Congress faces long lame duck wish list

In a session that won't be long forgotten, the Senate last year worked until the morning of Christmas Eve to pass a health care reform bill.

Nobody is saying yet how long a post-election lame duck session will last this year, but The Hill reports as many as 20 bills could be on the to-do list, including several that are considered "must pass."

"The array of bills competing for floor time shows the sense of urgency among Democratic lawmakers to act before the start of the 112th Congress, when Reublican leaders are expxected to control more seats in the Senate and House," The Hill said.

"But given the slow pace of the Senate it also all but guarantees that Democrats wil be hard-pressed to pass even a small part of their lame-duck agenda," it says.

If Congress returns to work the week after the election and works until Christmas (with one week off for Thanksgiving), that amounts to six weeks to try to solve some of the toughest issues that bedeviled lawmakers this year.

Among the issues that are likely to compete for floor time are the extension of the Bush-era tax cuts for the middle class, an important defense authorization bill that contains repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy and a gigantic must-pass spending bill to keep the government running.

One bill of particular interest to Nevadans is a "tax extenders" measure that includes renewal of the deduction for state and local sales taxes. It expired at the end of 2009, and must be extended for families to claim the break for 2010 purchases.

Another is the extension of unemployment insurance payments that will expire on Nov. 30. After that, thousands of laid-off workers will begin to lose benefits.  Along those lines, Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., are hoping for action on bills they sponsored to create a "tier 5" of payments for jobless workers who have exhausted all other benefits.