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Category: Congressional To Do

House Looking at a Continuing Resolution

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House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) today said that Congress will need a continuing resolution before the end of the FY2015, which is September 30th.

There are three types of federal appropriations measures. Regular appropriations bills provide most of the funding that is provided in all appropriations measures for a fiscal year and must be enacted by October 1, the beginning of the fiscal year. These are the 12 regular appropriations bills which have been passing the House and Senate up until earlier this month.  If regular bills are not enacted by the beginning of the new fiscal year, Congress adopts continuing resolutions (CR) to continue funding, generally until regular bills are enacted. Supplemental appropriations bills provide additional appropriations to become available during a fiscal year.

The House has been largely stalled in moving appropriations bills forward since the FY2015 Interior Appropriations bill issues with the Confederate flag. It has largely been speculated that Congress will move towards a CR, which is a very commonly used funding device, and then begin working on a larger omnibus appropriations bill — a bill that combines many of the appropriations bills into one package. Omnibus appropriations bills are typically moved as straight up or down votes, at or near to the Christmas holidays.

While Boehner gave no indication as to how long a CR would be crafted or what it would look like, his mention is the first admission by senior Congressional leadership that a CR will happen.

Senate Finance Passes Tax Extenders

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The Senate Finance Committee marked up and passed a tax extenders package today by a vote of 23-3. The bill , among many other proposed tax breaks, would extend the teacher tax credit, the above the line deduction for qualified tuition and expenses, and the research tax deduction all through the end of 2016. A number of education-related amendments have been filed in advance of the markup. One, from Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), would extend the teacher tax credit to qualifying homeschool families. Another would repeal the tax imposed on student loans forgiven due to repayment under the income-based repayment program. Neither of these amendments passed.

While this measure passed the Senate Finance Committee fairly easily, its path forward remains unclear.

House Ways and Means Committee Chair Paul Ryan has stated that his committee will take up tax extenders in the Fall. Chairman Ryan has been adamant about addressing the shortfalls prior to December to ensure certainty for business and taxpayers.

Read a summary of the Senate package here. 

 

House and Senate Consider Elementary Education Proposals

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Dueling education proposals are up in the House and the Senate this week. Eight years after No Child Left Behind (NCLB) officially expired, congressional leaders want to pass a rewrite of the main federal K-12 education law (ESEA) that can get President Obama’s signature. Today, the Senate will begin consideration of S 1177, Every Child Achieves Act of 2015, which reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The bill passed the Senate education committee in April by a unanimous vote. The Senate is expected to start debate on the bill this afternoon.

Also today, the House Committee on Rules will meet to consider HR 5, Student Success Act, which is the House bill to reauthorize ESEA. In late February, the House postponed consideration of HR 5 after 43 amendments were debated. Floor consideration will likely resume on Wednesday or Thursday this week under a new rule allowing additional amendments to be made in order.

The bill being considered in the House would transfer far more power away from the federal government than the Senate bill, which passed unanimously out of the HELP committee after bipartisan negotiations between Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and ranking member Patty Murray (D-WA). Both bills explicitly prohibit the Education secretary from influencing state academic standards.

As Congress debates education this week, Republicans will try to highlight how far to the right they have moved on the issue since NCLB first passed. Even though the law significantly expanded the federal government’s role, only six Republican senators opposed it in 2001. Keep in mind that, running for president just five years before the law was approved, then-Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole supported eliminating the Department of Education altogether. However, President George W. Bush pulled his party along with him by pushing for passage of NCLB.

While it is unclear which bill will become law, it seems certain that any legislation that emerges from Congress would dramatically curtail the federal government’s involvement in state standards.

Additionally, it is a very telling, and productive sign, that both the House and Senate can each consider a bill considered such a political hot-potato and essentially a nonstarter last year.

Fourth of July Recess

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Both the House and Senate are in using the Fourth of July as a district work period. Congress will return Monday, July 6th to continue working on the FY16 Appropriations process!

Happy Fourth of July!

Senate Appropriations Committee Passes FY16 Labor-H

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Today, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed it’s FY16 Labor-H bill by a vote of 16-14. The Senate draft would cut spending from the 2015 enacted level by almost $4 billion to $153 billion and is $14.5 billion below President Barack Obama’s request. The bill would eliminate funding for the Independent Payment Advisory Board, created by the 2010 health law (PL 111-148, PL 111-152) to recommend Medicare spending cuts under certain circumstances.

Both the House and Senate FY16 Labor-H proposals are now cleared to be considered by their respective bodies. There is no timeline on when the Senate would begin consideration of its draft.