset the sharp rise in energy prices this winter. President Bush, however, has threatened to veto the bill, arguing that the additional funding is not needed and that the bill would increase the deficit.

Data on rising energy prices sharply contradict the President’s claim that current LIHEAP funding is sufficient. Without additional funding, large numbers of low-income Americans will suffer extensive hardship this winter. As for the deficit, the White House’s inconsistency on this point is striking: the President complains that a $2.5 billion bill providing energy assistance to poor families will unacceptably enlarge the deficit, yet he opposes efforts in Congress to offset the cost of $64 billion in requested tax-cut extensions; instead, the $64 billion would be added to the deficit.

LIHEAP has bipartisan support from state governors and in Congress, where the recent Senate bill had 52 co-sponsors, including 13 Republicans. Congress and the President need to act on LIHEAP when they return in September.

Home Energy Costs Up 40 Percent This Coming Winter - LIHEAP currently helps 5.8 million poor households, including many elderly, pay their home heating and cooling bills and thereby avoid utility shut-offs. Generally LIHEAP pays only a portion of a household’s monthly heating bill; the household pays the rest. Partly because of funding limitations, LIHEAP assists fewer than one in six low-income households eligible for assistance.

LIHEAP assistance will prove especially critical this winter, given the recent explosion in home heating prices. For a typical LIHEAP recipient, home heating this winter will cost 40 percent more than last winter, 60 percent more than two winters ago, and 90 percent more than four winters ago. But without additional funding to compensate for this year’s increases in energy costs, state LIHEAP programs will have to make the difficult choice between serving fewer households (even though the number of households in need is rising), paying a smaller share of each recipient household’s home energy bill (even though those bills are much higher now), or some combination of the two.

Additional $2.2 Billion or More Needed to Prevent Increased Hardship - Congress has authorized $5.1 billion per year in LIHEAP funding but has never provided this full amount. The fiscal year 2008 funding level is $2.6 billion, a modest increase above the $2.2 billion provided in 2007. For fiscal year 2009, LIHEAP would need $3.4 billion in funding simply to provide the same number of low-income people with the same degree of assistance (measured as a share of their energy bills) as it did last year.

Moreover, even a funding level of $3.4 billion would not prevent substantial hardship. The added funding would suffice only to offset LIHEAP’s share of the 40 percent increase in home heating costs this winter; the household’s share would still rise by 40 percent. To cover both LIHEAP’s and the household’s share of the increase in energy prices so that poor LIHEAP households do not face unaffordable home energy bills this winter, LIHEAP would need $4.8 billion for fiscal year 2009, an increase of $2.2 billion over the 2008 level.

To give an example, the typical poor LIHEAP household was billed about $1,100 for home energy last season, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association. Of that amount, LIHEAP paid an average of 37 percent ($407), while the household paid the rest ($693). A 40 percent ($440) increase in home energy costs this winter would bring the household’s total bill to $1,540. If LIHEAP’s payment increased by 40 percent to $570, the household’s payment would also have to increase by 40 percent, to $970.

Given their poverty, many households could have difficulty paying these higher costs. To keep the household’s home energy costs from rising, the LIHEAP payment would need to cover the full $440 increase in the home heating bill, by increasing from $407 to $847.

It also should be noted that even at a $4.8 billion funding level, LIHEAP would serve a smaller share of the population needing home heating assistance than it did last year. One reason is that the number of low-income households is rising as the economy weakens and jobs disappear. (The U.S. economy has shed more than 400,000 jobs so far this year.) Another reason is that some low-income families who were able to pay their home energy bills in past winters will not be able to do so this winter because of the rise in energy prices.

The White House’s Flawed Arguments Against Additional Funding - In arguing that LIHEAP does not need additional funding this fiscal year, the President has noted that the program still has $100 million remaining in contingency funds for the year. But this amount is well short of the additional $2.2 billion or more we estimate is needed to prevent increased hardship this winter.

The President has also objected to more LIHEAP funding on the grounds that it would add to the deficit. Yet the President recently signed into law $115 billion in supplemental funding for the Iraq war and other emergency needs, and he continues to request another round of Alternative Minimum Tax relief costing at least $64 billion while insisting that those costs not be offset. Both of these requests add much more to the deficit than the needed LIHEAP increase.

Moreover, additional LIHEAP funding can easily fit within Congress’s current budget resolution, which set aside $5.0 billion for additional needs in 2008.

Congress Needs to Act in September to Ensure Adequate Help This Winter - Congress is on course to enact a continuing resolution in September that will fund appropriated programs through February or March, generally at last year’s funding levels. Freezing LIHEAP funding through most of the winter — as a continuing resolution would normally do — would impose serious hardship on millions of vulnerable families.

Congress consequently needs to act this fall to provide sufficient LIHEAP funding to protect low-income households from steep increases in home energy costs this winter. It could do so either by enacting separate legislation (such as the recent Senate bill) or by increasing the LIHEAP funding portion of the continuing resolution well above a “freeze level.”

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End Notes:

[1] These figures are based on Department of Energy historical data and its recent projections of energy prices, as well as the typical home energy needs of LIHEAP recipients.

[2] This $4.8 billion figure assumes that only four-fifths of LIHEAP funding will cover home energy payments. The remaining one-fifth covers administrative costs and weatherization. Price increases in these latter areas may be about 3 percent this year, in line with non-energy inflation.

Urgent Alert Regarding Farm Bill (H.R. 2419)

URGENT ALERT FROM THE COALITION ON HUMAN NEEDS:
From Our Friends at FRAC (Food Research and Action Center)

We urge your organization to sign onto a national, state, and local organization letter in support of a House (and Senate) effort to override the presidential veto of the Farm Bill (H.R. 2419), scheduled for as early as this week. Key improvements in the nutrition title include enhancing food stamp benefits, food stamp access, and emergency food purchases.

Even though the House and Senate votes reflect a comfortable, veto-proof majority, efforts to override a presidential veto can be very complicated. Therefore, it becomes necessary to re-double our efforts to work this override. We urge you to forward this alert to your local and state networks so we can send a united and strong message to Congress.

The earliest the veto override could occur is Wednesday, May 21st which would require the letter be sent to Congress as early as Tuesday, May 20th. Given this time line, we are asking for signatures by COB, Monday, May 19th.

Please enter the information required, including your organization's name as you would like it to appear on the letter. If you have any questions, please contact Ellen Vollinger, evollinger@frac.org, Ellen Teller, eteller@frac.org, or Etienne Melcher, emelcher@frac.org.

Click here to sign the letter.
If you have problems with the link, go to:
http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5118/t/1472/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=61

Congress Should Send the President Legislation to Extend Jobless Benefits

From the Coalition on Human Needs:

The unemployment rate rose to 5.5 percent in May, up from 5.0 percent just a month before. According to the Wall Street Journal, that's the largest one-month increase in the past 22 years. Over the past six months, private sector jobs have dropped by 411,000, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

It's time for the federal government to respond. There were 861,000 more unemployed people last month, bringing the total to 8.5 million. But it's worse than that: 1.6 million people have been out of work for 27 weeks or more, up from 1.1 million a year ago.

The National Employment Law Project tells us there are 200,000 more long-term unemployed now than when Congress last passed extended benefits (March 2002). These long-term jobless workers have exhausted their state unemployment insurance - and there are fewer jobs now than when they started looking. Both the House and Senate have voted to provide at least a 13-week extension of unemployment benefits, and to attach that badly needed help to the war funding bill now before Congress.

Other priorities that have gotten strong votes in the House and/or Senate include improved education benefits for veterans, and delaying harmful Bush Administration regulations that would cut Medicaid funds for case management, transportation, and medical services for children in foster care or with disabilities, or for other poor sick people seeking outpatient care in hospitals. (For more information, see the Human Needs Report.)

The President has threatened to veto all these - help for the jobless, for veterans, and for vulnerable people needing Medicaid services. Rumors have been flying all week that the House leadership might abandon its commitment to help workers desperate for jobs and young and old alike in need of Medicaid services, sending the President a stripped-down bill to fund the war and veterans' education benefits.

There is no question that the growing numbers of veterans deserve education help. Jobless, vulnerable, and sick people need help, too. Economists understand that extending jobless benefits is one of the most effective ways to boost the economy.

We hope that the House will not walk away from championing the jobless, sick, and disabled.

We hope they will agree with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who said his support for the supplemental spending bill is contingent on inclusion of the unemployment insurance extension.

We do not know if Congress will have enough votes to override a veto, and we agree with Representatives Rangel, Levin, and McDermott, who sent the President a letter today calling on him to sign such a bill. But if the House does not even send these provisions to the President, they will bear a heavy part of the responsibility for the failure to meet these increasingly urgent needs.

We expect - and need - more from our leaders. Next week, we hope to write that we have not been disappointed. Deborah Weinstein Executive Director Coalition on Human Needs

Urge Senators to Keep GSE Funding for the Housing Trust Fund

URGENT CALL TO ACTION FROM NATIONAL LOW INCOME HOUSING COALITION!
[This is the action we discussed in the Coalition Forum on Thursday!]

Call Now Before Tuesday’s Markup. The fight to protect resources for an affordable housing trust fund will continue next Tuesday, May 20, in the Senate Banking Committee. After yet another delay in the markup of Senator Dodd's major housing bill, we still have time to convince the Committee leadership to abandon their efforts to siphon Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac money from the Housing Trust Fund. Reports indicate that a "deal" between Banking Committee Democrats and Republicans would give away GSE resources for the Housing Trust Fund to pay for the potential costs of the proposed new FHA foreclosure prevention program.

We must stand firm and make our voices heard in order to keep the GSE funds dedicated to the Housing Trust Fund.

ACTION NEEDED NOW:

IF YOUR SENATOR IS ON THE BANKING COMMITTEE
Urge your senator to keep the GSE funding for a Housing Trust Fund as outlined in Reed Amendment #3, and NOT to use it to pay for the new FHA program.

Click here for members of the Senate Banking Committee and their phone numbers.

IF YOUR SENATORS ARE NOT ON THE BANKING COMMITTEE
Urge your senators to contact Banking Chair Dodd and Ranking Member Shelby, asking them to keep the GSE funding for a Housing Trust Fund as outlined in Reed Amendment #3, and NOT divert the funds to the new FHA program.

Click the blue "Take Action" button above for the names and numbers of your senators.
The Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee will consider Chairman Christopher Dodd's bill, "The Federal Housing Finance Regulatory Reform Act of 2008" this Tuesday, May 20, at 10:00am EDT.

Thank you again for all of your support and dedication during this protracted campaign to establish an affordable housing trust fund.

PS: Please email us at outreach@nlihc.org, or call us at 202.662.1530, to report the results of your calls. Any information we can gather from you could be very valuable as the bill moves forward.

Background:
At a time when the federal government can guarantee a $30 billion bail-out of Bear Sterns and pay for a $25 billion bail-out of the home builders, it is incomprehensible that Congress would take away money intended to help low income people -- all in the name of protecting the taxpayers from the potential $1.7 billion risk in the new FHA program.

On May 13, Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) offered an amendment to the larger Dodd housing bill that was accepted in the manager's package. The "Reed Amendment #3" will: Create a Housing Trust Fund with funding from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Target 75% of the funds to benefit extremely low income people. Enable the Housing Trust Fund to accept other funds that Congress designates in the future. The Reed Housing Trust Fund amendment will make it possible to achieve the major objectives of the National Housing Trust Fund Campaign in the context of this major housing bill.

The Senate Banking Committee began considering the bill on May 15 and should finish marking up the bill on May 20. The time to act is now.

Capitol Hill - Wrap Up of Legislation in First Session of 110th Congress

Congress to Return to Full AgendaTo kick off the New Year, we have rounded up the major housing policy issues we expect Congress to work on in 2008, the second session of the 110th Congress. While progress was made in 2007, there is much unfinished business for 2008. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Chair Christopher Dodd (D-CT) formally dropped out of the presidential race on January 4. The pace of that committee’s work is now expected to increase.

The House and Senate will return for legislative business on January 15 and 22, respectively. The president will deliver his state of the union address on January 28. On February 4, the president will deliver his FY09 budget requests to Congress, which will mark the official start of FY09 budget and appropriations season.

National Housing Trust FundThe National Housing Trust Fund made great progress in the first session of the 110th Congress. On October 10, under the leadership of House Committee on Financial Services Chair Barney Frank (D-MA), the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007, H.R. 2895, passed the House with strong bipartisan support (see Memo, 10/12/07). On December 19, Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) were the lead sponsors along with six other Senators in introducing bipartisan legislation to establish a housing trust fund in the Senate (see Memo, 12/21/07). The Senate bill, S. 2523, is very similar to the House version and has been referred to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. In 2008, the National Housing Trust Fund Campaign will work to get additional cosponsors and line up votes to have the trust fund bill passed in the Senate.

Both the House and Senate bills would establish dedicated sources of funds for the production, preservation and rehabilitation of 1.5 million affordable homes over the next 10 years. At least 75% of the funds will be for housing for households that are extremely low income, earning less than 30% of the area’s median income.

There are two sets of current legislation that have seen action in the first session of the 110th Congress that establish funding sources for the trust fund. First, the House passed H.R. 1427 (see Memo, 5/25/07) a comprehensive reform bill for the government sponsored enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, that also calls for providing dedicated funds from the GSEs to the trust fund. In the Senate, Senator Jack Reed (R-RI) has introduced S. 2391, the GSE Mission Improvement Act of 2007 (see Memo, 11/30/07) that includes funds from the GSEs to support an affordable housing fund. This measure has been referred to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. GSE reform legislation (S. 1100) introduced by Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) on April 12, 2007, does not contain the affordable housing fund provision. Comprehensive GSE reform is expected to be taken up by the Senate Banking Committee sometime this year.

A second source of revenue for a trust fund is included in House-passed legislation to modernize the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), H.R. 1852 (see Memo, 9/21/07). The bill creates new FHA revenue by expanding the home equity conversion mortgage (HECM) program and dedicating some of this new revenue to a Trust Fund. The Senate has passed a similar modernization measure for the FHA, S. 2338, but it does not include the funding provision (see Memo, 12/14/07). The two measures now must go to a House-Senate conference committee where differences in the bills will be reconciled. The National Housing Trust Fund Campaign will work to see that the FHA provision providing funding for the Trust Fund remains in the final legislation.

Budget and AppropriationsPresident George W. Bush signed the FY08 omnibus spending bill, which includes funding for HUD, on December 26. The House and Senate had passed three continuing resolutions to keep government spending flowing in FY08 after the October 1, 2007, start of the fiscal year came and went.

With 2008 an election year, the process for enacting FY09 spending bills could be even more partisan. On February 4, the president will deliver his FY09 budget request to Congress, which will mark the official start of FY09 budget and appropriations work. The House and Senate Budget Committees will work to enact an FY09 budget resolution by April 15 and then use the spending levels and directives in that document to guide the work of the appropriations committees and subcommittees.

Advocates’ work in this area will begin with seeking a higher domestic discretionary spending limit, compared to FY08, in the FY09 budget resolution. Such an increase would enable the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to allot additional funds, compared to FY08, to their subcommittees, including the Transportation, HUD and Related Agencies Subcommittees. Of course, keeping any gains made by a better budget resolution will be possible only with enough votes to push back against any cuts or requests for level funding proposed by the president’s budget, a task that proved impossible for the FY08 appropriations.

Public HousingThe biggest challenge facing public housing in 2008 will be sufficient funding to operate and maintain existing public housing units. Funding for both functions in recent years has lagged well behind need. Today’s public housing authorities are operating on only 85.4% of what HUD knows they need to operate, according to the November 14 paper by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and their more than $20 billion backlog of capital needs is widely known.

Legislation to reauthorize the HOPE VI program is likely to receive additional attention in 2008. The House is expected to take up its HOPE VI reauthorization bill, H.R. 3524, the week of January 14. The bill, introduced by House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity Chair Maxine Waters (D-CA), passed out of committee on September 26 (see Memo, 9/14/07 and 9/28/07). The Senate bill, introduced on March 6 by Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) received a hearing in the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on June 20 but no further action has been taken on the legislation (see Memo, 3/9/07 and 6/22/07). The bills are very different from one another. The House bill requires one-for-one replacement of units, a right to return by former residents and many other protections and improvements long sought by advocates. The Senate bill does not contain any of these improvements and reverses some of the gains won when the program was last reauthorized in 2003 under legislation sponsored by Representative Mel Watt (D-NC).
Section 8 Housing Choice VouchersAdequate funding to renew all vouchers and to fund vouchers that are currently authorized but unused will continue to be critical issues for the FY08 HUD appropriations bill. Advocates will also continue to ask for new vouchers in FY09. The approximately 20,000 vouchers funded in the FY08 HUD appropriations bill for homeless veterans, non-elderly disabled people and the family unification program were the first new vouchers funded since FY02. In FY09, advocates will continue to seek 100,000 additional new vouchers.

The Section 8 Voucher Reform Act will be a focal point for advocacy in 2008. The House bill, H.R. 1851, includes a long list of important and positive reforms to the voucher program, and advocates will work hard in 2008 to enact this legislation. H.R. 1851 passed the House on July 12 (see Memo, 7/13/07), but the Senate bill has yet to be introduced. A draft Senate bill was circulating in the Fall of 2007 and introduction is expected shortly after January 22, when the Senate returns to work.

H.R. 1851 addresses the distribution of voucher funds to administering agencies, simplification of rents, voucher portability, replacement vouchers for lost project-based assistance, project-based vouchers, fair market rents, rent burdens, inspections, the moving to work/housing innovation program and the family self-sufficiency program, among other voucher issues. The bill also authorizes 20,000 new, incremental vouchers each year for FY08 – FY12.

Project-Based Housing PreservationWhile Congress considered some legislation to preserve existing affordable housing in the first session of the 110th Congress, the main thrust of preservation legislation will occur in the second session. On October 31, the House Committee on Financial Services, chaired by Representative Barney Frank (D-MA), passed H.R. 3965, the Mark-to-Market Extension and Enhancement Act of 2007 (see Memo, 11/2/07). This legislation would amend the Mark-to-Market program to include properties with below-market rents and to expand the number of instances of nonprofit debt relief, among other changes. The Congressional Budget Office concluded, in a report dated November 30, 2007, that these expansions of the program would have a direct spending cost, potentially triggering a rule of the House of Representatives that would prohibit consideration of the bill without offsetting revenue increases.

In addition, on October 31, the Committee approved H.R. 3873, the Section 515 Rural Housing Property Transfer Improvement Act of 2007, by voice vote. The bill is intended to expedite the transfer of Section 515 rural multifamily housing projects from one owner to another. The Senate did not take up any preservation legislation in the first session.

Chair Frank is expected to introduce a major preservation bill in February, and he has committed to moving this legislation though the Financial Services Committee early in the second session. This legislation is likely to include many of the provisions sought by advocates and the Preservation Working Group. In addition, the non-cost provisions of H.R. 3965 may be included. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), chair of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation and Community Development, is also expected to introduce preservation legislation.

Low Income Housing Tax CreditWhile no legislation has been formally introduced as yet, House Committee on Ways and Means Chair Charles Rangel (D-NY) is looking at ways to improve the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program (LIHTC). And, House Committee on Financial Services Chair Barney Frank (D-MA) is working on ways to better coordinate the HUD programs with the LIHTC program. Legislation developed by both members will be part of a larger tax reform measure that Mr. Rangel plans to consider in the second session of this Congress.

NLIHC is working to promote deeper income targeting for the LIHTC program as well as a better distribution of the credits in order to house more extremely low income families.
In other LIHTC news, the House rejected attempts to include a provision to exclude military service members’ basic allowance for housing from their calculation of income for purposes of determining eligibility for the low income housing tax credit program, in its legislation providing military service members additional tax benefits (see Memo, 11/2/07). The Senate amended its version of this bill on December 19 to include this provision. NLIHC opposes this action as it would take units away from low income civilians and the responsibility for housing for active military people lies with the Department of Defense.

McKinney-Vento Reauthorization Bills have been introduced in both the House and Senate to reauthorize McKinney-Vento homeless programs. The bills would consolidate all HUD McKinney-Vento housing programs, except Emergency Shelter Grants, into one competitive program with a broad set of eligible activities, including homelessness prevention, permanent or transitional housing for any homeless population, and supportive services.

On February 6, Representatives Julia Carson (D-IN), Geoff Davis (R-KY), Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Rick Renzi (R-AZ) introduced H.R. 840, the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act (HEARTH) (see Memo, 2/9/07). Ms. Carson passed away on December 15, and Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA) is expected to carry McKinney-Vento legislation through the committee.

Ms. Waters, chair of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Community Development, held two hearings on the bill in October, 2007 (see Memo, 10/12/07 and 10/19/07). S.1518, the Community Partnership to End Homelessness Act of 2007, was introduced by Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Wayne Allard (R-CO) on May 24 (see Memo, 5/18/07 and 5/24/07). The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs voted in favor of S. 1518 on September 19 (see Memo, 9/21/07).

Each bill would expand the definition of homelessness, to different degrees. In S.1518, households would be considered homeless for the purposes of receiving services if they: are living in somebody else’s housing because they do not have the resources to obtain other housing; have been notified that the arrangement is short-term; have moved either three times in the past year or twice in the past three weeks; and are not contributing significantly to the cost of the housing. The definition would also include people who have moved frequently (three times in the past year or twice in the past 21 days) and are currently living in a hotel or motel in which they will not be able to stay for more than a brief period. The definition of homelessness in H.R. 840 would be more closely aligned with the definition used by other federal agencies by including people who are living in doubled-up situations or in hotels/motels due to lack of adequate alternatives.

A Senate floor vote on S. 1528 is as yet unscheduled. The House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity is expected to mark up a manager’s amendment of H.R. 840 in the spring.

Disaster RecoveryS.1668, the Gulf Coast Housing Recovery Act of 2007, remains stalled in the Senate due to opposition by Senator David Vitter (R-LA). The bill, introduced by Senators Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Christopher Dodd (D-CT) on June 20 (see Memo, 6/22/07), would, among other things, require that any redevelopment of public housing owned by the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) or any Gulf Coast public housing agency (PHA) include one-for-one replacement and a right to return for all displaced tenants. Companion legislation, H.R. 1227, passed the House on March 21 (see Memo, 3/23/07). Advocates continue to push for S.1668 to be voted on the Senate Banking Committee. In the meantime, Senator Landrieu may soon introduce new legislation related to New Orleans public housing that would better reflect the negotiations and compromises made thus far on S.1668.

Another supplemental spending bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will be taken up by Congress in late winter. As with past supplemental spending bills, this will be an opportunity for additional funds to be allocated to Gulf Coast housing recovery.

Legislation to revise the Stafford Act, particularly the way the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) responds to temporary and long term housing needs after a disaster, will be introduced by Senator Landrieu in late winter or early spring.

Off to Rough & Tumble Start: Senate Shields Vetoes from 12 House Salvos

By James Salzer, Ben Smith - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution - Published on: 01/15/08

The Georgia House took a historic shot at Gov. Sonny Perdue on the first day of the 2008 session Monday by voting overwhelmingly to override a dozen bills he vetoed last spring.

But just as it had done in a similar situation at the end of the 2007 session, the state Senate came to Perdue's rescue and stalled the move. The Senate postponed any decision about joining the House in overriding the vetoes.

That delay will give Perdue time to lobby senators to oppose the House revolt, just as they did last year on his veto of a $142 million tax rebate.

Even so, the House's defiance suggested that this year's legislative session could be even more rancorous than last year's.

After the votes, Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley said, "Today's actions are yet another example of House leadership insisting on making a statement rather than making the state better.

"Georgians expect us to address serious issues facing this state and work together to solve problems, not create disputes between the branches of government."

House members denied afterward that they were renewing the political war with Perdue that began with last year's tax-bill veto.

"I don't know that it's really a signal [to Perdue]," Speaker Pro Tem Mark Burkhalter (R-Johns Creek) said. "It's more the House simply reasserting its position, some positions it felt strongly about."

The House did not consider trying to override Perdue's veto of the $142 million tax rebate because the money was part of the fiscal 2007 budget. Fiscal 2007 ended June 30, so that money is no longer available.

Among the vetoes overridden were for bills that:

- Made it less likely the state would take away college book allowances from HOPE scholars.

- Gave tax breaks to the builders of Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center, Encore Park in Alpharetta and large-scale tourist attractions.

- Made it easier for lawmakers to get financial information from state agencies.

The House vetoes violated an unwritten tradition of legislative decorum. Historically, the first day of the session is a day for backslapping and welcome-back speeches.

"I've been here 33 years," Rep. Bob Hanner (D-Parrott) said, "and I've never seen anything like it."

The Legislature last overrode vetoes —- on relatively minor bills —- 34 years ago.

After the 2007 session, Perdue vetoed 41 bills and budget appropriations.
Lawmakers were particularly irate about Perdue's decision to redirect funding on more than a dozen separate appropriations they had approved. Essentially, Perdue kept the money in the budget but told state agencies to ignore the directions the General Assembly gave them on how to spend it.

House leaders are planning to file legislation this session in hopes of keeping the governor from taking such action again.

Most of the vetoes the House sought to undo Monday were on bills approved by unanimous votes in the General Assembly last year.

In general, fewer than two dozen House members sided with the governor Monday on any of the override votes.

Democrats joined the Republican majority in supporting the override effort after meeting in the morning.

"Our motto has been that, if you see a good fight, get out of the way," House Minority Caucus Chairman Calvin Smyre (D-Columbus) said. "But we felt . . . we should stand up on these issues."
Even before the voting was over, Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram), sounded as if he knew that the Perdue-friendly Senate would at least temporarily foil the House's plans.

"The Constitution requires them to immediately consider [the overrides] and not to play a game," Richardson said. "But I predict the other body that took an oath may well shirk their responsibility and not address these matters."

Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, who presides over the Senate, said the veto overrides would be considered individually by the Senate Rules Committee. The committee might, or might not, send them to the full Senate for a vote.

"The bottom line is that these bills have broad statutory and budgetary impact," Cagle said, "and we need to fully weigh the perspectives of the governor and the House prior to a floor vote."
Staff writer Andrea Jones contributed to this article.

Can’t we all get along?

by Tom Crawford - From Capitol Impact's Georgia Report - 1/15/2008 - http://www.ciclt.net/garpt/

Sonny Perdue shared the stage with Glenn Richardson and Casey Cagle at the Georgia Chamber of Commerce’s annual “Eggs & Issues” breakfast Tuesday, and the most newsworthy development was that the trio avoided hitting or throwing food at each other.

“We weren’t sure what we were going to see after 12 overrides of vetoes,” Chamber President George Israel said, referring to Monday’s historic votes in the House of Representatives, engineered by Speaker Richardson, to override a dozen Perdue vetoes from last year.

The trio of elected officials were all on their best behavior as they talked to the business audience about the upcoming legislative session, although Cagle included some veiled criticisms of the ongoing squabbling between Perdue and Richardson.

“At the end of the day, Georgians want results and they don’t care who gets the credit,” Cagle said. “We need to act on principles and stop acting on politics.”

“I am certainly not interested in playing games; I am ready to move our state forward,” Cagle added in a speech that sounded more like a kickoff for the 2010 governor’s race.

“All I know is, there’s a job to do,” said Richardson, who contended that he, Perdue and Cagle all share a “common goal” of helping Georgians. “We’re going to talk, we’re going to agree, and we’re going to disagree.”

One specific topic addressed at the breakfast was the attempt by NRA lobbyists to get a bill passed that would make it illegal for businesses and employers to adopt policies that prohibit employees from bringing guns to the workplace. The bill is staunchly opposed by the Georgia Chamber and other business groups as an intrusion upon private property rights.

“The Georgia Chamber has never not supported the Second Amendment, and we are not promoting any legislation that would lessen gun owners’ rights,” said Charles Tarbutton, the chamber’s chairman. “What we do oppose strongly is the NRA’s attempt to expand gun owners’ rights at the expense of private property rights and employers’ rights.”

Tarbutton urged elected officials to focus on more substantive issues like water and transportation “and not become distracted with what we think is a narrow special interest of the NRA that appears more to be a solution looking for a problem.”

“Our constitution is great, but when we try to make one constitutional right greater than another, we run into problems,” said Perdue, who added that “the NRA is my friend.”
“I implore both sides to come together . . . make sure these constitutional rights don’t collide with one another,” Perdue said.