Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 2, 1995 TAG: 9502030012
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The bill, which would require Congress to pay for many programs it imposes on states and local governments, was approved 360-74 after eight days of often contentious debate. Applause accompanied the announcement of the vote.
The only obstacles left to getting the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act to President Clinton's desk are negotiations on minor differences between the House and Senate versions and final votes in both chambers. The Senate version of the unfunded mandates legislation passed last Friday, 86-10, and the two chambers were expected to resolve their differences quickly.
All 230 Republicans and 130 of the Democrats in the House voted for the bill. Voting against it were 73 Democrats and the chamber's sole independent, Rep. Bernard Sanders of Vermont.
Of Virginia's representatives, only Robert Scott, D-Newport News, voted against it.
Meanwhile in Congress, backers of the balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution argued for that measure during a third day of debate on the Senate floor.
At the same time, a Senate Judiciary subcommittee became the first panel to approve a proposed amendment to impose term limits on members of Congress. On a party-line vote of 5-3, the GOP-controlled panel approved a measure to bar senators from serving more than two full terms and House members from serving more than six. That would allow 12 years of service in each chamber.
The House Judiciary Committee advanced Republican efforts to rewrite last year's anti-crime law, approving a measure that would spend $10.5 billion on prison construction, $2.5 billion more than in the 1994 law, but provide funding only to states that are cracking down on violent criminals.
Passage of the mandates bill, said Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, ``shows that we are on schedule'' in the drive to vote on contract items in 100 days. ``We clearly are demonstrating our ability to make a big change.''
Clinton has indicated his support for the mandates bill.
It would be the second major piece of legislation in the ``Contract With America'' to become law. In January, Clinton signed a bill making members of Congress abide by the same employment laws as private employers.
Governors and mayors have pushed hard for unfunded mandates legislation, arguing that they must spend billions of dollars every year for Medicaid, environmental and safety regulations and other programs imposed but not paid for by Washington.
House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., said the bill was a ``very big step'' toward preventing Congress from burdening local governments with costly regulations in the future. He said he hopes to pair this with a ``Correction Day'' he has touted in which the House would pass legislation once a week to repeal the ``most destructive and least effective regulations'' already in effect.
by CNB