Farm Bill Conference Report Announced

Posted on January 28, 2014January 28, 2014

After two years of negotiating, Farm bill conferees announced a sweeping, bipartisan five-year farm bill late Monday. The measure costs an estimated $1.1 trillion and is filled with trade-offs and an estimated savings of nearly $23 billion.

The bulk of savings comes from cutting $19 billion from farm programs, including an end to direct payments to farmers — money that often went to farmers who don’t actually farm. An additional $6 billion is saved by merging 23 separate conservation programs into 13, which is a move supported by conservation groups nationwide. There are $8 billion in cuts tied to the food stamp program which will come largely from increasing the state heating assistance requirement.

The House Rules Committee met late Monday night to fast-track the bill to the House Floor. The bill will come up on Wednesday, before House Republicans depart for their annual policy retreat. The House will consider the conference report well in advance of the House’s Three Day Rule, which requires introduced legislation pend at least three calendar days before it is considered and voted upon by the House. The rule is designed to give Members of Congress and staff time to read and analyze bills.

The text of the bill runs 949 pages and s accompanied by a 186-page managers’ statement.

Already the American Meat Institute and the National Meat Association, who represent cattle, hog and poultry producers, have announced opposition to the conference report and will whip against the bill.

If the House adopts the report, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, said his chamber could take up the legislation sometime during the current three-week work period.

The Office of Federal Relations is tracking this issue and will continue to provide updates.

McMorris Rogers to Give GOP Response to the State of the Union

Posted on January 23, 2014

Washington’s Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the highest-ranking Republican woman in the House of Representatives, will deliver the GOP response to President Obama’s State of the Union address next Tuesday.

McMorris Rodgers currently serves as chairwoman of the House Republican conference, which is the fourth-ranking position in leadership. She will be the first woman to deliver the official Republican response to the State of the Union during Obama’s time in the White House.

White House to Release Budget March 4th

Posted on January 23, 2014January 23, 2014

The White House announced today that it will release the Administration’s FY 2015 budget proposal on March 4.

The Administration had been waiting on Congress to finalize FY 2014 appropriations before having the Office of Management and Budget move fully ahead with the Administration’s FY2015 Budget proposal. With House and Senate finalizing FY 2014 with the Omnibus Appropriations bill earlier in January, the Administration announced when they expect FY2015 to be public. March 4th is a month after the February 3 legally required deadline, where the budget must be presented to Congress between the first Monday in January an the first Monday in February.

House Sends FY14 Omnibus Bill to Senate

Posted on January 16, 2014

Yesterday the House approved the $1.1 trillion FY14 omnibus spending bill that remains true to the intent of December’s budget agreement and sets a new tone for the FY15 appropriations cycle.

Adopted by 359-67, the strong bipartisan support in the House should help build momentum next in the Senate where lawmakers are racing against a clock that requires final action by Saturday when the short-term continuing resolution expires. Senate leadership is hoping for an expedited process and vote on Friday but the GOP could refuse and push the final vote to Saturday.

The Office of Federal Relations is drafting a comprehensive analysis of the FY14 omnibus and will release that information tomorrow. And with final passage, we will shortly complete our FY15 federal agenda. More to come on that in the coming weeks.

FY2014 Omnibus Released

Posted on January 13, 2014

Appropriators unveiled the FY2014 Omnibus Appropriations bill today. This legislation will provide discretionary funding for the entire federal government for the remainder of the current fiscal year. As drafted, the omnibus package fully respects the contours set in December but adds hundreds of pages in detail, spelling out where the dollars will actually go.

The omnibus contains all 12 regular appropriations bills for FY2014, with no area of the government functioning under a Continuing Resolution (CR). This allows every program to be weighed individually and prioritized. The release of this bill ends more than six weeks of negotiations within the appropriations committees. Leaders in both chambers hope to take quick action on the bill and send it to the President by this weekend.

Even though the omnibus legislation has been released, Congress will enact a short term CR to give both chambers time to take action on the measure. Tomorrow Congress will take action on a 3-day CR, moving the deadline from January 15^th to January 18^th.

Highlights

The Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and Education portion of the omnibus includes $156.8 billion in discretionary funding, which is $100 million below the FY2013 enacted level, and approximately $9 billion below the President’s budget request for these programs. The bill halts any new funding for the Affordable Care Act.

The bill includes $29.9 billion for the NIH, $1 billion above the FY2013 level. This funding will continue support for basic bio-medical research and translational research through the programs like the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) and Institutional Development Award (IDeA) to support scientists as they conduct research to discover cures. Further, it provides full support for the NIH Office of Science Education and programs like the Science Education and Partnership Awards (SEPA) to support bio-medical research for the future.

The maximum Pell Grant award is increased to $5,730, funded by a combination of discretionary and mandatory funds.

The bill denies the Administration’s Preschool Development Grants and Race to the Top College Affordability programs. Instead, the bill makes targeted investments in an existing program for states to improve access to high-quality, early childhood education.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is funded at $17.6 billion in the bill, an increase of $120 million above the FY2013 enacted level. Within this total, $4.1 billion is provided for Exploration, including funding to keep NASA on schedule for upcoming Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle and Space Launch System flight program milestones.

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is funded at $850 million, which is $41 million above the FY2013 enacted level. Within this total, important core research activities are funded to help advance U.S. competitiveness, innovation, and economic growth.

The legislation contains $5.3 billion for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which is $310 million above the base FY2013 enacted level, excluding supplemental funding. This includes funding for the National Weather Service to provide critical weather information to the public, and for various weather satellites essential to maintaining and improving weather forecasts and warnings.

The legislation funds the National Science Foundation (NSF) at $7.2 billion, a decrease of $82 million below the FY2013 enacted level. This funding is targeted to programs that help strengthen U.S. innovation and economic competitiveness, including funding for an advanced manufacturing science initiative, and for research in cybersecurity and cyber- infrastructure.

The measure includes $1.9 billion for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy programs – placing priority on advanced manufacturing and weatherization assistance. This funding will make responsible investments in effective and proven programs, while holding the line on irresponsible increases in other areas. This total is $874 million – or 32% – below the President’s request.

The bill includes $5.1 billion for science research, an increase of $195 million (4%) above the FY2013 enacted level. This funding will help strengthen innovation and advance future American competitiveness by supporting basic energy research, development of high-performance computing systems, and research into the next generation of clean energy sources. Within this amount, the bill restores many of the cuts to the fusion energy program that the President had proposed.

In total, the Defense portion of the Omnibus is $486.9 billion, virtually the same as the current operating level. The bill contains $63.0 billion – $6.9 billion below the FY2013 enacted level – for research, development, test, and evaluation of new defense technologies (basic and applied research, system development, and testing).