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August 28, 2017 - Washington Report

By Leah Wavrunek posted 08-28-2017 03:12 PM

  

This Week on the Hill

The House and Senate are in recess until September 5.

 

September Legislative Preview

Both chambers return next week from the August recess and face a long list of deadlines. The House and Senate hold concurrent sessions for just 12 days in September and must accomplish a lot in that short timeframe. The Treasury Secretary previously indicated that the debt ceiling must be increased by September 29 to avoid defaulting on the nation’s debt. Funding for fiscal year 2018 must be approved by September 30 to avoid a shutdown of the government; the House is planning to take up the remaining eight spending bills when they return but the Senate has yet to send appropriations bills to the floor. Finally, several program authorizations expire on September 30: the National Flood Insurance Program, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. Short-term bills are expected to address some of these priorities.

 

Senate Health Committee Announces Hearings on Stabilizing Premiums

Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA) announced the committee will hear from state insurance commissioners and governors at the first two bipartisan hearings in September on stabilizing premiums in the individual insurance market. On September 7, Governors Charlie Baker (R-MA), Steve Bullock (D-MT), Bill Haslam (R-TN), Gary Herbert (R-UT) and John Hickenlooper (D-CO) will be testifying. State insurance commissioners will be testifying at the hearing on September 6. Senator Alexander notes that any solution that Congress passes for a 2018 stabilization package will have to be small, bipartisan and balanced, and it should give states more flexibility in approving insurance policies by improving section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act as well as fund the cost-sharing reduction payments to help stabilize premiums for 2018.

 

Interior Releases Summary of Monument Review Report

On Thursday Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke sent a draft report of findings and recommendations to the President on national monuments that were under review as a result of an April executive order. The executive order directed the Secretary to review all presidential designations or expansions under the Antiquities Act made since January 1, 1996 that met certain criteria; over 20 monuments were included in the review. A summary of the report can be found here; the department has not publicly released the full report. According to news reports, Secretary Zinke said that none of the national monuments under review will be eliminated, though there could be boundary changes at some.

 

OMB Issues Sequestration Update for Fiscal Year 2018

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released its sequestration update for fiscal year 2018 on August 18, finding that actions to date by the House and Senate on the fiscal year 2018 budget would result in sequestration. OMB found that if the 2018 discretionary caps remain unchanged, the actions to date by the House, if enacted, would result in a sequestration of $72.4 billion in the defense category; action or funding guidance in the Senate, if enacted, would result in a sequestration of $2 billion in the defense category and $3.8 billion in the non-defense category under the current spending limits. The cover letter states that this is not administration policy and in order to restore the country’s investment in defense, “the Administration strongly supports fiscally responsible reductions to spending elsewhere in the federal budget, as outlined in the FY 2018 budget request.”

 

Energy Releases Electrical Grid Study

Last Wednesday the Department of Energy (DOE) released its staff report to the Secretary on Electricity Markets and Reliability. Energy Secretary Rick Perry issued a memorandum in April requesting a study to examine electricity markets and reliability, focused on three main issues: the evolution of wholesale electricity markets; grid resiliency; and effects of regulatory burdens on premature retirement of baseload power plants. The study found that the biggest contributor to coal and nuclear plant retirements has been the advantaged economics of natural gas-fired generation while another factor is low growth in electricity demand. It also contains policy recommendations related to bulk power system resilience, promoting research of next-generation grid reliability, federal and regional approaches to electricity workforce development and transition assistance, and infrastructure development.

 

HHS Awards Health Center Quality Improvement Grants

Earlier this month the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded nearly $105 million to 1,333 health centers in all states, territories and the District of Columbia to assist in quality improvement. Health centers are receiving these funds to continue improving their services based upon high levels of performance in one or more of the following categories: Improving Quality of Care, Increasing Access to Care, Enhancing Delivery of High Value Health Care, Addressing Health Disparities, and Achieving Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Recognition. According to the release, in 2016 nearly 26 million people (or 1 in 12 U.S. residents) relied on a federally-funded health center for primary health care. A list of fiscal year 2017 Quality Improvement Awards recipients can be found here.

 

Interior Releases State Wildlife Grant Funds for Fiscal Year 2017

On August 15 the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) announced more than $52 million in funding to state wildlife agencies and Native American tribes through the State Wildlife Grant and Tribal Wildlife Grant programs. The funds are allocated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to provide support for a diverse array of species and habitats across the country and projects funded through the State Wildlife Grant involve research, monitoring, wildlife surveys, species and habitat management and other activities. State grants are administered by the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program and are allocated to states and territories according to a congressionally mandated formula based on population and geographic area. A complete list of the 2017 state apportionments can be found here and the tribal apportionments can be found here.

 

CMS Releases Updated Medicaid Enrollment and Expenditure Data

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released updated Medicaid enrollment data and preliminary expenditure data that states reported to CMS through the Medicaid Budget and Expenditure System (MBES). The enrollment information is a state-reported count of unduplicated individuals enrolled in the state’s Medicaid program at any time during each month in the quarterly reporting period and includes updated enrollment data from October 1, 2015 – September 30, 2016. The preliminary expenditure data provides summary level data associated with Medicaid service expenditures reported by states for the period October 1, 2015 – March 31, 2016.

 

Recently Released Reports

Charter Authorizers: What They Are and Why They Matter, Education Commission of the States

Democrat and Republican State Legislator Priorities for the Goals of Health Policy, American Journal of Public Health

A Right to the Road: Understanding and Addressing Bicyclist Safety, Governors Highway Safety Association

A Lost Decade in Higher Education Funding: State Cuts Have Driven Up Tuition and Reduced Quality, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Medicaid Incentives for Prevention of Chronic Diseases, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

 

Economic News

San Francisco Federal Reserve Releases New Research on Wage Growth

New research from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco examines wage growth in the United States, looking at the slow pace of wage growth in the face of falling unemployment. According to the bank, wage growth for continuously full-time employed workers has been rising and is currently in line with rates seen at the previous economic peak in 2007; however, aggregate wage growth continues to be held down by the entry of new and returning workers to full-time employment, who generally earn less than workers who are leaving full-time employment. As the labor market has continued to strengthen, many workers have moved into the labor force or from part-time to full-time positions; the vast majority of these new workers earn less than the typical full-time employee, so their entry brings down the average wage. This effect is even more pronounced than usual because of the large-scale exit of higher-priced baby boomers from the labor force.