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Category: Defense

WA Member Bills

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Below are a couple of recently introduced bills by our own Washington congressional delegation that we are tracking. More information about these bills can be found at thomas.loc.gov

HR 2105 – Information Technology Exchange Program Act of 2013
Sponsor: Congressman Derek Kilmer (D-WA)
Introduced: 5/22/2013
Current Status: Referred to House Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Intelligence, Emerging Threats, and Capabilities.
Summary: The bill aims to continue a program that allows employees from the private sector or academia to temporarily work for the Department of Defense (DOD) and DOD employees to work in the private sector. This will help DOD to modernize and protect and our nation’s information technology infrastructure and will help benefit private industry and academic institutions when developing tools and products to make lasting and significant contributions to the national defense.
Kilmer Press Release

HR 2944 – TIGER CUBS Act
Sponsor: Congressman Rick Larsen (D-WA)
Introduced: 8/1/2013
Current Status: Referred to House Committees on Appropriations and the Budget
Summary: With the full name of the bill, The Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery for Cities Underfunded Because of Size Act of 2013, this bill would set aside 20 percent of special transportation infrastructure funding (TIGER funds) for smaller cities.
Larsen Press Release

July Federal Update

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FY14 APPROPRIATIONS

The path to enacting FY14 appropriations measures is paved with legislative friction as Congress is showing no signs of undoing the sequester and the House and Senate chambers are working on vastly different overall budget numbers. At this point, there are three budgets — House, Senate, and White House — all of which assume no sequestration, but include different ways to account for the cuts in later years.

The House is advancing its FY14 appropriations bills at a $967 billion overall spending cap, while the Senate is working with a $1.058 trillion cap, which does not take into account the sequester. Ironically, both the House and Senate plans would trigger a new round of across-the-board spending reductions under sequestration because they violate the caps set by the 2011 Budget Control Act (PL 111-25). But the House GOP plan busts the caps in defense and other security measures while the Senate is expected to bust the caps in both defense and non-defense (domestic) bills. All of this is leading to a big fight on spending, which will certainly culminate in a continuing resolution (CR) before the federal fiscal year ends September 30th. Continue reading “July Federal Update”

Sequester: DoD to Start Civilian Furloughs

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Today, the Department of Defense (DoD) will begin implementing civilian furloughs to 650,000 civilian employees at installations across the country. The furloughs amount to a 20 percent cut in pay over the next three months. This means most furloughed employees face one day without pay for each week through the end of September.

Initially, the Pentagon projected that civilian employees would need to take 22 furlough days to meet its sequester targets. However, Secretary of Defense Hagel announced in May that the number would be reduced to 11 days.

Many federal agencies have managed to avoid furloughs and layoffs, but the DoD decided it could not meet the mandated cuts without them. The furloughs are projected to save approximately $1.8 billion

While furloughed, workers are prohibited from performing any work-related assignments while away from their jobs.

The furloughs could bolster the arguments of workers and lawmakers who oppose sequestration, tipping the scales against the automatic cuts. Or they could roll out with a whimper, further solidifying the cuts as a long-term fiscal reality for the Pentagon.

In other defense news, the Senate is beginning to focus on how the department will proceed in the next fiscal year.

Continue reading “Sequester: DoD to Start Civilian Furloughs”

House Begins Work on National Defense Authorization Bill

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The House will begin its work on the HR 1960, the National Defense Authorization Bill (NDAA) today. Consideration of the measure is expected to go through tomorrow. The NDAA is the yearly authorization bill that determines military priorities for agencies responsible for our national defense. The legislation establishes funding levels, and sets the policies under which money will be spent.

The bill authorizes $638.4 billion for the Pentagon and defense-related programs for FY 2014, including $85.8 billion for the war in Afghanistan and other overseas contingency activities. The bill’s authorization for regular defense funding is roughly equal to the president’s request but about $50 billion more than the projected post-sequestration cap for defense pursuant to the 2011 Budget Control Act. It authorizes $8 billion for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and requires the development of a new missile-defense site on the East Coast that the Pentagon does not want. It also bars the use of funds for planning any future rounds of military base closings, authorizes funds for new construction at the Guantánamo Bay detention center that the president wants to close and establishes new procedures to combat sexual assault in the military.

On June 11th, the White House issued a veto threat of the measure as it was currently written. The House Armed Services Committee passed the legislation on June 5th.

The House Rules Committee has approved a structured rule on Wednesday, which limits the amount of amendments that can be considered during the Floor debate. There will be 172 amendments (70 Republican, 68 Democratic, and 38 bipartisan) considered for 10 minutes each. Nearly 300 amendments were submitted to the House Rules committee to be offered during the Floor debate. The rule makes in order a number of amendments which address controversial proposals, ranging from the Guantánamo Bay detention center to overall spending levels that dramatically exceed the caps set by sequestration.

The House will begin consideration at noon today. Rep. Adam Smith (WA) is the Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee and will manage the bill for the Democrats.

The Office of Federal Relations will continue to monitor the progress of the bill.

 

Immigration, Defense Authorization, and FY14 Appropriations — Oh My!

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Today in the Senate: The chamber meets this morning to continue debating a comprehensive overhaul of immigration laws (S 744).

Today in the House: The chamber is scheduled to begin general debate on a $638.4 billion defense authorization bill (HR 1960) for FY14 that includes funding and/or language for three of UW’s requests: (1) $15 million for awards to academic medical institutions for reconstructive transplants; (2) $15 million for Navy research vessels (to help with the RV Tommy Thompson); and (3) language promoting the National Marine Renewable Energy Centers for ocean renewable energy demonstration activities at or near DOD facilities (tidal energy).

FY14 Appropriations Update: Senate Republican appropriators appear ready to oppose any measures written by Democrats that exceed the discretionary spending cap set by the 2011 deficit reduction law. Next week, they will likely reject a plan from Appropriations Chairwoman Mikulski (D-MD) that would divide up $1.058 trillion among the committee’s dozen annual bills. The Senate plan is about $91 billion higher than the overall level set by House Republicans. Ironically, both plans would trigger a new round of across-the-board spending reductions under sequester because they violate the caps set by the 2011 law (PL 111-25). But the House GOP plan busts the caps in defense and other security measures while the Senate is expected to bust the caps in both defense and non-defense (domestic) bills. All of this is leading to a big fight on spending, which will certainly culminate in a continuing resolution (CR) before the federal fiscal year ends September 30th.