Federal Issues Update
House and Senate Approve Competing Budget Resolutions; Lower Chamber Clears “Doc Fix” Bill with Secure Rural Schools Extension
Both the House and Senate approved this week their respective fiscal year 2016 budget resolutions (H Con Res 27 and S Con Res 11). Although Congress, by law, is statutorily required to pass a final budget blueprint by April 15, that deadline is rarely met. This year will likely be no different, as lawmakers have adjourned for a two-week spring recess and will have little time to negotiate a final deal prior to the mid-April target date.
The budget resolution is a nonbinding document that sets overall tax and spending parameters for the upcoming fiscal year and also provides budget projections for the coming decade. Additionally, the resolution can carry budget reconciliation instructions, which direct certain committees of jurisdiction to find savings in entitlement and mandatory spending programs. It should be noted that if Congress includes such instructions in the final budget resolution, the resulting legislation is insulated from filibuster in the Senate.
Incidentally, both the House and Senate have included reconciliation directives in their versions of the budget resolution. As in previous years, the House budget proposes to convert Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) into state block grants and calls for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Those three proposals combined would save over $3 trillion in the next ten years.
The Senate budget resolution includes a similar proposal to block grant Medicaid, but would protect low-income, elderly individuals and persons with disabilities. The upper chamber’s budget also includes reconciliation instructions calling for the repeal of the ACA. If Congress approves subsequent legislation that would dismantle the ACA, President Obama would undoubtedly veto the bill.
On the discretionary spending side, both chambers’ fiscal year 2016 budget resolutions propose billions of dollars of savings over the next ten years. The House assumes roughly $460 billion in unspecified cuts, while the Senate measure includes about $620 billion in savings over the ensuing decade. It remains to be seen whether and how those cuts would be achieved.
Looking ahead, both houses will work to craft a concurrent budget resolution in an effort to produce a final spending blueprint for fiscal year 2016.
Secure Rural Schools
In a victory for California’s forest counties, the House overwhelmingly approved on March 26 a two-year extension of the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program. The long-awaited SRS extension was included in legislation (HR 2) that provides for a continuation of several key health and human services programs, including the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The bill also includes a provision that would permanently correct the Medicare program’s physician payment formula (known as the “doc fix”).
Specifically, the SRS section of the bill would provide payments to counties for fiscal year 2014 (retroactive) and fiscal year 2015. The legislation also would require the U.S. Forest Service to provide the fiscal year 2014 payment in a timely manner – within 45 days of enactment.
Although the Senate left town for its two-week recess without taking action on HR 2, the upper chamber is expected to clear the legislation when lawmakers return the week of April 13.
CSAC Representatives Participate in CarcieriRoundtable on Capitol Hill
On Wednesday, March 25th, the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs held a roundtable discussion entitled “The Carcieri v. Salazar Supreme Court Decision and Exploring a Way Forward.” The intent of the roundtable was to bring key stakeholders together for a conversation regarding the implications of the Carcieri decision, as well as the process used by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to take land into trust.
In Carcieri, the Supreme Court ruled that the secretary of the Interior’s trust land acquisition authority is limited to those tribes that were under federal jurisdiction at the time of the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of 1934. Since the Court’s decision in 2009, many Indian tribes have called upon Congress to pass legislation overturning the Court’s action. For its part, CSAC has been the lead voice in insisting that any Carcieri ”fix” legislation include long-overdue reforms in the BIA’s trust acquisition process.
It should be noted that CSAC was one of only four organizations invited to participate in the forum, with Sonoma County Supervisor David Rabbitt and Napa County Supervisor Diane Dillon representing the association. As part of the dialogue, the supervisors provided detail on and examples of the various long-standing deficiencies in the BIA’s trust-land process. To remedy the lack of standards in current law, Supervisor Dillon and Rabbitt called upon Congress to approve CSAC’s comprehensive fee-to-trust reform proposal.
Among other things, CSAC’s proposal would ensure that counties receive timely notice of fee-to-trust applications and have adequate opportunity to provide input and comment on proposed tribal trust acquisitions. Moreover, the association’s legislative reform package includes a proposal that would incentivize local mitigation agreements between tribes and counties. Under the reform proposal, a tribe that enters into a local mitigation agreement with the affected county would be able to have land taken into trust under a streamlined process.
In addition to CSAC, the National Association of Counties, the National Congress of American Indians, and the United South and Eastern Tribes participated in the Senate roundtable.
Payment-in-Lieu-of-Taxes
On March 24, 100 members of Congress, including 15 from the California delegation, sent a bipartisan letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) regarding the Payment-in-Lieu-of-Taxes (PILT) program. The letter – led by Representatives Chris Stewart (R-UT), Jared Polis (D-CO), Sean Duffy (R-WI), and Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ) – urges House leaders to fully fund PILT in fiscal year 2016 and beyond. It should be noted that California counties received a combined total of over $45 million in PILT funding last year. The PILT letter can be viewed here.
State Criminal Alien Assistance Program
This week, 42 members of Congress, including 25 members of the California congressional delegation, sent a letter to the leaders of the House Appropriations Committee requesting adequate resources for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP). The correspondence was led by Representatives Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and Linda Sánchez (D-CA).
Specifically, the letter requests the Appropriations Committee to provide SCAAP resources in fiscal year 2016 at a level appropriate to effectively execute the program’s purpose. SCAAP, which provides partial reimbursement to States and counties for the costs of incarcerating undocumented criminals, is currently funded at $185 million. It should be noted that California’s counties, alone, are estimated to spend in excess of $300 million annually to incarcerate undocumented criminals.
CSAC, which remains a leader in pushing for SCAAP funding, worked with Representatives Gosar and Sánchez to secure support for the SCAAP funding letter. The SCAAP letter can be viewed here.