Federal Relations » On the Hill

Senate focuses on Farm Bill and House focuses on Student Loans for the bulk of the week

Sarah Castro — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:49:38 +0000

The Senate and House continue to work though legislation that respective committees addressed last week.

The full Senate will consider the Farm Bill (S 954), which the Senate Agriculture Committee passed last week. The Farm Bill reauthorization , which would overhaul farm subsidies and food stamp programs, is expected to be considered by the Senate for the bulk of the floor action this week and again after the Memorial Day recess as well.

The full House is expected to consider and pass two bills passed by the House Education and Workforce Committee last week. First, HR 1949, the IPEDS Act is expected to pass on Wednesday of this week as a Suspension bill — or a bill that is considered a noncontroversial measure. Then, on Thursday, the House will consider HR 1911, the Smarter Solutions for Students Act. This legislation would set interest rates on federal student loans to the 10-year Treasury note rate plus 2.5 percentage points for undergraduate loans and plus 4.5 percentage points for graduate loans as of July 1. Rates would be capped at 8.5 percent and 10.5 percent, respectively, and the interest rates would be calculated yearly. Amendments are expected to be offered to the bill.

The Office of Federal Relations is monitoring both bills closely and will continue tracking their progress.

This Week in Congress

Brianna C. Fields — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:39:17 +0000

An overview of House and Senate Committee Hearings and Markups on the schedule this week.

TUESDAY, MAY 21st

House Appropriations
FISCAL 2014 APPROPRIATIONS: 302(B) ALLOCATIONS
May 21, 11 a.m., 2359 Rayburn Bldg
Full Committee Markup

House Education & the Workforce
FISCAL 2014 BUDGET: DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
May 21, 10 a.m., 2175 Rayburn Bldg
Full Committee Hearing

WEDNESDAY, MAY 22nd

Senate Appropriations
2014 APPROPRIATIONS: DEFENSE
May 22, 10 a.m., 192 Dirksen Bldg
Subcommittee Hearing

Senate Appropriations
2014 APPROPRIATIONS: INTERIOR AND ENVIRONMENT
May 22, 9:30 a.m., 124 Dirksen Bldg
Subcommittee Hearing

Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation
SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION NOMINATION
May 22, 2:30 p.m., 253 Russell Bldg
Full Committee Confirmation Hearing

House Judiciary
IMMIGRATION MODERNIZATION ACT
May 22, 2 p.m., 2141 Rayburn Bldg
Full Committee Hearing

THURSDAY, MAY 23rd

Senate Appropriations
2014 APPROPRIATIONS: AGRICULTURE, RURAL, FDA
May 23, 10 a.m., 124 Dirksen Bldg
Subcommittee Hearing

Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation
SECRETARY OF COMMERCE NOMINATION
May 23, 11 a.m., 253 Russell Bldg
Full Committee Confirmation Hearing

FY14 Appropriations Update

Christy Gullion — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:37:52 +0000

Appropriations: This week, House appropriators are expected to approve a plan for writing FY14 spending bills that would make deep cuts in domestic programs in order to protect defense programs. The overall figure will adhere to the spending caps set by recent budget agreements and assumes the sequester will apply to FY14 without a larger agreement to cut the deficit. At question is how the overall amount will be divided between the 12 annual spending bills. The GOP approach makes it clear that they intend to preserve national security spending at the expense of domestic programs favored by Democrats.

The allocations provide a combined $625 billion in FY14 for the Defense, Military Construction-VA, and Homeland Security bills, which would be a cut of $4 billion, or less than one percent, from the current enacted level. Discretionary spending in the rest of the government — covered by the other nine spending bills, including the Labor-HHS-ED bill — would be cut by about $72 billion, or 17 percent, from current levels.

The Labor-HHS-ED bill would provide $121.8 billion, about $35 billion, or 22 percent, less than the current level. House Appropriations Committee Chairman, Hal Rogers (R-KY) has not ruled out increases in spending allocations if lawmakers can come to a broad budget accord to reduce the deficit and replace the sequester. But for now, House Republicans appear to have adopted a strategy of back-loading the cuts on bills, such as Labor-HHS-Education, to buy them some time for possible negotiations.

Debt Ceiling: The debt ceiling increase debate is one issue that appears to be off table in budget negotiations. With the law suspending the ceiling on federal borrowing authority expiring over the weekend, on Friday Treasury Secretary Lew formally told lawmakers that Congress won’t need to raise the debt limit again until after Labor Day. When the legislation was approved earlier this year, it was assumed the debt limit would need to be increased by late spring or early summer. Lew reiterated the Administration’s pledge that it won’t negotiate with Congress over the debt ceiling, despite ongoing talks among Republican lawmakers aimed at a strategy of using the need to raise the debt limit as leverage in a broader debate over tax and spending policy.

House GOP Proposes Austere FY14 Appropriations Plan

Christy Gullion — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:10:41 +0000

Late yesterday, the House Republicans released new spending targets for FY14 appropriations bills. Under the GOP numbers, the Labor-HHS-ED bill will face a nearly 20 percent reduction on top of the cuts already made in the March 1^st sequestration order. These programs would be capped at $121.8 billion — or about $28 billion below the best available estimates for post-sequestration appropriations. This represents $42 billion, or 26 percent, below what was enacted in FY10. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) appears to be scaling back spending for these programs, as well as for transportation, housing, environmental, and natural resources programs, in order to provide significant increases for a few of the 12 annual bills this summer. For example, Pentagon spending would rise to $512.5 billion, a roughly 6 percent increase over the reduced levels allowed under sequestration. We expect similar increases for Military-VA and Homeland Security.

Meanwhile, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), whose state is home to the NIH, pledged to work with the top senators on the Labor-HHS-ED subcommittee to ensure they get an appropriate allocation to fund these programs. The Democrat said she is “worried about the sequester’s effect on the people who work at NIH as well as extramural programs such as those run by universities.” Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL), the top Republican on the full committee, said he would work with Mikulski to try to increase funding for NIH in the face of the sequester. Other Senators also pledged their support for NIH funding, including Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) – top ranking members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. But despite the bipartisan support, there are still concerns that GOP priorities would prevent Congress from giving NIH the necessary funding resources.

The Office of Federal Relations continues to remind the Washington state delegation about the substantial fiscal impact NIH grant funding has on our economy. Please contact us if you have information that will help inform Members of Congress about the importance of NIH funding.

This Week in Congress

Brianna C. Fields — Mon, 13 May 2013 15:19:08 +0000

TUESDAY, MAY 13^th

Senate Appropriations
2014 APPROPRIATIONS: HOMELAND SECURITY
2:30 p.m., 138 Dirksen Bldg.
Subcommittee Hearing

WEDNESDAY, MAY 14^th

Senate Appropriations
2014 APPROPRIATIONS: DEFENSE
10 a.m., SVC-117 Capitol Visitor Center
Subcommittee Hearing

2014 APPROPRIATIONS: ENERGY AND WATER
2:30 p.m., 192 Dirksen Bldg.
Subcommittee Hearing

2014 APPROPRIATIONS: LABOR, HHS, EDUCATION
2:30 p.m., 138 Dirksen Bldg.
Subcommittee Hearing

Senate Veterans’ Affairs
VETERAN BENEFITS LEGISLATION
10 a.m., 418 Russell Bldg.
Full Committee Hearing

THURSDAY, MAY 15^th

Senate Appropriations
2014 APPROPRIATIONS: AGRICULTURE, RURAL, FDA
10 a.m., 124 Dirksen Bldg.
Subcommittee Hearing

2014 APPROPRIATIONS: COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE
10 a.m., 192 Dirksen Bldg.
11:15 a.m., SVC-217 Capitol Visitor Center
Subcommittee Hearing

Farm Bill goes to mark up

Sarah Castro — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:54:18 +0000

Both the House and Senate Agriculture Committees are working on the Farm Bill this week. The respective farm bills scheduled to be marked up in Senate Agriculture on Tuesday and House Agriculture on Wednesday. The draft House plan released on Friday would save a projected $39.7 billion over a decade through reductions to nutrition programs, farm and crop insurance, and conservation efforts. Like the Senate bill (S.10), it would eliminate yearly direct payments to farmers and shift financial risk management away from traditional subsidies to insurance-based alternatives.

The UW’s School of Environment and Forest Studies is impacted by the legislation’s Research (Title VII) and Forestry (Title VIII) titles. The Office of Federal Relations is monitoring the progress and changes of each bill as it goes through the legislative process.

An initial summary of the House draft Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act (FARMM) of 2013 is here.

An initial summary of the Senate draft Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2013 is here.

Progress on Student Loan Interest Rate Bill

Christy Gullion — Fri, 10 May 2013 13:29:12 +0000

Although both chambers are in recess today, there’s plenty of behind-the-scenes legislating and negotiating. House lawmakers plan to release a draft 2013 farm bill that’s expected to produce $38 billion in savings over a decade. Across the Capitol, Senate Democrats are looking for ways to advance President Obama’s nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency – Gina McCarthy – who is having a tough time getting Republican support. The Administration also is engaged in talks with Republicans to head off a scheduled student loan interest rate hike. And there are efforts afoot to revise a Senate Internet tax bill in the House in an effort to gain support from conservative lawmakers.

A deal aimed at preventing federal student loan interest rates from doubling on July 1 appears possible after both sides made concessions on Thursday. A House Republican bill (HR 1911), that could be marked up next week, would treat the subsidized and unsubsidized portions of the Stafford federal student loan the same, pegging their interest rates to the 10-year Treasury rate plus 2 .5 percent. The legislation would also shift loans for graduate students to the 10-year Treasury rate plus 4.5 percent. Those interest rates would be capped at 8.5 percent and 10.5 percent, respectively. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the bill would save the federal government $990 million over five years and $3.7 billion over 10 years.

This measure largely mirrors a proposal included in President Obama’s FY2014 budget to shift the current fixed interest rate to a market-based variable rate. The House is poised to move the measure through that chamber by Memorial Day, plus or minus a week.

Senate Begins Mark Up of Immigration Bill

Christy Gullion — Thu, 09 May 2013 14:16:59 +0000

The Senate Judiciary Committee is beginning to mark up the immigration bill today in the opening act of what will likely be a long, contentious fight over amendments. The “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act” (S 744) is the immigration reform proposal developed by the so-called “gang of eight.”

Among other things, the bill would expand the annual cap of H-1B visas to 110,000 from the existing cap of 65,000, raise the number of visas for foreign graduates with advanced degrees from U.S. universities that are exempt from the annual cap, and create a 13-year path to citizenship for nearly 11 million immigrants. No undocumented worker, however, would be eligible for citizenship until the border is considered secure.

The Office of Federal Relations has been actively engaged with Congressional members on issues related to visas and pathways to citizenship for our students (Dreamers).

Watch the Senate Committee mark up live.

This Week in Congress

Brianna C. Fields — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:56:13 +0000

Congress is continuing to move forward with the appropriations process this week before adjourning on a week long recess next week.

Below are some upcoming congressional hearings scheduled that we will be keeping our eye on and may be of interest to the UW community.

Tuesday, April 23

Senate Budget
2014 Budget: Veterans’ Programs
10:30 am, 608 Dirksen

Wednesday, April 24

Senate Appropriations
FY14 Defense Appropriations
11 am, 192 Dirksen

Senate Appropriations
FY14 Energy and Water Appropriations
2:30 pm 192 Dirksen

Senate Appropriations
FY14 Interior and Environment Appropriations
9:30 am, 124 Dirksen

Senate Appropriations
FY14 Labor, HHS, Education Appropriations
10 am, 138 Dirksen

House Appropriations
FY14 Defense Appropriations
10 am, 2358-C Rayburn

House Appropriations
FY14 Interior and Environment Appropriations
9:30 am and 1 pm, B-308 Rayburn

House Education and the Workforce
Higher Education Affordability
10 am, 2175 Rayburn

Thursday, April 25

Senate Appropriations
FY14 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations
10 am, 192 Dirksen

House Appropriations
FY14 Defense Appropriations
10 am, H-140 Capitol

House Appropriations
FY14 Labor, HHS, Education
10 am, 2358-C Rayburn

House Small Business
STEM Workforce and Immigration Overhaul
10 am, 2360 Rayburn

Senate Releases Immigration Reform Bill

Christy Gullion — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 13:48:45 +0000

Senate negotiators have reached an agreement on a bill to make the most substantive changes to immigration laws in nearly three decades. The “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013” would affect visas for high-tech workers, create a new “W-visa” program to attract low-skilled workers, and require businesses to implement new electronic-verification requirements to check the immigration status of their employees.

The bill will also create what is certain to be a controversial pathway to citizenship for the nation’s 11 million undocumented immigrants to become permanent legal residents a decade after they register with the government. Immigrants would pay a $2,000 fine, pass a background check, have a job, and wait 10 years before applying for a green card. Three years after that, they could apply to become U.S. citizens. Dream Act youth can obtain green cards in five years and citizenship immediately thereafter.

In exchange for the “pathway to citizenship” for many immigrants, conservatives demanded language in the bill that would call for billions of dollars to be spent on tightened security at the U.S.-Mexico border with a goal of apprehending 90 percent of those crossing the border in “high-risk” areas. But the whole process is contingent, at several points over a decade, on the government meeting certain border-security benchmarks.