September 2005

In This Issue

• FY 2006 Appropriations Process
• VAWA Reauthorization Moves Ahead in Senate
• Federal Funding Opportunities
• Private Foundation Funding
• Funding Tip

FY 2006 Appropriations Process

As they struggle to respond to needs resulting from Hurricane Katrina, Congress must also juggle a convoluted appropriations process. Earlier this year, the House and Senate chose to reorganize their appropriations committees in an inconsistent and uncoordinated way. The result is a different number of appropriations bills in the House and Senate and committee structures that are not easily reconciled across the two chambers. Although the House finished work on its appropriations bills by the end of June, the Senate has still not completed work on most of its appropriations bills, and now must also attend to Supreme Court nomination hearings, hearings into the federal response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster, and the legislation reauthorizing several major programs.

Congress has pushed back its timetable by at least one month for making cuts to mandatory programs and passing more tax cuts. The budget resolution Congress agreed to earlier this year set a deadline of Friday, September 16 for various committees to cut spending by a total of $35 billion. In addition, the resolution set a target of September 23 for $70 billion in additional tax cuts.

However, Senate Republican leaders have announced authorizing committees now have until the week of October 17 to produce their individual bills making cuts. The Senate Budget Committee will have until the week of October 24 to wrap those bills into one package. That package will then be sent to the Senate floor for a vote. The House will follow a similar schedule.

The fate of the $70 billion tax cut legislation as prescribed by the budget resolution is somewhat more murky. Some Congressional staff have speculated that Congress will move the tax cuts in early November. It is also possible that Congress will scrap the planned tax cuts or wrap them into a wider "Katrina relief" tax package. Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) announced during the August recess that the Senate would be working well into the fall, past its target adjournment date, but it is unclear if even that extension will give them enough time to wrap up their work.

VAWA Reauthorization Moves Ahead in Senate

On Thursday, September 8, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved on a voice vote S. 1197, the bill to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 1994 through fiscal year 2010. The bill was introduced by Senator Biden (D-DE) in June and now has 50 co-sponsors. VAWA, previously reauthorized in 2000, is due to expire on September 30.

S. 1197 enjoys widespread support from both Democrats and Republicans, so easy approval by the full Senate is likely to occur shortly. Title I of the bill continues those VAWA programs that fund legal services organizations, including Legal Assistance for Victims (LAV) and STOP, with the Rural Domestic Violence and Child Abuse Enforcement Assistance Program contained in Title II. These provisions would increase the amounts authorized to be appropriated for these programs in Fiscal Years 2006 through 2010, as follows:

• LAV: from $40,000,000 to $65,000,000
• STOP: from $185,000,000 to $225,000,000
• Rural: from $40,000,000 to $55,000,000

However, even if approved in the VAWA reauthorization, these increased authorized levels are not likely to be matched by appropriators in the future.

The section on LAV also includes a provision that would allow legal services organizations that receive money from LSC to assist any victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or trafficking without regard to the victim's immigration status, and the organizations could use any source of funding to provide legal assistance to these victims that is directly related to overcoming the victimization.

During its work on the bill on September 8, the Senate Judiciary Committee adopted, by voice vote, a manager’s amendment that would allow men, as well as women, to qualify as victims under the bill. Other provisions of the amendment would increase penalties for stalking when the offender is subject to a protective order and tighten penalties for repeat offenders.

Committee members also approved an amendment offered by Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) on behalf of Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) that would allow the attorney general to collect DNA samples from individuals who have been arrested or detained. Although several Democrats on the committee voiced concerns that the amendment would sweep in too many arrestees, a second-degree amendment by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) to limit the collection of DNA samples to violent offenders was rejected.

The prospects for VAWA reauthorization in the House are much less clear, making predictions for what will happen in the next two weeks uncertain. Several different bills have been introduced in the House, including H.R. 2876, introduced by Rep. Mark Green (R-WI), and H.R. 3402, introduced by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI). None of the House bills correspond to the Senate version, and none of them have made their way out of their respective subcommittees yet.

Federal Funding Opportunities

• HUD reopens FY 2005 NOFA for the HOPWA Program
  Deadline: October 6, 2005
  http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/grants/nofa05/grphopwa.cfm
  

  HUD expects that a balance of grant funding will remain available after the selection of eligible awards from the applications received under the original FY2005 NOFA for the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) Program. Specifically, HUD anticipates that approximately $18 million in FY2005 funds will be available for additional awards.

  HUD awarded competitive grants under the HOPWA Program totaling $20 million to 22 projects in FY2004 to provide permanent supportive housing assistance and supportive services in connection with other housing efforts over three years of funding. None of the projects directly receiving a FY2004 competitive grant were civil legal aid programs, although Georgia Legal Services was a project partner on one.

• Evaluation of HUD's Housing Counseling Program
  http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpo/contract/opc22921.cfm
  

  HUD has released a Presolicitation Notice, indicating that it will seek a contractor to conduct a multi-year evaluation of the Department’s Housing Counseling Program. The contract, which will run for five years, will be for between $250,000 and $3.5 million. The Department anticipates awarding one contract as a result of this solicitation. The first step for the contractor will be to conduct a process evaluation of HUD's Housing Counseling Program for 88 weeks.

Private Foundation Funding

• Herb Block Foundation, Defending Freedoms Program
  Deadline: October 12, 2005
  http://www.herbblockfoundation.org/
  

  The Herb Block Foundation provides grants to nonprofit organizations that work to preserve basic freedoms, that help clear the pathways out of poverty, and that encourage citizen involvement in government at all levels. The foundation’s Defending Freedoms program seeks proposals to safeguard the basic freedoms guaranteed in our Bill of Rights, and to help eliminate all forms of prejudice and discrimination. Anti-discrimination projects that involve joint efforts of two or more organizations are encouraged. Letters of inquiry for this program are accepted from organizations throughout the U.S., with a deadline of October 12, 2005.

• LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell Legal Fellowship
  Deadline: December 31, 2005
  http://www.martindale.com/xp/Martindale/About_Us/Ratings/ratings_fellowship.xml
  

  Applicants are invited for the LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell Legal Fellowship, a new program to promote education, the practice of public interest law, and diversity in the legal profession. The program awards two $15,000 grants each year, one in the summer and one in the winter, to individuals or associations whose applications are selected by the company's Legal Fellowship committee. The deadline for the winter fellowship is December 31, 2005, with the winner to be announced in January 2006.

  To be eligible for a fellowship grant, an organization must hold nonprofit 501(c)(3) status. For more information or to complete and submit an application form, visit the LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell Web site.

  Regional Grants

  
  
• Lincoln Financial Group Foundation
  Deadline: October 3, 2005
  http://www.lfg.com/LincolnPageServer?LFGPage=/lfg/ipc/abt/cgv/index.html
  

  The Lincoln Financial Group Foundation, the charitable giving arm of Lincoln Financial Group, makes grants in the areas of education, arts and culture, and human services for programs conducted in the communities where the corporation has a significant business presence and employee base.

  For the fourth quarter of 2005, the Fort Wayne, IN, Hartford, CT, and Philadelphia, PA Charitable Contribution Committees will review human services grants for programs in their communities. Only nonprofit organizations that have a 501(c)(3) designation from the Internal Revenue Service are eligible to receive funding.

Funding Tip

The Poverty in America Project, a team of researchers at Penn State University, has published An Atlas of Poverty in America: One Nation Pulling Apart, 1960-2003. The Atlas maps the effect of poverty by region, by state, and by county/parish; and by specific populations through charts, maps and tables. Other tools and analysis are also available at the Web site above.

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