Update from Washington, D.C. 05/11/2012
Members of Congress returned to Washington on Monday, May 7
following a one-week recess to face a packed legislative agenda.
In the Senate, lawmakers spent much of the week tied up in a
debate over how to proceed to legislation (S 2343) that would
prevent a student loan interest rate hike. Although Democrats and
Republicans agree that Congress should act by a July 1 deadline
to extend the current 3.4 percent interest rate for one year,
both parties remain gridlocked over how to pay for the extension.
Without an agreement on the spending offset, Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) was forced to table the bill late
Thursday evening.
In the House, lawmakers focused on several budgetary items this
past week, including a controversial bill (HR 5652) that would
replace the automatic spending cuts called for in last year’s
debt-limit law with a series of reductions in mandatory spending
programs. After a highly partisan debate, the House cleared the
bill on a 218 to 199 vote. It should be noted that the
legislation will not be considered by the Democratic-controlled
Senate – and is opposed by the Obama administration – and is
therefore unlikely to become law.
Under the GOP bill, which is a companion to the budget resolution
that the House adopted in March, discretionary spending in fiscal
year 2013 would be cut by $19 billion. Additionally, the
legislation would repeal nearly $100 billion in automatic
spending cuts, known as a budget “sequester,” and substitute them
with more than $310 billion in targeted mandatory spending
reductions over ten years.
Mandatory spending cuts include adjustments to Medicaid, such as
extending for another year the Affordable Care Act cuts to the
Disproportionate Share Hospital payment program, which supports
safety net hospitals. Additionally, the House bill would cut the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by phasing out
on June 30, 2012 the 13 percent boost in benefits enacted under
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the benefit boost is
currently slated to expire on October 31, 2013). The measure also
would eliminate the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG);
California, which uses the funds to support services to persons
with disabilities, as well as provide day care and foster care
services, would lose $204 million in SSBG funding.
In other budget-related developments, the House approved on
Thursday its fiscal year 2013 Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS)
spending package (HR 5326). Passage of the measure marks the
first appropriations bill that has been cleared by either chamber
in the 2012 session.
Debate on the CJS bill was marred by partisan bickering over a
series of controversial amendments, several of which were
adopted, that bar the use of federal funds for various agency
activities. The addition of the policy riders will likely make
for tense negotiations with the Senate later this year.
During House consideration of the legislation, lawmakers approved
on a 206-204 margin an amendment that would increase funding for
the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program by $126
million. Under the amendment, COPS hiring program funding would
be restored to fiscal year 2012 spending levels of $166
million.
At the committee-level, on Wednesday, May 9, the House Homeland
Security Appropriations Subcommittee approved its fiscal year
2013 spending measure. Although the bill would cut the Department
of Homeland Security (DHS) budget by $484 million, first
responder programs would receive a boost. Under the bill, $2.8
billion would be provided for the Federal Emergency Management
Agency’s (FEMA) first responder grants, or an increase of $400
million over the fiscal year 2012 level.
In other news, the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Subcommittee on Economic Policy held a hearing on May 9 to
discuss the reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance
Program (NFIP). The NFIP, which is currently operating under a
short-term extension, is set to expire at the end of the month
and is nearly $18 billion in debt since paying out massive claims
for damage caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
It should be noted that Senator David Vitter (R-LA) recently
indicated that he intends to offer the Senate’s five-year NFIP
overhaul bill (S 1940) – which was approved by the Banking
Committee late last year – as an amendment to any piece of
legislation that comes to the Senate floor. Senator Vitter also
recently introduced a bill (S 2344) that would extend the NFIP
though the end of 2013; the extension measure is seen as a fall
back in case Congress is unable to finalize a long-term flood
insurance reform effort this year.
The House approved its own five-year NFIP overhaul bill (HR 1309)
last July.
Transportation Reauthorization
The 47-member transportation reauthorization conference committee
convened its much-anticipated first meeting on May 8. Conferees
used the inaugural session to make opening statements and discuss
their expectations for advancing a successor to the nation’s
surface transportation law, known as SAFETEA-LU. For the most
part, members expressed optimism that the committee would be able
to work in a bipartisan fashion to produce a final bill that
could be voted on by both chambers of Congress in the near
future.
Chaired by Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman
Barbara Boxer (D-CA), the committee will be attempting to
finalize a new highway and transit package before the current
extension expires on June 30. Given the considerable number of
issues that will need be reconciled before the deadline, however,
reaching a timely agreement will be extremely challenging.
Moreover, there are several major controversial items that could
bog down the conference negotiations, including debate over the
Keystone XL oil pipeline. Language that would mandate approval of
the cross-country pipeline was included in the House
transportation measure, but is not included in the Senate’s
version. President Obama has issued a veto threat over the
Keystone provision.
This particular conference committee is somewhat unusual in that
conferees will need to reconcile the Senate’s two-year, $109
billion reauthorization measure (S 1813) with a House-passed
90-day extension (HR 4348). Theoretically, conferees may only
address issues that are included in one or both of the
aforementioned bills, but House GOP leaders have indicated that
they intend to use their stalled five-year reauthorization
package (HR 7) as the basis for the negotiations.
CSAC, in partnership with the Regional Council of Rural Counties
(RCRC), has weighed in on the debate by outlining in
correspondence the top priorities for the associations.
Additionally, CSAC is continuing to work with Chairman Boxer,
conferees, and members of the California congressional delegation
in an effort to ensure that the final transportation bill
advances counties’ priorities.
Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization
This week, 27 senators wrote to Senate transportation
reauthorization conferees to urge that an extension of the Secure
Rural Schools Program, as well as the Payments-in-Lieu-of-Taxes
(PILT) program, remains in the final surface transportation bill.
An amendment to the Senate’s highway bill that would extend the
programs for one year had been agreed to on the floor earlier
this year, making the SRS-PILT extension a “conferenceable” item.
Both Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Boxer voted in favor of
the amendment, which was approved on an overwhelming 82-16
vote.
In the letter to conferees, senators indicated that inclusion of
the SRS funding is critical to counties across the country, whose
budgets are facing drastic cuts and potential insolvency.
According to senators, the transportation legislation provides
the last opportunity to pass an extension before layoffs take
place and are made permanent for road crews, teachers, and other
county workers across rural America.
State Criminal Alien Assistance Program
As reported above, the House approved this week its fiscal year
2013 CJS appropriations bill. The legislation, which would
provide a total of $51.1 billion in fiscal year 2013 spending,
represents a reduction of $1.6 below current spending and $731
less than the Obama administration’s budget request. Among other
things, the bill would provide $165 million for the State
Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP), or a proposed cut of
$75 million from current spending.
Across Capitol Hill, the Senate Appropriations Committee-approved
CJS spending legislation includes $255 million for SCAAP, or a
$15 million boost in funding. The difference between the two
chambers spending bills will need to be reconciled in a
House-Senate conference committee later this year.
Army Corps of Engineers’ Levee Vegetation Policy
Both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees recently
approved their respective versions of the fiscal year 2013 Energy
and Water (E&W) Development Appropriations legislation (HR
5325/S 2465). The bills provide, among other things, funding for
federal water projects under the purview of the Army Corps of
Engineers (Corps) and the Bureau of Reclamation. The measures
also fund the Department of Energy.
The Committee Report that accompanies the Senate’s E&W
spending bill includes language submitted by Senator Feinstein
stating that the Corps’ initial research effort on levee
vegetation indicates that minimal data exists on the scientific
relationship between woody vegetation and levees. The Report also
urges the Corps to continue to conduct additional scientific
research on the topic and encourages the Corps to take seriously
its requirements under the Endangered Species Act and to clarify
how it will apply those considerations in the final vegetation
variance policy.
The Senate Committee Report language comes on the heels of CSAC
and other stakeholders providing official comments to the Corps
on the Agency’s updated levee vegetation variance process. The
Corps’ variance process – as well as the underlying levee
vegetation removal policy – remains highly controversial due to
concerns regarding various cost and compliance issues.
On a related matter, during the House Appropriations Committee’s
consideration of its E&W spending measure, the panel adopted
on a 29-20 vote an amendment that would bar the use of funds for
the Corps to finalize guidance that would modify the definition
of “navigable waters” under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The Corps
and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued joint
guidance last year that would significantly expand the scope of
the CWA to give the Agencies authority to regulate additional
waters. The guidance is currently under review at the White House
Office of Management and Budget.
Notably, the House fiscal year 2012 E&W spending bill
included a similar CWA rider. The provision, however, was
stripped from the final fiscal year 2012 omnibus budget package.