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shifted from federal to state and
local control.
Mr. Foltin also expects an ef-
fort to revive a constitutional
amendment aimed at legalizing
prayer in schools and at public
events.
That measure, a top priority for
groups such as the Christian
Coalition, stalled last year when
two key House sponsors couldn't
agree on language; this time
around, action could shift to the
more conservative Senate.
This could be the year Congress
finally passes the 'Workplace Re-
ligious Freedom Act," a long-de-
layed measure authored by Rep.
Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., protect-
ing the rights of Sabbath-observ-
ing Jews and others whose
religious obligations require spe-
cial consideration by employers.
"There will be a much more
concerted effort to build biparti-
san support for this measure,
which was a problem last year,
and to educate the business and
labor communities about what
this legislation is about — and
what it isn't about," said Abba Co-
hen, Washington representative
for Agudath Israel of America.
Agudah, Mr. Cohen said, also
will pay close attention to a num-
ber of tax issues, including tax
credits for higher education; the
Orthodox group wants to make
sure that Mr. Clinton fulfills his
promise to make sure students at
religious institutions will be in-
cluded.
Last year's welfare reform law
drastically cut health and welfare
benefits for legal immigrants. Mr.
Clinton, who signed the measure,
now hopes to restore as much as
$13 billion of the cuts; Jewish
groups, led by the Council of Jew-
ish Federations, have made that
an early priority in the new Con-
gress.
But with legislators still com-
mitted to cutting the budget deficit
while reducing taxes, finding that
money will be difficult, Jewish ac-
tivists concede.
Jewish organizations also are
preparing for a possible second
front in the immigration battle.
When Congress tackled illegal im-
migration last year, Republican
leaders promised to overhaul the
legal immigration system this
year — a process that is almost
certain to include efforts to cut
more programs for immigrants
and erect new barriers to immi-
gration.
Affirmative action is a legisla-
tive time bomb in the wake of the
successful ballot initiative in Cal-
ifornia ending affirmative action
programs in that state. Rep.
Charles Canady, R-Fla., has in-
dicated he will reintroduce legis-
lation ending federal affirmative
action. Jewish groups, which gen-
erally oppose quotas but support
the broad goals of affirmative ac-
tion, will oppose those efforts, or
sit out the battle.
For the past two years, the
biggest story in Congress has been
the battle to reduce the federal
budget deficit, and the resulting
cuts in domestic spending pro-
grams and the wholesale "block
granting' of programs to the
states. That process will continue
in 1997, although a chastened
GOP leadership will move more
slowly, with a greater effort to
build coalitions with Democrats.
One early issue will be the con-
stitutional amendment requiring
a balanced budget, which was de-
feated by a single vote in the Sen-
ate in 1995. This year, with the
GOP gaining two seats in the up-
per house and Mr. Clinton send-
ing out conflicting signals, the
Jewish groups that fought the
amendment face longer odds.
"There are no new arguments,
but this time, they think they
have the votes to pass it," said
Mark Pelavin, associate director
of the Religious Action Center of
Reform Judaism. 'We continue to
believe that this would result in
drastic, disastrous cuts in the pro-
grams that millions of Americans
depend on, and it will hobble im-
portant functions of the federal
government."
He also pointed out that the
budgetary pressure caused by a
successful amendment would
make it almost impossible to sus-
tain Israel's $3 billion in foreign
aid.
But Jewish groups are quietly
shifting their emphasis to fight-
ing ratification by the states — a
sign that prospects for defeating
the amendment in Congress look
slim.
Even without an amendment,
the pressure on federal spending
will continue to grow as Congress
and the president try to balance
the budget by 2002. Important en-
titlement programs that serve
many Jews — including Medicare
and Medicaid — will feel the
squeeze.
But both political factors and a
strong economy may produce a
more cautious approach to bud-
get cutting in 1997.
"The nation's economic health
has improved significantly in the
past two years, and that will re-
duce the pressure for cuts," said
Ronald Soloway, director of gov-
ernment relations for the UJA-
Federation of Jewish Philan-
thropies of New York.
Mr. Soloway said that the top
priority for federations will be pro-
tecting Medicaid, the most vul-
nerable of the big entitlements;
Congress is likely to attempt ma-
jor restructuring of the program,
which will have a big impact on
Jewish hospitals, nursing homes
and mental health agencies.
r'