Sunday, September 5, 2010

Legislation

Well tomorrow is Labor Day 2010 and the 6th of September. Congress will return the week afterwards. With the November elections well under 60 days off this will be a frenetic time for both members and staffs. If as predicted by many the House turns from a Democratic to Republican Majority the impact on the staffs will be enormous. Many trying to bail now while the getting is good.

Looking more and more like a legislative stalemate in the 112th Congress as a Republican House sends the Senate bills they never take up. I think over 320 House passed bills now awaiting Senate action and most will not be taken up by the SENATE.

These September and October days will lead to some really odd couple relationships as the HILL tries to make sense of the electorates seeming willingness to punish incumbents of either party.

That stated I believe that some items of interest to the fields of EM/HS will make it into law during this period of time. The most important of course is the appropriations for the Fiscal Year that begins on October 1, 2010 and for the first time ever expect cuts in the DHS budget. I will try and post some of these events as the period until the elections passes. The big stakes again are whether a so-call Lame Duck Congress will appear. If it does this could be trouble a thousand different ways for those hoping for stability and continual steadiness in the US. Don't look for the US to be doing any long term thinking right now.