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Weekly Legislative Update
Week of November 6, 2017
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The House and Senate are in session this week. The House will vote on
16 bills under suspension of the rules, many of which are related to care for veterans. For the remainder of the week, the House will vote on the Save Local Business Act (H.R. 3441), which would make fewer companies liable for labor law violations by a franchise or contractor; the Hydropower Policy Modernization Act of 2017 (H.R. 3043), which aims to speed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) regulatory approval process for hydropower projects;
and the 21st Century Flood Reform Act (H.R. 2874), which reauthorizes the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) through FY 2022, institutes several programmatic reforms and changes to strength the solvency of the NFIP, provide new benefits to policyholders, and provide new options for lower-cost flood insurance coverage; the bill combines the amended text of H.R. 2874 with the versions of six other House Financial Services Committee-reported NFIP bills (H.R. 1422, H.R. 1558, H.R. 2246, H.R. 2565, H.R. 2868, and H.R. 2875).
The Senate will vote on several nominations this week, including: Steven Engel to be Assistant Attorney General; John Gibson to be Deputy Chief Management Officer of the Department of Defense; Peter Robb to be General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board for a term of four years; William Wehrum to be an EPA Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation; and Derek Kan to be Under Secretary of Transportation for Policy.
The House Ways and Means Committee began marking up the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1) on Monday, and the multi-day markup will likely conclude late Wednesday or early Thursday; the full House will then vote on the bill during the week of Nov. 13. The more than 400-page bill would lower the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent and collapse seven individual income-rate brackets into four, and many current tax deductions are either altered or eliminated by the legislation. The Senate Finance Committee is expected to release its own tax bill at the end of the week following the conclusion of the Ways and Means Committee markup. House and Senate Republicans' goal is to have a bill to President Trump's desk by the end of 2017.
President Trump continues his 13-day trip throughout Asia this week, traveling to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines in an "
effort to strengthen U.S. alliances and partnerships and discuss a wide array of strategic issues with foreign leaders, including the North Korean nuclear threat."
On Tuesday, voters in New Jersey and Virginia will elect a new Governor and Lieutenant Governor, and voters in Utah's 3rd Congressional District will vote in a special election between Republican Provo Mayor John Curtis and Democrat Kathie Allen to succeed former Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) in the House, who resigned on June 30.
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House Republicans Release Tax Reform Bill
On November 2, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) released the House Republicans' long-awaited $1.51 trillion tax-reform bill, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (
H.R. 1) which would
cut taxes over the next decade and rewrite the tax code for the first time in more than 30 years. The bill would lower the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 20 percent and collapse seven individual income-rate brackets into four. Many tax deductions are impacted by the legislation, including capping the Home Interest Mortgage Interest Deduction at $500,000 instead of $1 million and eliminating the following deductions and tax credits: State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction; Private Activity Bonds deduction; New Markets Tax Credit; Work Opportunity Tax Credit; Rehabilitation Credit for Historic Buildings Tax Credit; advance refunding bonds; and tax credit bonds.
The House Ways and Means Committee will be marking up the bill Nov. 6-9 and the full House will consider the bill during the week of Nov. 13. No amendments will be considered to the bill when the full House is considering the bill next week. The Senate Finance Committee is expected to release its own tax bill on Nov. 9, following the conclusion of the Ways and Means Committee markup. Once each chamber passes their bill, the House and Senate will form a conference committee where they will produce a single bill for passage by both chambers. House and Senate Republicans' goal is to have a bill to President Trump's desk by the end of 2017.
The full text and summary of the bill are available here. Read more...
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House Passes Resilient Federal Forests Act
On November 1, the House passed, by a vote of
232-188, the Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2017 (
H.R. 2936), which seeks to address wildfires by changing the way fire suppression and forest management on federal lands is paid for. The bill modifies federal forest management practices to increase timber production on forest lands as a means of reducing wildfire risk and seeks to end the U.S. Forest Service and Interior Department's "fire borrowing" of fire prevention funding for fire suppression efforts by providing funding to fight certain catastrophic wildfires from FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund once their fire suppression budgets have been exhausted.
The bill also establishes five new categories of categorical exclusions (CE) under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that could result in timber harvesting with limited environmental review or public comment. The House also considered six amendments to the bill, adopting four and rejecting two.
The White House issued a Statement of Administration Policy for H.R. 2936, stating that "
The Administration appreciates the intent of H.R. 2936, and is supportive of land management reforms like those outlined in the legislation. The Administration, however, has concerns about the legislation's revisions to the Stafford Act, which would force competition for funding between wildfires on Federal land and other disasters already covered by the Stafford Act, including hurricanes."
Read more...
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House Passes Bill Repealing ACA's Independent Payment Advisory Board
On November 2, the House passed, by a vote of
307-111, the Protecting Seniors Access to Medicare Act (
H.R. 849), which
would repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), which was established under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in response to high rates of growth in Medicare expenditures and is charged with developing proposals to "reduce the per capita rate of growth in Medicare spending." However, due in part to the success of the ACA in slowing Medicare's growth rate, IPAB will not be triggered until 2021. H.R. 849 includes no offsets and would add $17.5 billion to the deficit. 76 House Democrats joined all 231 House Republicans in voting for the bill. The White House issued a
Statement of Administration Policy
for H.R. 849, stating that "If H.R. 849 were presented to the President in its current form, his advisors would recommend that he sign the bill into law."
Read more...
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Trump Signs Nine Bills Into Law
Last week, President Trump signed the following nine bills into law:
- H. J. Res. 111, which nullifies the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's July 19, 2017 rule prohibiting the use of a pre-dispute arbitration agreement to prevent a consumer from filing or participating in certain class action suits;
- H.R. 1329, the "Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2017," which provides for a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for the beneficiaries of veterans' disability compensation and dependency and indemnity compensation equal to the Social Security COLA;
- H.R. 1616, the "Strengthening State and Local Cyber Crime Fighting Act of 2017," which authorizes a National Computer Forensics Institute within the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Secret Service; and the DOJ's Bureau of Justice Assistance to award grants to State and local governments to combat white collar crime;
- H.R. 2989, the "Frederick Douglass Bicentennial Commission Act," which establishes the Frederick Douglass Bicentennial Commission to plan, develop, and carry out programs and activities to honor Douglass on the bicentennial anniversary of his birth;
- S. 190, the "Power And Security Systems (PASS) Act," which exempts external power supplies used by home safety devices from certain energy efficiency standards;
- S. 504, the "Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Travel Cards Act of 2017," which permanently authorizes the Department of Homeland Security's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Travel Card program;
- S. 920, the "National Clinical Care Commission Act," which establishes a National Clinical Care Commission within the Department of Health and Human Services to evaluate and make recommendations on the use of Federal resources in combating complex metabolic or autoimmune insulin-related diseases;
- S. 1617, which designates the checkpoint of the United States Border Patrol located on United States Highway 77 North in Sarita, Texas, as the Javier Vega, Jr. Border Patrol Checkpoint; and
- S. 782, the "Providing Resources, Officers, and Technology to Eradicate Cyber Threats to (PROTECT) Our Children Act of 2017" which reauthorizes, through fiscal year 2022, the National Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program.
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Senate Confirms Five Federal Judges and Additional Trump Administration Nominees
Last week, the Senate confirmed five nominees to serve as federal judges for lifetime appointments:
- Trevor McFadden to be U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia, by a vote of 84-10;
- Amy Barrett to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Seventh Circuit (Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin), by a vote of 55-43;
- Joan Larsen to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit (Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee), by a vote of 60-38;
- Allison Eid to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Tenth Circuit (Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, Wyoming), by a vote of 56-41; and
- Stephanos Bibas to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit (Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania), by a vote of 53-43.
- Kevin McIntyre to be a Member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the term expiring June 30, 2023 (reappointment), and upon confirmation, designated Chairman;
- Richard Glick to be a Member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the term expiring June 30, 2022;
- Steven Winberg to be an Assistant Secretary of Energy, Fossil Energy;
- Paul Dabbar to be Under Secretary for Science, Department of Energy;
- Mark Menezes to be Under Secretary of the Department of Energy;
- Kyle Fortson to be a Member of the National Mediation Board for a term expiring July 1, 2019;
- Gerald Fauth to be a Member of the National Mediation Board for a term expiring July 1, 2020;
- Linda Puchala to be a Member of the National Mediation Board for a term expiring July 1, 2018 (reappointment);
- Thomas Carter to be Representative of the United States of America on the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization;
- Michael Evanoff to be an Assistant Secretary of State, Diplomatic Security; and
- Manisha Singh to be an Assistant Secretary of State, Economic and Business Affairs.
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President's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Commission Issues Final Report
On November 1, the
White House Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis released its
draft final report providing over 50 recommendations on how to combat the opioid crisis. The Commission was established by President Trump earlier this year to study the scope and effectiveness of the federal response to drug addiction and the opioid crisis and to make recommendations to the President for improving that response. The draft final report is a result of these efforts. The report strongly encourages Congress to provide funding to support many of the recommendations, but does not go so far as to provide specific funding level requests. More specific funding level requests may come in the President's FY 2019 budget request if Congress does not act on the recommendations before early 2018. On November 2, Senior House Appropriator Hal Rogers (R-KY) admitted that Congress may need to spend beyond the $8 billion it is targeting annually to combat the opioid crisis, as authorized by the 21st Century Cures Act. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have expressed similar sentiments.
Read more...
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EPA, Corps Seek Delay to WOTUS Start Date
The EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) have sent a proposed rule to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) delaying the effective date of the "Waters of the United States" (WOTUS) regulation to give the Trump Administration more time to craft a new version of rule. "In order to provide regulatory certainty, EPA and the Department of the Army have sent a proposed rule to the Office of Management and Budget for interagency review that would amend the effective date associated with the 2015 Clean Water Rule to give the agencies time to consider the two-step process proposing to rescind and revise the 2015 rule," an agency spokeswoman said. The proposed rule is separate from any rule intended to replace the WOTUS rule, which is currently stayed nationwide by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. In June, EPA proposed a rule to repeal of the rule, which aimed to clarify which waters fall under federal jurisdiction. The comment period closed in September with 190,000 comments filed.
Read more...
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Trump Announces Nominees to Key Administration Positions
Last week, President Trump formally sent 28 nominations to the Senate for consideration, including:
- Jerome 'Jay' Powell to be Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for a term of four years, beginning on February 3, 2018;
- Steven Gardner to be Director of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement;
- Kenneth Marcus to be Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Department of Education;
- Michael Griffin to be a Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics;
- Randall Schriver to be an Assistant Secretary of Defense, Asian and Pacific Affairs;
- Scott Mugno to be an Assistant Secretary of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health;
- Christopher Ford to be an Assistant Secretary of State, International Security and Non-Proliferation; and
- Jeffrey Kessler to be an Assistant Secretary of Commerce, Enforcement and Compliance.
Trump also announced his intent to nominate two key positions in his Administration, including:
- Michael Atkinson to be Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, Office of the Director of National Intelligence; and
- Linda Capuano to be an Administrator of the Energy Information Administration, Department of Energy.
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