Senate Votes

Thursday, August 10, 2006

For the Record

Here's how some major bills fared recently in Congress and how local congressional members voted, as provided by Thomas Voting Reports. NV means Not Voting.

Senate Votes

GULF OF MEXICO DRILLING

For: 71 / Against: 25

The Senate passed a bill (S 3711) to open about 8.34 million acres in the eastern Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling. Located in or near the Lease Sale 181 tract, the acreage is projected to hold up to 1.26 billion barrels of oil and 5.83 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The bill sets a 125-mile buffer zone between the Florida coast and the drilling area. Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas would receive 37.5 percent of royalties paid by energy companies, with the U.S. Treasury and the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund receiving the remainder. Under existing law, drilling is permitted on the outer continental shelf only in the western Gulf of Mexico and off the Alaskan coast.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

MARYLAND

Y

N

NV

Mikulski (D)

-

·

-

Sarbanes (D)

-

·

-

VIRGINIA

Y

N

NV

Allen (R)

·

-

-

Warner (R)

·

-

-

MINIMUM WAGE-ESTATE TAX

For: 56 / Against: 42

The Senate failed to reach the 60 votes needed to advance a Republican bill (HR 5970) to raise the hourly minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 over three years and repeal the estate tax on all but the largest estates beginning in 2011.

The federal estate tax is scheduled to vanish in 2010 and return in 2011 at a 55 percent rate for individual estates over $1 million. This bill would step up the exclusion to $5 million for individual estates and $10 million for couples, with rates of either 15 or 30 percent, depending on the estate value. The bill, which also provides tens of billions of dollars in targeted business, education and individual tax breaks, is projected to add more than $300 billion over 10 years to the national debt.

A yes vote was to advance the bill.

MARYLAND

Y

N

NV

Mikulski (D)

-

·

-

Sarbanes (D)

-

·

-

VIRGINIA

Y

N

NV

Allen (R)

·

-

-

Warner (R)

·

-

-

PENSION LAW CHANGES

For: 93 / Against: 5

The Senate sent President Bush a Republican-drafted bill (HR 4) to shore up defined-benefit pension plans by requiring some 30,000 companies to fully fund their pension liabilities over seven years, with certain airlines granted more time. The bill also requires companies to pay higher premiums to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., a taxpayer-backed federal agency that insures defined-benefit pensions but has reported a $22.8 billion deficit against obligations.

The bill contains incentives to make defined-contribution plans, such as 401(k)-style plans, a more attractive alternative to traditional defined-benefit plans and gives employers legal protections to spur conversions of defined-benefit plans to "hybrid" plans.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

MARYLAND

Y

N

NV

Mikulski (D)

·

-

-

Sarbanes (D)

·

-

-

VIRGINIA

Y

N

NV

Allen (R)

·

-

-

Warner (R)

·

-

-

MEXICAN BORDER FENCE

For: 94 / Against: 3

The Senate voted on an amendment to spend $1.8 billion in the 2007 defense budget to build 370 miles of triple-layer fencing on the U.S.-Mexico border and scattered vehicle barriers along a 460-mile stretch of the border. The underlying bill (HR 5631) awaits final passage next month.

A yes vote backed the amendment.

MARYLAND

Y

N

NV

Mikulski (D)

·

-

-

Sarbanes (D)

·

-

-

VIRGINIA

Y

N

NV

Allen (R)

·

-

-

Warner (R)

·

-

-