Congress remains in session this week with a number of “must-do” items on the agenda. The House and Senate December 17 passed a three-day continuing resolution (H.J. Res. 105) to keep the government funded while more long-term funding legislation is negotiated. The previous stop-gap funding bill was to expire December 18. Senators are expected to vote Tuesday to cut off debate on a Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the government through March 4.  The CR represents a compromise between Republicans who wanted a short-term, clean CR lasting until February and Democrats who wanted the CR to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year.

In addition to appropriations, the Senate is expected to spend the beginning of the week working on the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has set up a cloture vote for Tuesday to limit debate and to line up a vote for as late as Thursday. The START treaty requires two-thirds of those present to vote in favor for ratification.

The Senate may also take up a trimmed-down version of a bill (H.R. 847) to provide compensation to 9/11 responders who fell ill after working at the World Trade Center site. The House-passed bill was cut from $7.4 billion to $6.2 billion added a 2 percent excise fee on some foreign firms that contract with the U.S. government and two other pay-fors.

The House returns Tuesday, and awaits Senate action on a long-term spending bill. The House may also take up a bill to reauthorize spending on an array of science, education and technology programs and agencies.

 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) added language into the Senate version of the Continuing Resolution (CR) granting several counties in Nevada royalties for geothermal projects.  The language was similar to previous requests by Representative Dean Heller (R-NV) and Senator John Ensign (R-NV).  Without the language, the money would have gone to the federal government.

The language continues payment of royalties to counties that have geothermal projects on federal lands.  The royalties often pay for essential county services such as public safety and are important to many rural Nevada counties with high percentages of public lands. 

After a brief dispute over the rule for consideration, the tax extenders bill was approved in the House with a 277 to 148 vote last week. The Senate cleared the legislation earlier last week and the bill was signed by the President on Friday.

The bill includes an extension of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, creates a two-year patch for the alternative minimum tax and extends dozens of popular short-term tax breaks including the research and development tax credit and the deduction for state and local income taxes.

The bill also features a provision to allow businesses to depreciate 100 percent of the cost of new capital investments made in 2011, a cut in the Social Security payroll tax on the employee side from 6.2 percent of wages to 4.2 percent and extends unemployment insurance benefits for 13 months, without a gap, through December 2011. 

President Obama December 15 signed a bill (H.R. 4994) to delay for one year a 25 percent cut in Medicare reimbursement for physicians and making additional changes in Medicare and federal health care programs. The $19 billion Medicare and Medicaid Extenders Act of 2010 would freeze physicians’ reimbursement for all of 2011, replacing the 25 percent cut that was scheduled to be implemented January 1, 2011. It also makes changes in other Medicare payment policies affecting other provider groups. The measure passed the Senate December 8 and the House December 9.