Sen. Reid said that there will be a vote on the Omnibus Lands Package that was introduced this week. The Senate's first vote of the 111th Congress could be for the lands package that contains three California wilderness bills...

Here is press coverage from California and around the country... 

From the Santa Clarita Signal:

Wilderness bill encourages locals

By Tammy Marashlian
Signal Staff Writer 
January 7, 2009

A bill that would protect 450,000 acres of California wilderness, including mountainous land south of the Santa Clarita Valley, was reintroduced into the Senate Wednesday to the delight of local environmentalists.

"It's important to keep these places clean and pristine," said Dianne Erskine-Hellrigel, president of the Community Hiking Club. "Who wants to look at a bunch of mines right off Sand Canyon Road?"

Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-NM, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, introduced the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009 Wednesday.

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From the New York Times:

It's a new day in the Senate; but the tone sounds awfully familiar as a dispute over a public lands bill sparks recriminations between Democrats and Republicans.

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CQ Today Midday Update
Jan 7, 2009

Senate to Start New Year With Sunday Vote

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev., plans to start the new Congress with a rare Sunday vote that could test whether an expanded Democratic majority can overcome Republican opposition to legislation.

Reid announced Wednesday that the Senate will vote Sunday on an omnibus public lands bill that Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn blocked several times last year.

He said he want to get the lands bill out of the way swiftly so the Senate can take up legislation to make it easier for women who are paid less than their male counterparts to sue their employers and be compensated in the courts.

The House plans to vote on the employment bill Friday, and then turn next week to an expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, which President Bush vetoed in the last Congress.

“Everyone should understand,” Reid said. “Sunday morning we’re going to have a vote in the Senate.”

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