Legislative Watch

Economic Recovery

• On 2/10, the Senate voted 61-37 in favor of an economic stimulus package of more than $800 billion (H.R. 1). The bill's passage was smoothed by a bipartisan deal to cut more than $100 billion from the original Senate version. On 1/28, the House passed a similar bill on a 244-188 vote. Renewable energy and efficiency measures to reduce global warming pollution would receive tens of billions of dollars in the House version, which also includes an amendment by Rep. Nadler (D-NY) that increased the amount of funding in the bill for transit programs from $9 billion to $12 billion. As a House-Senate conference committee attempts to work out the differences between the two bills, the environmental community will continue to monitor several key priorities in the legislation, such as investments in renewable energy, public transit and high-speed rail.

Public Lands

• On 1/15, the Senate voted 73-21 to pass a package of more than 160 public lands, water and resources bills that had been delayed from passage in the 110th Congress. The package (S. 22) would designate more than two million acres of wilderness and more than 1,000 miles of national wild and scenic rivers. It also would establish three new national parks, while enlarging the boundaries of more than a dozen existing national parks, and designate 10 new national heritage areas and four new national trails. Another provision of the legislation, the San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Act, would bring an end to a nearly 20-year-old lawsuit and fund a landmark settlement to restore the once mighty river and its salmon populations.