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Politics

Democrats bid to pass billsbefore address by Bush

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published December 2, 2006

WASHINGTON - Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has told fellow Democrats she wants to pass the party's six top legislative items and toughen ethics rules before President Bush delivers his State of the Union address.

The president's speech is tentatively scheduled for Jan. 23, meaning that Pelosi, D-Calif., and the new Democratic majority would have less than three weeks to pass the bills that formed the core of the party's campaign platform.

The measures would raise the minimum wage, expand the opportunity for federally funded research on embryonic stem cells, and permit - but not require - the government to negotiate for lower Medicare drug prices with pharmaceutical companies.

Democrats also intend to repeal an unspecified series of energy company tax breaks; implement the recommendations of the commission that investigated the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and reduce the cost of student loans.

The minimum wage legislation is likely to call for an increase from the current wage floor of $5.15 an hour to $7.25. The increase would take effect in two steps, and be fully in place on Jan. 1, 2009.

Officials have said in recent days that the stem cell legislation will be virtually identical to a bill Bush vetoed last year. Bush supports federally funded research on only those stem cell lines created before Aug. 9, 2001, the date of his speech to the nation on the subject.

Numerous details remain to be worked out on other bills.

[Last modified December 2, 2006, 01:14:18]