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Month: June 2013

President Unveils Climate Change Agenda

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President Barack Obama will unveil his climate change agenda during a speech around 2 p.m. Eastern this afternoon. The agenda is expected to combine both Executive Orders and a call to Congress to enact legislation.

The new climate initiative will impose deadlines for EPA to write rules throttling carbon dioxide emissions at U.S. power plants, part of a series of efforts that could hit the coal industry hard both at home and abroad – but also create jobs and spark the economy according to the administration. The plan features updated versions of the President’s first-term emphasis on tightening vehicle emissions standards, fostering the development of “clean coal” technology, and offering billions of dollars for green energy, as well as a renewed push to lead international climate talks. It will seek to push solar and wind energy on federal lands and subsidized housing, as well as encourage coal users to switch to natural gas. Again, it takes aim at the oil and gas industry tax breaks that Obama has unsuccessfully urged Congress to kill.

Last term, Congressional Republicans easily defeated the President’s proposal by arguing the proposed changes would increase taxes and costs on consumers.

The Office of Federal Relations is tracking this issue and will provide updates as available.

This Week in Congress

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Congress will attempt to wrap up work on several outstanding issues this week before adjourning for the Independence Day Recess next week.

The July 1st deadline on Student-Loan rates is looming and the interest rate is set to rise in 7 days unless Congress is able to reach an agreement. As of now, there does not appear to be an agreed-upon path forward by both parties.

The Senate is working towards achieving bipartisan agreement on a comprehensive immigration bill and plans to vote on it by the end of the week. One of the last points of contention is the securing of the US-Mexico border. The bill’s sponsors are striving for 70 yes-votes on the bill – an ambitious task when several conservative Republicans have already indicated their intention to vote down the legislation.

The House is also working on a piece-meal immigration reform package and is set to mark up a high skilled visa bill this week that would increase the number of H-1B visas available.

The FY14 Agriculture Appropriations bill is up for a vote in the House this week. The bill allocates $19.5 billion in discretionary spending – $1.3 billion less than FY13 levels.

Fisher v. University of Texas Ruling

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Today, the Supreme Court came out with its ruling on the case Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin that lower courts did not apply a sufficiently high level of scrutiny to the University of Texas’s use of race in admissions decisions, sending the case back to one of those lower courts to be reconsidered.

In a 7-1 ruling, the court found that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit erred in not applying “strict scrutiny” to the policies of the University of Texas at Austin (UT). The Supreme Court left intact its precedent that diversity can be a compelling government interest.The case has been sent back to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Writing the majority opinion was Justice Kennedy, who was joined by all of the conservative members of the court and Justice Sotomayer. Justice Ginsberg wrote the lone dissent. Justice Kagan recused herself because of her work on the case as Solicitor General.

The case was brought by Abigail Fisher, a white woman, who was rejected for admission by the UT. Fisher said that her rights were violated by UT’s consideration of race and ethnicity in admissions decisions. Fisher’s lawyers argued that UT need not consider race because it has found another way to assure diversity in the student body.

The decision said that “good faith” by the university would not be enough to justify the consideration of race. However, the decision does not offer an opinion on whether UT can produce sufficient evidence. Rather, it faults the appeals court for not reviewing that question using the high bar of “strict scrutiny” for the consideration of race.

It is likely that today’s ruling could mean that — after another round at the Fifth Circuit — the case could return to the Supreme Court.

 

House Defeats Farm Bill

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The House voted down the farm bill by a vote of 195-234 early this afternoon. Sixty-two Republicans voted against the measure while 24 Democrats voted for the measure.

With that, the House is adjourned for the week.

It is unclear major legislation, including student loans or appropriations measures, that the House will consider next week. Incidentally, next week is the last work week before the July 4th Recess.

Senate Reports Student Loan Progress

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Senate Democrats, Republicans and the White House are reporting progress in negotiations to a student loan interest rate fix. A group of Democratic senators, including Jack Reed RI), Joe Manchin III (WV), and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, along with independent Angus King (ME), have been conferring with Senate Republicans over the past 24 hours.

The plan, which is broadly based on the president’s budget proposal, may be finalized as soon as this week, according to one of the principal negotiators. All that is known at this time is that the proposal calls for shifting from the current 3.4 percent fixed interest rate to a market-driven variable interest rate. While the White House, including Education Secretary Arne Duncan and chief economic advisor Gene Sperling, have been kept in the loop about the negotiations, there is no word that the Senate is talking to the House.

Meanwhile, the House continues to debate both the Farm Bill and an abortion measure.