Update From Washington, D.C.
Congress Approves $3.5 Trillion Budget Resolution; Pelosi Pledges to Consider Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill; FEMA to Extend 100 Percent Reimbursement for COVID-19 Emergency Response
August 27, 2021
On August 24, the House voted along party lines to adopt a budget resolution (S Con Res 14) that would allow President Joe Biden’s economic agenda to move forward. Specifically, the resolution includes budget reconciliation instructions for a $3.5 trillion economic package embodying a significant portion of the president’s American Families Plan. If Senate Democrats stay united, the reconciliation process will allow them to bypass the 60-vote threshold in the chamber and approve the multi-trillion spending bill without Republican support.
Leading up to this week’s vote on S Con Res 14, a group of moderate Democrats threatened to withhold their support for the measure unless the House first considered the Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure bill (HR 3684). However, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) continued to maintain that the House would not vote on the infrastructure package until the yet-to-be-written reconciliation legislation is approved. Pelosi, supported by Caucus progressives, are essentially using the reconciliation measure as leverage to ensure that the Senate addresses key priorities on social programs and climate policy.
After a series of negotiations, an agreement was reached earlier this week to break the intraparty stalemate. In the end, House moderates agreed to support the budget resolution in exchange for a commitment from the Speaker to bring the infrastructure legislation before the chamber by September 27. Speaker Pelosi also agreed not to force a floor vote on the final reconciliation bill unless it has the necessary support to pass the Senate.
Now that the budget resolution has been approved by both chambers, House and Senate committee leaders can begin crafting their respective portions of the reconciliation legislation. The House Natural Resources Committee, as well as the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, are tentatively scheduled to draft and consider their portions of the plan next week, with a number of other panels set to follow suit in the coming weeks.
In addition to the budget resolution, the House approved legislation – the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021 (HR 4) – to overhaul voting laws in the United States. Pursuant to HR 4, federal approval would be required before changes to voting practices could be implemented in states and localities with a recent history of voter discrimination, or if the changes fall into several categories that would be presumed to be discriminatory. The bill creates a new coverage formula to determine which states and local governments would be subject to an approval process for voting changes, known as “preclearance” under the Voting Rights Act of 1965. While the partisan measure only required a simple majority to pass the House, it will need 60 votes to clear the Senate, an unlikely prospect at this time.
FEMA to Extend 100 Percent Reimbursement for COVID-19 Emergency Response
On August 18, the Biden administration announced additional steps to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Of particular interest to California’s counties, the administration will continue to fully reimburse eligible COVID-19 emergency response costs – including emergency medical care, non-congregate sheltering, and vaccination operations – through December 31, 2021. FEMA also will extend the directive that the federal government pay the full cost for mobilizing National Guard personnel who are supporting COVID-19 response efforts. Both orders were set to expire on September 30. Additional information on these and other efforts taken by the administration can be found here.