Weekly Legislative Update
 Week of June 27, 2016
  
Congressional Outlook

Week of June 27th
 
The Senate is in session this week. The House is in recess in observance of the July 4 holiday and will return on July 5. This week, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will have the Senate first consider $1.1 billion in Zika funding, which is included in the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs spending bill passed by the House last week in a party-line vote of 239-171. The legislation includes several provisions opposed by Democrats and the Administration. Republicans cannot pass the bill without Democratic support, and therefore, the proposal will need to be amended or scraped and sent back to the House for consideration.
 
The Senate will then consider the House-passed bill (H.R. 5278) addressing Puerto Rico's $70 billion debt crisis, which has some Democratic detractors in the Senate, so debate could be lengthy. Senators are under pressure to keep Puerto Rico from defaulting on a $2 billion payment that's due on July 1. With the House adjourned until July 5, the Senate will have to pass the bill without amendments in order to send it to President Obama before the payment is due.
 
The Senate will not continue debating its $56.3 billion FY 2017 Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations bill (S. 2837) this week, which contains $2.36 billion for state and local law enforcement and crime prevention grant programs, in order to prioritize passing a Puerto Rico fix and Zika funding. 
Week in Review

House Democrats Hold Sit-In to Demand Vote on Gun Control, Chamber Reconvenes to Pass Zika Funding, Delays Other Votes
 
On June 22, House Democrats began a 26-hour sit-in on the House floor demanding votes on gun control legislation. Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), best known as a leader of the Civil Rights Movement, and a couple dozen fellow Democrats stood up and announced they were taking control of the floor shortly after the House gaveled in for morning prayers and the Pledge of Allegiance. Hundreds of Democrats and some Senate Democrats joined them throughout the protest as Members live-streamed events in the chamber through the night after C-SPAN cameras went off when leadership declared the chamber out of session.
 
House Republicans reconvened the chamber later that night to vote on the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs spending bill, which included the House Zika conference report that provides $1.1 billion in funding, before adjourning for the July 4 recess. The bill passed on a party-line vote of 239-171. House and Senate Democrats have voiced strong concerns with the bill due to its offsets and inclusion of controversial provisions. Specifically, the bill restricts some funding for family planning services in Zika-affected areas. On June 23, the Administration announced the President would veto the bill in its current form.
 
The sit-in resulted in delayed votes for several bills, including the Financial Services-General Government appropriations bill, the Restoring Access to Medication Act of 2016, and the Separation of Powers Restoration Act of 2016. The House plans to continue votes on these and other measures when they return on July 5.
House Passes Small Business Health Care Relief Act
 
On June 21, the House passed, by voice vote, the "Small Business Health Care Relief Act"(H.R. 5447) , which would exempt health reimbursement plans offered by small employers, including local municipalities with fewer than 50 employees, from the group-health-plan requirements of the Affordable Care Act. According to the sponsor of the bill, Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA), H.R. 5447 would:
  • Ensure small businesses and local municipalities with fewer than 50 employees are allowed to continue using pre-tax dollars to give employees a defined contribution for healthcare expenses.
  • Allow employees to use HRA funds to purchase health coverage on the individual market, as well as for qualified out-of-pocket medical expenses if the employee has qualified health coverage.
  • Protect employers from being financially penalized for providing this cost-sharing option to employees.
Supporters of the legislation include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association for Towns and Townships, the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the National Federation of Business (NFIB), the Small Business Majority, the National Association for the Self Employed (NASE), the Coalition for Affordable Health Coverage (CAHC), the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), and the National Retail Federation (NRF). Read more...
House Fails to Override President Obama's Veto of Disapproval Resolution for DOL Fiduciary Duty Rule
 
On June 22, the House failed, by a vote of 239-180, to get the requisite two-thirds vote (290 votes) to override President Obama's June 8 veto of H.J.Res.88, a resolution that would nullify the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) rule on the fiduciary duties of investment advisers. President Obama's veto message stated that the DOL rule "is critical to protecting Americans' hard-earned savings and preserving their retirement security.The outdated regulations in place before this rulemaking did not ensure that financial advisers act in their clients' best interests when giving retirement investment advice. Instead, some firms have incentivized advisers to steer clients into products that have higher fees and lower returns -- costing America's families an estimated $17 billion a year.The Department of Labor's final rule will ensure that American workers and retirees receive retirement advice that is in their best interest, better enabling them to protect and grow their savings. The final rule reflects extensive feedback from industry, advocates, and Members of Congress, and has been streamlined to reduce the compliance burden and ensure continued access to advice, while maintaining an enforceable best interest standard that protects consumers."
Senate Continues Consideration of FY 2017 Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Bill
 
During the week of June 20-24, the Senate continued consideration of its $56.3 billion FY 2017 Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations bill (S. 2837), which contains $2.36 billion for state and local law enforcement and crime prevention grant programs. The White House has already threatened to veto the bill because of the "inclusion of problematic ideological provisions." On June 20, the Senate voted on cloture for 4 amendments to the Commerce-Justice-Science spending bill related to gun control, each which failed to receive the requisite 60 votes to move forward. The four amendments that failed to move forward included:  
  • Sen. Chuck Grassley's (R-IA) amendment, which failed by a vote of 53-47, would authorize annual appropriations of $125 million from 2016 through 2020 to improve the nationwide system for instant criminal background checks of would-be gun buyers and aim to provide for prompt notification to federal and local law enforcement whenever somebody who has been investigated as a known or suspected terrorist in the previous five years tries to buy a firearm;
  • Sen. Chris Murphy's (D-CT) amendment, which failed by a vote of 44-56, would set up procedures for improving the national instant background-check system, would penalize states for failure to meet annual benchmarks, and would tighten the definition of people deemed mentally incompetent to purchase a firearm;
  • Sen. John Cornyn's (R-TX) amendment, which failed by a vote of 53-47, would bar, for 72 hours, the sale of guns to someone who had been under investigation for terrorism in the previous five years; and
  • Sen. Dianne Feinstein's (D-CA) amendment, which failed by a vote of 47-53, would prevent people from buying a gun if they'd been on the terror watch list in the past five years.
Other amendments which received votes included one from Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) to clarify that the FBI has authority to obtain electronic communication transactional records as part of security investigations; the amendment failed to move forward on June 22 by a vote of 58-38. Another bipartisan amendment, introduced by Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), is seen by many as a compromise on the gun control issue and would bar people on the "no-fly" list, as well as another narrow list of possible terrorist suspects, from buying weapons. The amendment survived a motion to table it last week 46-52 but would need 60 votes to pass.
President Obama Signs Comprehensive Chemical Reform Legislation Into Law
 
On June 22, President Obama signed the "Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act" (H.R. 2576 ) into law, which reauthorizes the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act and expands the EPA's power to regulate chemicals and substances that are used to make consumer products. Enactment of the bill marks the first major environmental bill to pass Congress and be signed into law since 1990. The bill would: (1) require the EPA to evaluate new and existing chemicals against a new risk-based safety standard that includes explicit considerations for vulnerable populations, such as children, pregnant women and the elderly; (2) empower the EPA to require the development of chemical information necessary to support new regulations and requirements for their use; (3) establish clear and enforceable deadlines that help to ensure a review of prioritized chemicals and timely action on any risks; (4) increase the public transparency of chemical information by limiting unwarranted claims of industry confidentiality which would allow necessary sharing of confidential information with States and health environmental professionals; and (5) authorize the collection of additional fees from industry to fund the EPA to carry out its additional requirements and responsibilities. The House passed the bill on May 24 by a vote of 403-12 and the Senate passed it by voice vote on June 7. Read more...
President Obama Signs Pipeline Safety Bill Into Law
 
On June 22, President Obama signed the "Protecting our Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety (PIPES) Act of 2016" ( S. 2276 ) into law, which would reauthorize the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration's (PHMSA) pipeline safety programs through FY 2019 and create new standards for underground natural gas storage tanks. The House passed the bill on June 8 by voice vote, followed by the Senate passing it by Unanimous Consent on June 13. The bill draws from two bills passed earlier this year out of the House Transportation & Infrastructure and Energy & Commerce Committees: the "PIPES Act of 2016" ( H.R. 4937 ) and the "Pipeline Safety Act of 2016" ( H.R. 5050 ), respectively. The bill makes changes to PHMSA safety policies, including a push to add more transparency to the regulatory process. It also gives the U.S. Department of Transportation more power to issue emergency energy pipeline shutdown orders and requires a study of pipeline operators' management plans. Read more...
Congressional Schedule

Tuesday, June 28
  • Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security hearing entitled "How the Internet of Things (IoT) Can Bring U.S. Transportation and Infrastructure into the 21st Century."
  • Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining oversight hearing on the status of the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service's efforts to implement amendments to land use plans and specific management plans regarding sage grouse conservation, and those agencies' coordination activities with affected states.
  • Full Senate Finance Committee hearing on the proposed Medicare Part B drug demonstration.
  • Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging hearing entitled "Small Business Health Care: Costs and Options."
  • Full Senate Judiciary Committee hearing entitled "One Year After Enactment: Implementation of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act of 2015."
  • Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts hearing entitled "Willful Blindness: Consequences of Agency Efforts To Deemphasize Radical Islam in Combating Terrorism."
Wednesday, June 29
  • Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Superfund, Waste Management, and Regulatory Oversight hearing on "Oversight of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Enforcement and Compliance Programs."
  • Full Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship hearing entitled "America Without Entrepreneurs: The Consequences of Dwindling Startup Activity."
  • Full Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee roundtable entitled "Preparing for and Protecting the Nation from Zika."
  • Full Senate Judiciary Committee hearing entitled "Protecting Older Americans from Financial Exploitation."
  • Full Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee markup of 18 bills.
Thursday, June 30
  • Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management hearing entitled "Examining the Use of Agency Regulatory Guidance, Part II."
  • Full Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee hearing entitled "No More Hikes: Small Business Survival Amidst Unaffordable Flood Insurance Rate Increases."