Skip to content
News and updates

Category: Week at a Glance

This Week in Congress

Posted on

Here are a few hearings that we’re looking forward to this week. The appropriations process is moving forward and a full list of appropriations hearings can be found on the Senate Appropriations Committee website and the House Appropriations Committee website.

TUESDAY, APRIL 1

Senate Budget
Economic Mobility and Inequality
Full Committee Hearing
10 AM, 608 Dirksen Building
 
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2

Senate Appropriations: Labor, HHS, Education
National Institutes of Health
Subcommittee Hearing
10 AM, 192 Dirksen Building

House Education and Workforce
Keeping College Within Reach: Meeting the Needs of Contemporary Students
Full Committee Hearing
10 AM, 2175 Rayburn Building

THURSDAY, APRIL 3

House Natural Resources
Fiscal 2015 Budget: Department of the Interior
Full Committee Hearing
10 AM, 1324 Longworth Building

This Week in Congress

Posted on

This week Congress has returned from a brief recess. Monday the Senate will consider the conference report on the five-year farm bill (HR 2642) at 2 PM. After a nearly four-year stalemate on this issue, The National Journal reports it “looks ready to sail through the Senate this week and be signed by President Obama.” C-SPAN2 will have live coverage, which can be viewed here.

Also Monday, the House will consider and debate HR 327, which would help veteran students obtain in-state tuition rates through the GI Bill. The floor debate will be broadcast live on C-SPAN 1.

Later in the week, both House and Senate Budget Committees will spend time going over the 2014 budget outlook.  Senate Budget Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-WA) will hold a full committee hearing on Tuesday titled, “The 2014 Outlook: Moving from Constant Crises to Broad-Based Growth.” Scheduled witnesses include folks from Moody’s Analytics, Gluskin Sheff and Associates, and the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. Wednesday, House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (D-Wis.) will hold a full committee hearing on the budget and economic outlook with the Congressional Budget Office.

MONDAY, February 3rd 

Senate Floor
HR  2642 Agriculture Act of 2014
Floor action
2 PM, Senate Chamber

House Floor
GI Tuition Fairness Act of 2013
Floor action
2 PM, House Chamber

TUESDAY, February 4th

Senate Budget Committee
Federal Budget Outlook
Full Committee Hearing
10:30 AM, 608 Dirksen Building

WEDNESDAY, February 5th
 
House Budget Committee
CBO Budget & Economic Outlook
Full Committee Hearing
10 AM, 210 Cannon Building

 

Farm Bill Conference Report Announced

Posted on

After two years of negotiating, Farm bill conferees announced a sweeping, bipartisan five-year farm bill late Monday. The measure costs an estimated $1.1 trillion and is filled with trade-offs and an estimated savings of nearly $23 billion.

The bulk of savings comes from cutting $19 billion from farm programs, including an end to direct payments to farmers — money that often went to farmers who don’t actually farm. An additional $6 billion is saved by merging 23 separate conservation programs into 13, which is a move supported by conservation groups nationwide. There are $8 billion in cuts tied to the food stamp program which will come largely from increasing the state heating assistance requirement.

The House Rules Committee met late Monday night to fast-track the bill to the House Floor. The bill will come up on Wednesday, before House Republicans depart for their annual policy retreat. The House will consider the conference report well in advance of the House’s Three Day Rule, which requires introduced legislation pend at least three calendar days before it is considered and voted upon by the House. The rule is designed to give Members of Congress and staff time to read and analyze bills.

The text of the bill runs 949 pages and s accompanied by a 186-page managers’ statement.

Already the American Meat Institute and the National Meat Association, who represent cattle, hog and poultry producers, have announced opposition to the conference report and will whip against the bill.

If the House adopts the report, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, said his chamber could take up the legislation sometime during the current three-week work period.

The Office of Federal Relations is tracking this issue and will continue to provide updates.

This Week in Congress

Posted on

Below is an overview of relevant House and Senate committee hearings and markups on the schedule this week.

WEDNESDAY, November 13th

House Education and the Workforce
Federal Student Aid
10am, 2175 Rayburn
Full Committee Hearing

Joint Economic
Fiscal 2014 Budget
10am, 1100 Longworth
Conference Committee Meeting

THURSDAY, November 14th

Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Federal Student Aid
10am, 430 Dirksen
Full Committee Hearing

House Education and the Workforce
ACA in Schools
10am, 2175 Rayburn
Full Committee Hearing

FRIDAY, November 15th

House Energy and Commerce
STEM Education and Manufacturing Workforce
9:30am, 2123 Rayburn
Subcommittee Hearing

Eight Days to End of Fiscal Year

Posted on

There are just eight days left in the current federal fiscal year yet there is no certainty as to how lawmakers will resolve their partisan differences before October 1st. The continuing resolution (CR) approved by the House last Friday will be the focus in the Senate where they will attempt to modify the bill before sending it back to the House for consideration. The House, meanwhile, will shift their immediate attention to a proposal to raise the debt ceiling until after the 2014 November elections.

Continuing Resolution: Senate Democrats will greatly modify the House passed CR to strip it of language defunding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and keep government funded at current levels. They will send that back to the House where Republican leadership may or may not find enough votes to approve the modified version of the bill. This could lead to a series of back and forth votes between the House and Senate in an effort to avoid a government shutdown if there is no deal by next Monday.

But even a clean, level-funded CR may face opposition from some House Democrats who continue to argue that austerity spending plans are harming the economy and threatening job growth since a level-funded CR would trigger automatic, across-the-board cuts (sequestration). However, those cuts would not begin until January so Congress could still pass separate legislation late in the year to undo them.

Debt Ceiling: Meanwhile, House Republican leaders are drafting a debt limit bill that will likely be unveiled next week and would remove the ceiling on federal borrowing authority beyond the 2014 elections. And, just like their CR, it would delay implementation of the ACA, as well as cut mandatory spending, provide instructions for a tax overhaul, and promote deregulation and energy development.

Although the White House would not necessarily object to a debt limit suspension mechanism, the House plan would be laden with provisions the White House and congressional Democrats oppose. Obama has said he wants a clean debt limit increase before it expires in mid-October and he has ruled out negotiating over an increase in borrowing authority.