Later next week, the House is expected to vote on the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan package that House lawmakers have been assembling over the past few weeks. A final vote is likely taking place on Friday, February 26. The House Budget Committee scheduled a markup at 1pm ET on Monday, February 22 to formally prepare the legislation for floor consideration. The House Rules Committee will then advance the legislation on Tuesday or Wednesday, including approving a rule governing how the chamber will consider the package.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) adjusted the House schedule for next week to accommodate the time it will take to prepare the package for the floor, switching from a Monday-through-Thursday work week to a Tuesday-through-Friday session that could extend into the weekend.
Majority Leader Hoyer said the House will be ready to take further action on the American Rescue Plan during the week of March 8 in the event the Senate amends the bill and sends it back to the House. The House is also working to ensure the House bill, as it is currently drafted, survives the strict reconciliation rules of the Senate.
The Senate Budget Committee does not plan to hold a markup of the package but will instead send it straight to the Senate floor, according to a Senate Democratic aide, following House passage of the package. House and Senate Democrats are aiming to send the bill to President Biden’s desk to be signed into law by March 14, when $300 weekly federal unemployment benefits are scheduled to lapse.
As a reminder, last week, the House Oversight and Reform Committee approved a component of the American Rescue Plan package that provides $350 billion in direct, flexible COVID-19 aid to states, localities, Tribes, and territories. Approximate funding estimates to each jurisdiction have been calculated by the Committee and can be found here.
Capitol Hill. On February 12, twelve Senate Republican committee ranking members urged Senate leadership in a letter to allow the chamber to amend the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan. Bypassing a chance for committees to amend the legislation “would make Senate Democrats’ first legislative act of the 117th Congress the outsourcing of their own committee gavels to the House,” they wrote. They also cited over $4 trillion worth of previous bipartisan COVID relief as a reason not to bypass Senate committees or to allow for passage along a party-line, simple majority vote.
On February 16, House Budget Committee Ranking Member Jason Smith (R-MO) introduced a resolution (H. Res. 127) requiring that President Biden provide to the House – no later than 14 days after adoption of the resolution – documents relating to any enacted but currently unspent COVID-19 stimulus funding.
On February 16, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released budget projections that the nation's debt burden will be twice as large as its annual economic output in 30 years. By 2051, the debt held by the public would amount to 202 percent of GDP, nearly double its current level.
On February 17, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a hearing on “Connecting America: Broadband Solutions to Pandemic Problems”. The hearing included discussion of the $7.6 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund which is included as part of the $1.9 trillion COVID relief package moving through the House, in addition to several broadband-related programs included in the recently enacted FY2021 Appropriations/COVID relief law (PL 116-260): the Connecting Minority Communities program; COVID-19 Telehealth Program; Emergency Broadband Benefit Program; and two new National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) grant programs covering broadband connectivity.
On February 17, the House Armed Services Committee held a hearing entitled “Update on the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Evolving Roles and Mission in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Three DoD officials said DoD has awarded $2.49 billion under the Defense Production Act to companies to respond to the pandemic, including $885 million in DoD funding and $1.6 billion on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Services, with funds going toward personal protective equipment, testing, and shoring up the defense industrial base.
Administration. CDC reports life expectancy in the US has declined by one year during the pandemic. Life expectancy at birth for males was 75.1 years in the first half of 2020, representing a decline of 1.2 years from 76.3 years in 2019. For females, life expectancy declined to 80.5 years, decreasing 0.9 year from 81.4 years in 2019.
President Biden announced a series of new actions to expand COVID-19 testing, improve the availability of tests, and better prepare for the threat of variants.
HUD, USDA, and VA announced extensions and expansions of COVD-19 homeowner relief and home retention measures, including eviction and foreclosure moratoriums.
SBA announced it has provided over $200 billion in assistance under the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program.
FAA announced $2 billion in additional COVID relief for airports. A spreadsheet with allocations for individual airports is here.
The Department of Education released the COVID-19 Handbook, providing strategies for elementary and secondary schools to open and remain open.
The White House announced a $650 million investment to expand testing opportunities for K-8 schools and underserved congregate settings, such as homeless shelters.
The IRS announced it has issued all first and second round Economic Impact Payments. The agency added it will now turn its full attention to the 2021 tax filing season.
DOL announced $49 million in grants to support 28 states and territories as they continue their efforts to combat fraud in the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation programs.
ICE agents seized more than 11 million fake N95 masks.
The FCC heard staff presentations on the newly established emergency broadband program for struggling households, the next phase of the COVID-19 Telehealth Program, and the Commission’s efforts to collect more precise and granular broadband availability data.
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The National Governors Association sent a letter to the White House calling on the Biden Administration to better coordinate the distribution of the coronavirus vaccine. The governors called for clarity in the vaccine rollout process and for federal coordination between state and federal governments on the use of pharmacies and federally-qualified health centers to administer vaccine doses.
Google will be partnering with the European Investment Fund and two other organizations to invest $75 million in funding to small businesses negatively impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The effort comes as part of an $800 million international initiative that was launched in March of last year in response to the pandemic.
Vaccine News
Studies have shown that the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines could have reduced protection against the more contagious variant first discovered in South Africa. The New England Journal of Medicine reported that the two vaccines currently available in the U.S. had decreased antibody protection when against mutations found in the South African strain.
The United Kingdom is preparing to conduct the world’s first human coronavirus study in which volunteers will be intentionally exposed to the coronavirus. The government-funded trial will first expose volunteers to a small dose of the coronavirus in a controlled setting. The second phase of the trial will involve injecting another group of volunteers with a vaccine and then exposing them to the virus.
The VA announced it has vaccinated its one millionth Veteran against coronavirus.
FEMA is working with the Ad Council to encourage hesitant or underrepresented people to get vaccinated.
The World Health Organization has listed AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use.
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Webinars, Events and Resources |
COVID-19 Risk Mitigation for Federal, State, & Local Facilities
GovEvents
February 24, 1:30 PM ET
NACo & CVS Sponsored COVID-19 Testing Solution: Return Ready
NACo
February 24, 11:00 AM ET
COVID-19 Cost Recovery: Ways to Maximize Federal Funding
NACo
February 25, 1:00 PM ET
CRS Reports of interest:
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