House Defense Spending Measure Falters as Senate Prepares to Advance Multi-Bill Funding Package with Broad Support
September 14, 2023
For the first time since July, the House and Senate were both in session this week. On September 12, the House considered legislation (H.R. 1450) that would fully extend eligibility for the Good Neighbor Authority program to counties and Tribes. This authority allows the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to enter into partnerships with states, counties, and tribal governments to conduct certain collaborative land management projects on federal lands. While the 2018 Farm Bill extended eligibility to counties and tribes, they were not afforded the same authority as states to retain federal timber sales on these lands. H.R. 1450 addresses this inequity and also expands opportunities for cross-boundary treatments on public lands. These reforms are good candidates for inclusion in a new Farm Bill.
In addition to H.R. 1450, the chamber advanced a separate measure – the Emergency Wildfire Fighting Technology Act (H.R. 3389) – that would dramatically increase the number of available assets for wildfire emergencies by updating deployment protocols for Containerized Aerial Fire Firefighting System (CAFFS) to mitigate and suppress wildfires. The bill, which was sponsored by Congressman David Valadao (R-CA), was unanimously agreed to by a voice vote.
Later in the week, the House was forced to abandon consideration of its fiscal year 2024 spending bill for the Department of Defense. The measure, which includes a number of controversial policy provisions that are non-starters with Democrats, lacks the necessary votes within the Republican caucus to move forward. Meanwhile, across Capitol Hill, the Senate is nearing final passage of a three-bill appropriations package that combines the text of the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs, Transportation-Housing and Urban Development, and the Agriculture-Rural Development bills. In stark contrast to their House counterparts, the Senate spending bills have had broad bipartisan support. By moving forward with this package of bills, the chamber is hoping to strengthen its hand in negotiations with the House.
Despite the progress in the Senate this week, Congress is not likely to give final approval to any of the 12 annual appropriations bills before government funding runs dry on September 30. As a result, House and Senate leaders have openly discussed the need for a short-term continuing resolution (CR). However, a bloc of House conservatives have indicated their opposition to a CR, so House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) may need to court a large contingent of House Democrats to pass a stopgap spending measure. Moving forward with this plan could further strain the Speaker’s relationship with the Freedom Caucus.
Sen. Padilla Introduces Legislation to Establish Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience
Earlier this week, Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA) and John Boozman (R-AR) introduced legislation (S. 2779) that would establish a permanent Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience within the Economic Development Administration (EDA). Among other things, the new office would be tasked with supporting the short- and long-term economic recovery efforts of communities impacted by natural disasters. S. 2779 would also help expedite the deployment of resources and improve service delivery to communities. It should be noted that EDA was last reauthorized in 2004 and expired in 2008, but the agency has been funded by Congress through the annual appropriations process since then. Full text of the bill is available here.
Draft Legislation Would Permanently Authorize PILT
In the coming weeks, Representative Brittany Pettersen (D-CO) is expected to introduce legislation that would permanently authorize the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program. CSAC has long urged Congress to approve a long-term reauthorization of mandatory entitlement funding for the program. The measure proposed by Representative Pettersen, which is currently in draft form, would eliminate the annual uncertainty of the federal budget process and would provide counties with long-term funding certainty. Earlier this year, 57 California counties received over $61 million in fiscal year 2023 PILT funding.
Justice Department Announces SCAAP Awards
The U.S. Department of Justice recently announced fiscal year 2022 awards for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP). The SCAAP program reimburses local governments and states for already-incurred costs associated with incarcerating undocumented criminals during a particular 12-month reporting period. In all, 30 counties in California, along with the California Department of Corrections, will receive SCAAP funds this year. The SCAAP awards for individual counties can be found here.
Senate Panel Discusses Challenges in the Property Insurance Market
Last week, the Senate Banking Committee held a hearing to explore why property insurers have pulled out of regions experiencing extreme weather. For their part, Democrats on the panel placed the blame on climate change and price gouging on the part of insurers. Republicans, on the other hand, took aim at state insurance regulations. With regard to California, Ranking Member Tim Scott (R-SC) attributed the withdrawal to the Proposition 103 intervenor process, which requires insurers to seek prior approval from the state before setting rates.
The two parties were also very much split on how to address the issue going forward. For their part, Democrats on the panel called for additional transparency and data on the part of insurers, particularly in how they set rates and assess climate risk. They also expressed support for additional state and federal climate mitigation efforts. GOP lawmakers, on the other hand, believe the data call to be an unnecessary federal intervention and instead called on states to remove regulatory constraints that have caused insurers to leave certain markets. Additional information on the hearing, including an archived webcast of the event, can be accessed here.