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September 5, 2017 - Washington Report

By Leah Wavrunek posted 09-05-2017 03:18 PM

  

This Week on the Hill

The House returns today and will consider four bills under suspension of the rules, including three financial services bills and one bill to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Bob Dole. For Wednesday and the balance of the week, the House will consider H.R. 3388, which establishes a national framework for the use of self-driving vehicles and H.R. 3354, the fiscal year 2018 minibus appropriations bill. The minibus contains the remaining eight appropriations bills for House consideration, after passage of the four-bill “security” minibus prior to recess. The House is also expected to consider disaster funding for Hurricane Harvey on Wednesday, after the administration sent a request last week for $7.85 billion in immediate funding; this amount includes $7.4 billion for FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund and $450 million to support the Small Business Administration’s disaster loan program to assist small businesses and homeowners. Several committees also scheduled hearings this week: the Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing Wednesday on declining employment among working-age men; the Education and the Workforce Committee will hold a hearing Wednesday on the sharing economy; and the Small Business Committee will hold a hearing Wednesday on streamlining federal permitting.

The Senate also convenes today and will consider the nomination of Timothy Kelly to be a U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia. Several committees scheduled hearings this week: the Finance Committee will hold a hearing Thursday to discuss reauthorizing the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP); the Appropriations Committee will hold markups Thursday for the Labor-HHS-Education and State-Foreign Operations fiscal year 2018 appropriations bills; and the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will hold a hearing Wednesday on the FCC’s Lifeline program.

 

Bipartisan Group of Governors Release Health Insurance Stabilization Letter

On Wednesday a bipartisan group of eight governors sent a letter to Congressional leadership outlining recommendations on stabilizing the individual health insurance market. They highlighted a set of guiding principles that include improving affordability and restoring stability while also making three main recommendations: immediate federal action to stabilize markets; responsible reforms that preserve recent coverage gains and control costs; and an active federal/state partnership that is based on innovation and a shared commitment to improve overall health system performance. The governors who signed the letter include John Kasich (OH), John Hickenlooper (CO), Brian Sandoval (NV), Tom Wolf (PA), Bill Walker (AK), Terence McAuliffe (VA), John Bel Edwards (LA), and Steve Bullock (MT). The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will hold two hearings this week on health insurance market stabilization, featuring state insurance commissioners on Wednesday and governors on Thursday. Also last week, the Senate parliamentarian ruled that the fiscal 2017 reconciliation instructions used by Republicans in their efforts to partially repeal the Affordable Care Act will expire September 30; under reconciliation, just 51 votes are needed for passage of legislation instead of the normal 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster.

 

Texas Judge Strikes Down Obama Administration Overtime Rule

On Thursday a federal judge in Texas struck down a rule from the Department of Labor, finalized under the Obama administration, that would have extended overtime to more than 4 million workers. The rule was set to take effect last December 1, but was put on hold by the judge in November after a lawsuit was filed by 21 states. Now, the judge has ruled against the Department of Labor, saying the department exceeded its authority by using salary instead of job duties when determining whether a worker should be eligible for overtime pay. The case is State of Nevada, et al vs. U.S. Department of Labor; the final rule can be found here. In July the department issued a request for information on defining and delimiting the exemptions for executive, administrative and professional employees, with comments due by September 25.

 

Administration Announces End of DACA Program

Today U.S. Attorney General Jeff Session delivered remarks on the administration’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA. Enacted in 2012 by President Obama, the DACA program allowed undocumented immigrants who were brought into the country as children to apply for a two-year deferment to deportation, and if approved, to obtain a driver’s license, enroll in college and legally secure jobs. The Attorney General announced that the Trump administration was ending the program, affecting nearly 800,000 people approved for the program. The program will be phased out over six months, and during that time Congress may act to create a program legislatively. A statement from the President can be found here and a release from the White House can be found here.

 

President Signs Order Lifting Ban on Military Gear for Local Police Agencies

Last week the President signed an executive order revoking a previous executive order from January 2015 related to the transfer of surplus military equipment to state and local law enforcement agencies, through the Department of Defense’s 1033 Program. The order issued by the Obama administration created a working group to develop recommendations and an implementation plan for the transfer of equipment; the working group recommended restrictions on the transfer of certain military gear. President Trump’s order from last week revokes that order and all recommendations that resulted from the order.

 

Administration Restores Work Requirements for TANF

On Wednesday the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) announced the restoration of work participation requirements under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program; ACF also issued an information memorandum to states. The new policy rescinds a 2012 Obama administration information memorandum encouraging states to apply for waivers related to the work participation requirements for welfare cash assistance programs. According to the release, just one state applied for a waiver. 

 

CBO Releases Status Report on National Flood Insurance Program

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently released a report on the financial soundness and affordability of the National Flood Insurance Program, whose authorization expires at the end of September. The program was established in 1968 to provide insurance that had proved difficult for the private sector to provide at affordable rates and to promote floodplain management. CBO analyzed approximately 5 million policies and compared the program’s expected costs and premiums, determining the program had a one-year shortfall of $1.4 billion, with most of the shortfall occurring in coastal counties. The report examines premium amounts and outlines 12 policy approaches to improve program solvency, better align premiums with risks, and keep costs low for some policyholders.

 

President Delivers Tax Reform Remarks in Missouri

President Trump delivered a speech on tax reform last Wednesday in Missouri, outlining basic principles and citing a “once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver real tax reform.” The four basic principles outlined in the speech include: making the tax code simpler and easier for Americans to understand; lowering the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent; tailoring changes for middle class families; and creating incentives for companies to bring corporate profits being held overseas back to the United States. In response to the tax reform speech, a group of state and local government and education groups issued a statement urging the administration and Congress to preserve the state and local tax deduction. The President is scheduled to meet today with the “Big Six” tax writers, which includes Speaker Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady, Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, to discuss tax reform and will travel to North Dakota on Wednesday to deliver another speech on tax reform.

 

SAMHSA Issues Report on Opioid Treatment Facility Trends

Last month the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released a report entitled “Trends in the Use of Methadone, Buprenorphine, and Extended-Release Naltrexone at Substance Abuse Treatment Facilities: 2003-2015.” The report found that the number of opioid treatment programs increased from approximately 1,100 in 2003 to almost 1,500 by the end of 2016 and the number of clients receiving methadone increased from 227,000 to over 350,000 in that same time frame. The percentage of treatment programs offering buprenorphine (a partial opioid agonist) increased from 11 percent in 2003 to 58 percent in 2015 while the number of programs offering naltrexone increased from 11 percent to 23 percent. Methadone may be dispensed only in federally-approved opioid treatment programs, which were present in 10 percent of all substance abuse treatment facilities in 2015.

 

Department of Energy Taps Oil Reserves After Hurricane Harvey

As of Monday, the U.S. Department of Energy announced several releases of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve totaling up to 5.3 million barrels to address the hurricane’s disruption of the petroleum industry and potential gasoline price increases. According to news reports, this is the first tapping of the reserve for an emergency since 2012. The releases are exchange agreements with three refiners who are required to replace the oil at a later date. The reserve currently contains 679 million barrels of oil.

 

Recently Released Reports

Tuition Control Policies: A Challenging Approach to College Affordability, Midwestern Higher Education Compact

Spotlight on Juvenile Justice Initiatives: A State by State Survey, Federal Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice

Later School Start Times in the U.S.: An Economic Analysis, RAND Corporation

Joint Eligibility and Participation in SNAP and Medicaid/CHIP, 2011, 2013 and 2015, Urban Institute

 

Economic News

 

Economy Adds 156,000 Jobs in August

New data released last week by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 156,000 in August and the unemployment rate was little changed at 4.4 percent (compared to 4.3 percent the previous month). Over the past three months, job growth has averaged about 185,000 a month, in line with last year’s average monthly pace of 187,000. The data also shows that in August there were 7.1 million unemployed persons, up slightly from 7.0 million in July. The number of long-term unemployed (jobless for 27 weeks or more) was essentially unchanged at 1.7 million, accounting for 24.7 percent of the total unemployed. The labor force participation rate was unchanged at 62.9 percent. In August, job gains occurred in manufacturing (36,000), construction (28,000), professional and technical services (22,000), health care (20,000) and mining (7,000). Employment saw little change for wholesale trade, retail trade, financial activities, government, and transportation and warehousing, and information. The average hourly earnings for all employees increased by 3 cents to $26.39 in August, following an increase of 9 cents in July. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.5 percent.

 

GDP Increase for the Second Quarter Increases Slightly on Second Estimate

The U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis released the “second” estimate for real gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2017, showing that GDP increased at an annual rate of 3.0 percent. The second estimate is based on more complete source data than were available for the “advance” estimate issued in July, which showed an increase of real GDP of 2.6 percent. According to the release, the general picture of economic growth remains the same for the second estimate, while increases in personal consumption expenditures and in nonresidential fixed investment were larger than previously estimated. These increases were partly offset by a larger decrease in state and local government spending.