Update from Washington, D.C.
May 2, 2024
This week, the House approved legislation – the Fire Weather Development Act (H.R. 4866) – that would improve fire weather forecasting, detection, and collaboration. In addition, the lower chamber advanced a number of bills that take aim at the Biden administration’s conservation policies, including one (H.R. 764) that would remove gray wolves from the Endangered Species Act. The measure also would prevent any further judicial review of the animal’s status, ensuring wolves remain under state management.
In other developments, and after months of delay, key members of the House and Senate announced earlier this week a bipartisan deal on a final Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill. With the latest FAA extension slated to expire on May 10, lawmakers may need to approve another short-term funding patch in order to provide both chambers of Congress, particularly the Senate, with sufficient time to schedule final votes on the package.
Under the bicameral agreement, both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) would be reauthorized for a period of five years. Of particular interest to California counties, the legislation would increase funding for the Airport Improvement Program (AIP), which provides federal support for local airport construction and safety-related projects. The AIP is currently funded at $3.35 billion; the bicameral agreement would boost funding to $4 billion annually.
In an effort to address the nation’s pilot shortage, the bill includes a number of provisions that would boost the supply of certified airline pilots. For example, the agreement would establish a competitive grant program within the U.S. Department of Transportation to enable flight training schools to recruit and train military veterans to become commercial pilots and certified flight instructors.
The package also includes a number of provisions aimed at providing various consumer protections, including language that would create a first-ever Office of Aviation Consumer Protection, as well as provisions that would provide clear standards in law for refunds when an airline cancels or significantly delays a flight.
A section-by-section summary of the bicameral FAA agreement can be found here.
House Appropriations Committee Releases FY 2025 Community Project Funding Guidance
Last week, newly minted House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) released long-awaited guidance governing the fiscal year 2025 Community Project Funding (CPF)/earmark submission process. Pursuant to the directive, the committee will continue to ban community projects under the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill, as well as the Financial Services spending measure. The committee’s guidance also bars non-profits from receiving earmarks through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Economic Development Initiative (EDI). Counties will continue to be eligible to receive HUD EDI funds.
Members of the House are required to submit most of their CPF requests by Friday, May 3. The submission deadline for projects within the Commerce-Justice-Science; Interior-Environment; and, Transportation-Housing and Urban Development bills has been extended until May 10. Furthermore, Members will need to post their CPF requests to their official website by Friday, May 17.
House Lawmakers Seek to Stabilize the Crime Victims Fund
A bipartisan group of House lawmakers recently introduced legislation – the Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act (H.R. 8061) – that seeks to stabilize the dwindling balance of the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) Crime Victims Fund (CVF). Specifically, the bill would redirect unobligated funds collected through the False Claims Act to the CVF through Fiscal Year 2029.
The CVF is a non-taxpayer source of funding that is financed by monetary penalties associated with federal criminal convictions and penalties from federal deferred prosecution and non-prosecution agreements. Deposits into the CVF fluctuate based on the number of criminal cases that are handled by the U.S. Department of Justice, with Congress deciding how much to release from the CVF on an annual basis. VOCA grants support a variety of locally administered victim services programs, including crisis intervention, domestic violence shelters, services for victims of human trafficking, and services for elder victims and victims with disabilities. VOCA grants also fund victim compensation programs, which help survivors pay medical bills and make up for missed wages. Additional information and background on the CVF can be accessed here.
Legislation Introduced to Improve Long-Term Drought Conditions in Colorado River Basin
Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ), along with Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) and others, recently introduced legislation – the Drought Resilient Infrastructure Act (S. 4172) – that would provide new resources and authorities through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to support communities experiencing long-term drought conditions. Specifically, S. 4172 would enable the Army Corps to prioritize water conservation or storage efforts at Corps facilities. The bill also would direct the Corps to prioritize these conservation efforts above other key mission areas (like flood control or combating invasive species) during times of drought. In addition, the legislation would amend and fund existing authorities and programs to increase water supply, reduce the risk of floods and other natural hazards, and support Tribal communities.
Senator Padilla and Congressman Scott Peters (D-CA) have also introduced separate legislation – the DROUGHT Act (S. 4134; H.R. 8030) – that aims to alleviate long-term drought conditions affecting the Colorado River and its reservoirs. The bill would allow federal government loans to take on a greater share of the rising cost of water infrastructure projects. Currently, projects receiving assistance from the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) Program cannot accept assistance from the federal government for more than 80 percent of project costs. The DROUGHT Act would raise the limit from 80 percent to 90 percent for projects in areas experiencing extreme drought or serving historically disadvantaged communities. The bill also would allow drought-impacted and underserved communities to both draw down additional federal funds and remain eligible for long-term, low-interest WIFIA loans. The Legislation would not affect the obligation of borrowers to repay their loans, the timeline for repayment, or interest rates of applicable loans. The full text of the bill is available here.
DEA Agrees to Reclassify Cannabis; Comprehensive Legalization Legislation Introduced
On May 1, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agreed to move cannabis from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) – which includes drugs with high abuse potential and no medical value – to the less restrictive Schedule III. It should be noted that a Schedule III designation is applied to drugs with moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence and has been shown to have some medical value. While cannabis would remain federally prohibited, the new designation would remove significant barriers to research and allow state-licensed businesses to make federal tax deductions. Looking ahead, the reclassification must now go through a formal rulemaking process, which could take months to complete.
Following DEA’s announcement, Senator Cory Booker (D-MA) and a coalition of other Democratic senators – including Senators Padilla and Laphonza Butler (D-CA) – reintroduced legislation (S. 4226) to legalize and regulate cannabis at the federal level. The comprehensive proposal, entitled the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA), would require the Attorney General to completely remove cannabis from federal drug schedules under the CSA within 180 days of the bill’s enactment. Beyond ending the prohibition on cannabis, the CAOA would expunge nonviolent federal cannabis-related criminal records and create a pathway for resentencing.
The bill also would impose a federal excise tax on cannabis products with the proceeds designated for various programs in communities that have been the most impacted by drugs. For small to mid-sized producers, the tax would start at five percent and gradually increase to 12.5 percent after five years. For large businesses, the tax would start at ten percent and increase to a maximum of 25 percent.
In addition, and among other things, S. 4226 lays out a structure for how businesses would be approved and regulated. The measure also would transfer regulatory authority over cannabis from the DEA to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB).
On a related development, Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) recently introduced a more targeted proposal (S. 4161) that would establish a new grant program to help expunge cannabis convictions in states that have legalized or decriminalized the drug. Pursuant to S. 4161, states could use the grants to update record-keeping technology, automate the expungement process, support legal clinics that assist individuals through the expungement process, and to seal records of conviction for cannabis offenses.