SACI planning process losing oomph?

Well, the advisory committee for the proposed "Strengthening America's Communities Initiative," which is seemingly disfavored by 55 senators (see below), has shortened its June public meeting schedule from two days to one morning. SACI is the program called for by the 2006 White House budget proposal that, if passed, would create a single bigger, simpler formula grant program to replace Community Development Block Grants and a double handful of other community development grantmaking programs. A huge change if it goes through, of course, but since that now seems unlikely to happen, could it be that interest in the meetings is waning? A number of urban officials officials did testify at the May meeting in Kanas City, but from its transcript it's hard to tell how or if the discussion would contribute to the actual drafting of legislation. The April meeting in Fresno, California also looks from its transcript to have been singularly inconclusive. It'll be interesting to see how hard this committee and the Commerce folks work at the time-eating task of drafting actual legislation to put SACI before a Congress that may not necessarily be interested.