House Adopts Rules Package for the 118th Congress
January 12, 2023
With votes for Speaker of the House finally in the rearview mirror, the House Republican leadership team this week formally commenced the congressional organizing process. First up for the chamber was consideration of a rules package that lays out the GOP priorities for the next two years, as well as the procedures Republicans will use to run the chamber.
Among the most significant changes, the rules package – which was adopted on a near party-line vote – will allow a single member of the majority party to move to oust the speaker, compared to the prior threshold requiring at least half of the House GOP conference. It also would eliminate the current “PAYGO” requirements, which directs Congress to offset the cost of any legislation through increased revenue and/or spending decreases. Instead, PAYGO will be replaced with a “CUTGO” approach that requires offsets through spending cuts alone. In addition, the new rules require the chamber to take separate votes on each of the 12 appropriations bills, rather than one large omnibus spending measure.
Following the vote on the rules package, the House narrowly approved legislation (H.R. 23) that would rescind more than $70 billion (of the $80 billion in new funding) provided to the IRS under the Inflation Reduction Act. The chamber also voted along party lines to establish two new select panels, including a House Judiciary subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government and a new Select Committee on the Strategic Competition between the U.S. and China.
Aside from legislative work on the floor, the House Republican Conference this week began to finalize committee rosters, including selecting chairs for several contested panels. Congressman Mark Green (R-TN) – a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus – was selected to chair the House Committee on Homeland Security. Congressman Jason Smith (R-MO) won a three-way race to lead the powerful Ways and Means Committee. Representative Jodey Arrington (R-TX) also defeated two challengers to claim the gavel of the Budget Committee. Finally, Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) was selected to head the Committee on Education and the Workforce. The remaining committee chairs were uncontested.
FEMA Approves Federal Emergency Declaration for California
As strong winds and heavy rains continue to threaten communities across California, President Biden on January 9 approved Governor Newsom’s request for a federal emergency declaration. Pursuant to the declaration, FEMA is authorized to coordinate all disaster relief efforts and provide appropriate assistance and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the winter storms. Emergency protective measures, including direct federal assistance under the Public Assistance program, will be provided at a federal cost share of 75 percent.
The initial action identified 17 California counties (El Dorado, Los Angeles, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Monterey, Napa, Placer, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, Stanislaus and Ventura counties). On January 11, the order was expanded to include an additional 14 counties in the state (Colusa, Glenn, Humboldt, Marin, Orange, San Diego, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Solano, Sutter, Tehama, Yolo, and Yuba counties).
FEMA Releases Public Assistance Simplified Procedures Policy
Earlier this week, FEMA released a new Public Assistance Simplified Procedures policy that aims to reduce the administrative burden for local governments under the agency’s Public Assistance (PA) program. The new policy, which will apply to all PA Small Projects, is intended to expedite recovery efforts after presidentially declared events. Specifically, it will help streamline requirements for providing documentation for eligible facilities, work, and costs. For example, rather than requiring full or detailed documentation, FEMA will accept estimates with summary information and the applicant’s certifications for damage and work. However, the applicant must demonstrate that damage was caused directly by the declared incident.
It should be noted that FEMA implemented a regulatory change in 2022 to increase the Small Project maximum for the PA program to $1 million, up from $120,000. Under the new threshold, the agency estimates that 94 percent of eligible projects would be considered Small Projects. Together, these new and updated policies are designed to simplify disaster recovery for applicants with smaller dollar projects and speed up the closure of projects.
FEMA has indicated that it will offer several webinars on the simplified procedures policy in the coming weeks.