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Category: Legislation

They’re Back for Guns, Defense, and Maybe Some Money

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Both the House and Senate are back this week to resume work after the 4 of July work period. The upper and lower chambers have less that two full weeks for business (the House has nine legislative days to the Senate’s seven) before both recess for seven weeks (which will contain two massive nominating conventions and the traditional August Recess) returning after Labor Day.

The House is back today, Tuesday, to consider an anti-terrorism package that includes a measure aimed at barring suspected terrorists from buying guns. Speaker Ryan announced that the House will consider the measure last week, much to the chagrin of his caucus as well as the derision of House Democrats. Regardless, the House Republican’s number one priority — restoring order to appropriations process — has failed miserably.

Only one measure, the FY 2017 Mil-Con bill, has a chance of being passed through both chambers. Yet, due to maneuvers to connect supplemental Zika funding, the normally uncontroversial measure is under extreme pressure and unlikely to pass precisely due to the attachment of the Zika funding which has garnered veto threats. The White House is insisting on $1.9 billion, and threatening to veto any measure which fails to provide that amount —  neither the House nor Senate has provided the Administration with its full request . However, none of the other 11 annual spending bills have passed both the House and Senate in various versions so as to get to a conference committee.

Given these challenges, lawmakers are starting to consider the mode and means for a Continuing Resolution (CR) to avoid a government shutdown this Fall. Of course a CR, a fairly common funding measure in September, is not without challenges. There is controversy between lawmakers as to when to end the CR — after the election, until the Spring for the next president, or for the whole FY 2017 year.

The Senate returns Wednesday to consider a host of different issues including legislation to end sanctuary cities and increase minimum sentences for those who reenter the country after being removed. From there the Senate is expected to consider a bill to establish federal standards for genetically modified food labeling. Finally, a cloture vote on the Fy 2017 Defense appropriations bill has been queued up. While this bill has already endured a host of potential problems, its finally passage will be made more complicated by the Pentagon’s announcement Thursday to allow transgendered service members to openly serve.

 

Senate Keeps Moving

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Only the Senate is in session this week, as the House recessed early for the Fourth of July work period last week. The Senate plans to keep working on the FY 2017 CJS bill this week and should also turn to their FY 2017 Military-Construction-Veterans (Mil-Con appropriations bills. Also on tap this week, possibly the Supplemental Appropriations for Zika funding.

The final version of the Mil-Con spending bill, which the Senate plans to take up this week, is traditionally the first and least controversial of the 12 annual measures needed to fund the government. No one wants to vote against military veterans, after all, and the package usually steers clear of the contentious ideological provisions that can doom other bills.

Unfortunately, this no normal year. the bill appears headed for the trash heap. Supporters appear to lack the 60 votes required under Senate rules to advance it, mostly because it’s attached to a bitterly contested funding package to combat the Zika virus. Even if it clears the Senate, the White House has promised a veto.

The House and Senate’s scheduled mid-July departure for the party political conventions and an extended summer recess leaves maybe a dozen days for legislative business.

Zika Deal Reached

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Early Thursday morning, the House approved a Zika funding package, the product of a House-Senate conference report that was crafted just hours before.

House Democrats’ unusual daylong protest over gun control finally ended early Thursday morning after Republican leaders moved to adjourn the House through the July 4 recess – without a gun vote.

As a result, House hearings and legislation that had been planned for this week are now delayed at least 11 days. Another consequence, and shocking bonus — a surprisingly speedy vote on a major Zika funding deal.

What’s in the $1.1 billion package: 

  • $476 million to CDC for mosquito control
  • $230 million to NIH for vaccines
  • $165 million to the State Department and USAID to respond to outbreaks overseas
  • $86 million for emergency response research through the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.

The package is offset by about $750 million from unspent Ebola and Obamacare funds, in addition to another $100 million from HHS’s administrative fund. It now heads to the Senate for a vote, where it’s expected to face resistance.

Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee said they won’t support the deal and called for negotiations to continue.

After the measure passed, the House recessed for the Fourth of July work period.

Labor-HHS-Ed Passes Senate Appropriations

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This week the Senate Committee on Appropriations took action on the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations measure.  Most notably, the measure provides a $2 billion bump for the National Institutes of Health and restores year-round Pell Grants. 

National Institutes of Health is funded at $34 billion in the proposal, a 6.3% increase above FY2016. This includes:

  • $300 million for the Precision Medicine Initiative, an increase of $100 million;
  • $1.39 billion for Alzheimer’s disease research, an increase of $400 million;
  • $250 million, an increase of $100 million, for the BRAIN Initiative to map the human brain;
  • $333.4 million, an increase of $12.5 million, for the Institutional Development Award;
  • $463 million, an increase of $50 million, to Combat Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria;
  • $297.3 million for Title VII Health Professions, a 13.3 percent increase above the FY 2016 level.

Notably, the measure would restore the year-round Pell Grant, benefitting an estimated one million students. The reinstated year-round Pell program is modeled after the program included in S. 1062, the “Year-Round Pell Grant Restoration Act,” which does not have a minimum credit requirement or acceleration clause for eligibility.The bill would also raise the maximum Pell Grant award from $5,815 to $5,935. In addition, the provision would provide level funding year-over-year for Federal Work Study at $990 million, TRIO at $900 million, and GEAR UP at $323 million. Title VI International Education is funded at $67 million, which is a $5 million cut to the Fulbright Hayes program and level funding for the domestic programs.

Congress Gets Back to Work for the Long Slog

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The House and Senate return to work this week in what will be the largest number of consecutive legislative days prior to the August Recess.  Both legislative bodies will push pause and briefly come together for a joint session to receive Indian Prime Minister Modi.

The Senate returns today to resume consideration on its FY 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, which was slightly detoured last week. The Senate Appropriations Committee to have full consideration of the FY 2017 Labor-H Appropriations bill this week — subcommittee will mark up Tuesday and full committee will consider Thursday. The Labor-H bill contains many of the issues that the higher education community is concerned about including student loans, Pell grants, Perkins, and NIH funding among others. The bill is currently in a close hold, but it is expected to expand the Pell grant program to become year round.

More information will be made available as soon as possible.

The House will return Wednesday to consider the FY 2017 Legislative Affairs appropriations bill as well as legislation to bailout Puerto Rico from its $70 billion in debt (for an island of under 3.5 million people). The island has defaulted three times, and its next big payout is due July 1. The Puerto Rico “bailout” has been very controversial on the House-side of the Hill. The territory has argued it simply needs leniency to restructure its current debt to reduce or delay payments.

Meanwhile, the FY 2017 Legislative Affairs bill could be the debut of the new House standard operating procedure of considering appropriations bills under a structured rule, rather than the traditional open rule. The traditional open rule having caused significant meltdown of the FY 2017 E&W bill before the break.