Legislation Waits for Congress to Return

Several bills pending before Congress may see action after the August recess. They include a bill to allow federal employees to make use of frequent flier miles, a class action bill, competing bankruptcy reform bills, and a drug abuse bill that would create three federal reentry demonstration projects. The federal Judiciary would be affected, to varying extents, by all these bills.

Frequent Flier Bill Passes in House

H.R. 2456, passed by the House and now under consideration by the Senate, provides that federal employees "may retain for personal use promotional items received as a result of travel taken in the course of employment." Such promotional items include frequent flyer miles, seat upgrades, and access to carrier clubs or facilities earned through official travel for their own personal travel. Current law permits most federal employees to use such frequent travel programs only for official business. Representative Dan Burton (R-IN), chair of the House Government Reform Committee, was one of the bill's sponsors with Representative Connie Morella (R-MD). Burton said, "According to the GAO, passage of this bill would boost employee morale and help the government attract and retain top-quality employees."

Before the House vote, Morella noted, "While it is difficult for the federal government to match salaries with the private sector, it can at least demonstrate to current and prospective federal employees that it values their service and is willing to reward them with certain benefits." The CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 2456 would have no significant impact on the federal budget. If this legislation passes the Senate and is signed by the President into law, it should open the door to discretionary use of frequent flyer mileage by judicial officers and employees.

Class Action Bill Would Expand Federal Jurisdiction

Just before Congress left on its July 4^th recess, H.R. 2341, the Class Action Fairness Act of 2001, was introduced in the House. Among other things, the bill would expand diversity jurisdiction to allow class action cases in which minimal diversity is present to be brought in or removed to federal courts.

Bankruptcy Reform Bills Move to Conference

The wait for a conference on the House and Senate bankruptcy reform bills may be over. In July, the Senate passed S. 420, the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2001, redesignated as H.R. 333, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2001. H.R. 333, which the House passed in March of this year, may now be conferenced. Thirteen conferees have been appointed in the Senate, and the House appointed 19 conferees before the August recess.

The House bill authorizes 23 new temporary judgeships and the Senate bill authorizes 27 new temporary judgeships. In addition, both bills extend the terms of certain existing temporary judgeships. Both bills would require bankruptcy clerks to maintain and control access to federal tax returns filed by debtors, and require bankruptcy clerks and the Administrative Office to collect and report financial data of debtors, provisions opposed by the Judicial Conference. The Judicial Conference also opposes provisions in the bills that would re-allocate revenues generated by filing fees from the Judiciary to the U.S. Trustee program. It is forecasted that this shift would cost the Judiciary more than $25 million over the next five years.

Both bills also include provisions that would revise the appellate structure for bankruptcy cases. The Judicial Conference supports the Senate version, which would allow for direct appeals from the bankruptcy court to the court of appeals only under limited circumstances.

Finally, an amendment added to the Senate version in passing H.R. 333 would require the General Accounting Office to conduct a study of the effects of the Act on bankruptcy filings.

It remains unclear whether the conferees will agree upon a conference report, and, if so, which provisions of the two bills would be included.

Judiciary May Evaluate Offender Reentry Projects

Title VI of S. 304, the Drug Abuse Education, Prevention, and Treatment Act of 2001, would create three federal reentry demonstration projects designed to assist in the community reintegration of medium- and high-risk federal prisoners. The Judicial Conference strongly supports the establishment of projects designed to evaluate offender reentry programs and does not oppose legislation designed to implement such projects so long as the Judiciary is fully funded. The Conference has authorized the Director of the Administrative Office to work with Congress to suggest modifications to such reentry legislation reflecting concerns of the Conference including, among other things, that "the project parameters be structured to maximize efficiency and effectiveness." Accordingly, the Conference has recommended that the projects contained in S. 304 would be more easily implemented and managed if they were combined into a single program with nationwide scope, and if the AO were given responsibility for evaluating the programs.