In March, the U.S. Senate passed the American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010 (H.R. 4213) with a six-month extension of the Recovery Act's enhanced FMAP. All Senate Democrats, except Ben Nelson (D-NE), voted for this bill with the FMAP provision. On May 28, the House passed a renamed version of the bill, American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act, without including this vitally important FMAP funding.

Please call PA Senators Bob Casey Jr. and Arlen Specter and urge them to immediately correct the House’s omission by restoring and passing the six-month FMAP extension in a manager's amendment, which Senate Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) and the Administration strongly support. Senator Casey’s office can be reached at (202) 224-6324 and Senator Specter’s office can be reached at (202) 224-4254. This is likely the last opportunity to get the FMAP extension in a bill and passed by this Congress.

Please widely distribute this Alert and encourage all involved with your organization to call Senators Casey and Specter.

Background:

As reported in PAR Mail 2010-174, Governor Ed Rendell’s proposed FY 2010-2011budget relies heavily on $800 Million in enhanced FMAP funding which has not yet been approved by the federal government. The federal stimulus bill signed into law last year, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), provided $87 Billion for a nine-quarter enhancement in the FMAP federal matching percentage. Without Congressional action, the enhanced FMAP funding will expire on December 31, 2010, right in the middle of the 2010-2011 Fiscal Year, leaving PA’s budget about $800 Million short of the Governor’s projections. If the FMAP extension is not approved by Congress, PA will be forced to adopt even deeper budget cuts and/or tax increases that will undermine the national recovery and severely harm services.

The importance of extending the enhanced FMAP is critical to the continuance of PAR member services; it is essential to continuing the current funding level for individuals with disabilities and their families.