The Supreme Court has upheld the “individual mandate” requiring Americans to carry health insurance. The mandate is a key element of the Affordable Care Act. More details to come.
Author: Christy Gullion
Deal Reached on Student Loans
On Tuesday, Senate leaders announced that they reached a deal to prevent student loan interest rates from doubling from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent, but they are still determining whether to attach that “deal” to a measure that would reauthorize highway programs, which is still being negotiated. Congress must take action on both issues – student loan interest rates and highway programs – before June 30th.
The agreement reached yesterday would use two pension-related maneuvers to offset the cost of the student loan bill, as well as a Republican proposal to reduce the amount of time that students are eligible for an in-school interest subsidy. The idea to change this eligibility had been included in the President’s FY 2013 budget request, with direction that the savings would be used to shore up a shortfall in Pell grants, a federal student aid program for low- to middle-income students.
The Office of Federal Relations is monitoring this closely as we are concerned that by taking this offset off the table, the Pell Grant program may experience a funding shortfall sooner than anticipated. It could also stymie Senate efforts to increase the annual Pell Grant award from $5,550 up to $5,635.
Congress Requests Information on Implementation of the Sequester
Today, the House Budget Committee mark up Republican leaders’ legislation, similar to bipartisan language added last week to the Senate farm bill that seeks more information about the automatic budget cuts. The action comes after several attempts by lawmakers to get more details from the administration about how the roughly $109 billion sequester will take effect in January. The House bill (HR 5872) and its Senate companion measure (S 3228), introduced by Republican leaders in both chambers in May, would require the president to submit a detailed report on sequestration, identifying each account that would be affected and the amount by which it would be reduced. As introduced, the report would be due on July 9th, which is several weeks earlier than deadlines set by the Senate in the farm bill. Moreover, the Senate proposal is far more detailed, requiring a report from the president that would include a list of accounts that would be affected, an analysis of the impact of the cuts to key areas of government as well as the private sector within 60 days, and a Pentagon review by August 15th on the impacts of the cuts to national defense.
As you will recall, the across-the-board cuts, or sequester, was a consequence of the failed Joint Deficit Reduction Committee that was laid out in the Budget Control Act last August. To date, there has been very little information released by the administration on how the sequester will be implemented.
Very Big Week in Congress
Today begins a very big week in Congress that could have huge consequences for the remainder of the calendar year. First, the Supreme Court is expected to hand down its decision on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a ruling that will likely dominate the airwaves this week. Second, Congress must deal with two critical legislative issues this week before the June 30th deadlines: student loan interest rates and highway funding. If Congress does not take action by June 30th, interest rates on federal student loans will increase from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. Congress also faces a deadline to reauthorize highway and transit funding, or they must enact another extension for those programs to continue (this would be the 10th extension so far). Finally, the House is expected to vote to hold US Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress this week for failing to disclose internal Justice Department documents on how federal officials allowed guns to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels (the “Fast and Furious” scandal for those of you following this closely).
Both the House and Senate are in session this week and will go into recess next week for the Fourth of July holiday.
Appropriations: The House Appropriations Committee approved three more FY 2013 spending bills last week—Agriculture, Financial Services, and Transportation-HUD—and held a subcommittee markup of its FY 2013 Interior-Environment spending bill, which funds the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Geological Survey (USGS). The House Appropriations Committee held a subcommittee markup of the FY 2013 Interior-Environment Appropriations, which would provide $7 billion for the EPA, $1.4 billion (17%) below the FY 2012 enacted level and similar to the agency’s funding level in FY 1998. The bill also provides $967 million for the USGS, $101 million below the FY 2012 enacted level.
The full House has approved six of their FY 2013 spending bills. The full Senate, on the other hand, has yet to take up a FY 2013 spending bill and the appropriations committee has slowed its work after moving nine of its 12 bills through the process. The Senate is not expected to take up any before next week’s Fourth of July recess.
The Supreme Court’s ruling on the ACA this week will certainly have an impact on Congress’ ongoing appropriations and budget debates. House appropriators have just one remaining measure to be unveiled — the Labor-HHS-Education bill. House leaders will almost certainly continue their attempts to “defund” the ACA when and if this measure comes up. Senate Democratic appropriators recently moved forward with their version of the FY 2013 Labor-HHS-Education bill that kept the funds intact.
Senate Bill Requires Reports on Impact of Sequestration
Yesterday, the Senate passed a five-year reauthorization of farm legislation (S 3240) that includes a bipartisan amendment requiring detailed reports on the effects of the pending budget sequestration on both defense and nondefense discretionary spending. The amendment would require three reports: one from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on the overall budget figures under sequestration; one from the Pentagon on the impact on defense spending; and one from the President explaining how he would implement a sequester and what the effects would be across the board, including impacts to nondefense spending.
Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and John McCain (R-AZ) lead the effort to get this language included in the farm bill. The Pentagon report would be due August 15, the OMB report would be due within 30 days of enactment of the farm bill, and the President would be required to issue his report within 60 days of enactment.