This Week on the Hill
The House and Senate have an abbreviated schedule this week, as work continues to set appropriations levels prior to the expiration of the continuing resolution on March 23.
The House convenes today and will consider seven bills under suspension of the rules, including S. 772, which reauthorizes the Amber Alert grant program and makes Indian tribes eligible for grants. On Tuesday the chamber will consider three bills including H.R. 1865, the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017. Several committees scheduled hearings this week: the Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing Tuesday on the state of the nation’s energy infrastructure; the Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hold a hearing Tuesday on federalism implications on states; and the Small Business Committee will hold a hearing Tuesday on licensing effects on small business.
The Senate convenes at 3 p.m. today to consider the nomination of Elizabeth L. Branch to be U.S. circuit judge for the 11th Circuit, with a vote at 5:30 p.m. on a cloture motion. Several committees scheduled hearings this week: the Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a hearing Thursday on the administration’s infrastructure framework; the Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing Thursday on cybersecurity in the nation’s critical energy infrastructure; and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will hold a hearing Tuesday on using data in preventing and treating addiction.
Supreme Court Hears Online Sales Tax Case on Tax Day
The U.S. Supreme Court released its calendar for the session beginning on April 16, which includes a hearing on South Dakota v. Wayfair scheduled for Tuesday, April 17. The case challenges the precedent that a company must have a physical presence in a state to require the collection of sales taxes; South Dakota passed a law in 2016 that required out-of-state retailers that made at least 200 sales or sales totaling at least $100,000 to collect sales taxes. An amicus brief from several associations representing state and local governments, including the National Governors Association and National Conference on State Legislatures, can be found here. Links to all briefs filed in the case, along with all other related court materials, can be found here.
Administration Releases Proposed Rule on Short-Term Health Plans
The Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury issued a proposed rule to expand the availability of short-term, limited-duration health insurance by allowing consumers to buy plans providing coverage for less than 12 months, rather than the current maximum of less than three months. Short-term, limited-duration insurance, which is not required to comply with federal requirements for individual health insurance coverage, is designed to provide temporary coverage for individuals transitioning between healthcare policies, such as an individual in between jobs, or a student taking a semester off from school. Short-term plans may exclude coverage for pre-existing conditions, choose not to offer essential health benefits, and impose lifetime annual limits. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will be accepting comments on the proposed rule for 60 days. A fact sheet on the rule can be found here and the rule text can be found here.
USDA Issues SNAP Work Requirement Proposed Rule for Comment
On Friday the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking to seek public input on potential work requirement changes in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Under current law, an able-bodied adult without dependents can receive SNAP benefits for 3 months in a 36-month period, unless the individual is working and/or participating in a work program half-time or more, or participating in workfare. States can request a waiver of this time limit if unemployment is high or the area does not have enough jobs to provide employment; states also have discretion to exempt 15 percent of individuals who would otherwise be subject to the time limit. Under the proposed rule, the department is seeking public input to inform policy, program, and regulatory changes to SNAP. The President’s fiscal year 2019 budget, released on February 12, proposes to limit waivers of the time limit for able-bodied adults without dependents to counties with 10 percent unemployment over 12 months, as well as spending reductions in SNAP of $213.5 billion over 10 years. Comments may be submitted through the Federal Register through April 9.
Bipartisan Group of Governors Introduce Plan to Address Health Care System Challenges
A bipartisan group of governors on Friday released a blueprint for improving the nation’s health system performance. The blueprint was released by Governors John Hickenlooper (D-CO), John Kasich (R-OH), Bill Walker (I-AK), Tom Wolf (D-PA), and Brian Sandoval (R-NV); it contains principles, plus specific strategies that address the most urgent problems in the current system. Guiding principles include improving affordability, restoring stability to insurance markets, providing state flexibility and encouraging innovation, and improving the regulatory environment. Identified strategies cover reorienting the system on value, aligning consumer incentives, encouraging more competition and innovation, reforming insurance markets, expanding proven state Medicaid innovations, and modernizing the state-federal relationship.
CBO and JCT Release Overview on Analyzing Major Health Insurance Proposals
Last week the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) released a report on their process for analyzing proposals affecting health insurance coverage for people under age 65. The analysis is split between the two entities: CBO takes the lead in estimating the changes to coverage, premiums, and federal spending while JCT takes the lead in estimating the tax-related budgetary effects. The report provides more in-depth information on the major steps undertaken in the analysis: developing an analytic strategy; modeling the effects of the proposal; and reviewing and writing about the estimate.
President Releases Update on Rural Broadband Funding in Infrastructure Plan
On Friday the White House issued a release on what the President’s infrastructure plan will do to expand rural broadband access. The release noted that the infrastructure principles released on February 12 dedicate $50 billion to rural infrastructure, accounting for 25 percent of all federal spending in the plan. A majority of these funds will be awarded directly to the states, giving them the flexibility to address individual rural infrastructure needs. According to Friday’s release, under the President’s infrastructure plan, states will have flexibility to spend as much as 100 percent of the federal funding they receive on improving rural broadband access. The full infrastructure plan can be found here.
FCC Releases New National Broadband Map
On Thursday the Federal Communications Committee (FCC) released an updated and modernized National Broadband Map, to serve as a key source of broadband deployment information for consumers, policymakers, researchers, and others. According to the press release, the new, cloud-based map will support more frequent data updates than the previous version, which had not been updated in years. The new map will be updated twice annually and will include a portal for data downloads. Deployment summaries will also be available for seven different geographical types, with deployment comparisons between geographic areas. Data on mobile service is available separately here.
House Committee Begins Work on Opioid Bills
The House Energy and Commerce Committee begins a series of hearings this week on bills to address the opioid crisis. On Wednesday, the committee will hold a hearing on eight enforcement and patient safety-related bills; a link to the hearing notice and legislation text can be found here. Bills under consideration on Wednesday include H.R. 2851, addressing fentanyl and other synthetic drugs; H.R. 5041, addressing safe disposal of unused medication; and a bill ensuring patient access to substance use disorder treatments. Two subsequent hearings, intended for March or early April, will focus on public health and insurance coverage.
Attorney General Announces Creation of Cybersecurity Task Force
Last Tuesday Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the creation of the Justice Department’s Cyber-Digital Task Force. The task force will include representatives from across the department, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Office of Privacy and Civil Liberties. The task force will be responsible for evaluating various cyber threats, with priority given to threats to critical infrastructure; interference with elections; theft of corporate, governmental, and private information on a mass scale; masking criminal activity; and weaponizing of everyday consumer devices to launch attacks on American citizens and businesses. A report to the Attorney General from the task force is due by June 30. Also, a recent report from the Council of Economic Advisers found that malicious cyber activity cost the U.S. economy between $57 billion and $109 billion in 2016, while scarce data and insufficient information sharing impede cybersecurity efforts and slow down the development of the cyber insurance market.
Recently Released Reports
Building a Better Budget Process
Convergence
New 529 Federal Tax Law – Possible Impacts on States
Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy
How States Use Data to Inform Decisions
The Pew Charitable Trusts
Medicaid Demonstrations: Evaluations Yielded Limited Results, Underscoring Need for Changes to Federal Policies and Procedures
U.S. Government Accountability Office
Borrowers with Large Balances: Rising Student Debt and Falling Repayment Rates
The Brookings Institution
Economic News
Administration Releases Annual Economic Outlook
Last week the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) released the Economic Report of the President along with the Annual Report of the CEA, outlining the administration’s policies for a pro-growth agenda including tax cuts, tax reform and deregulation while also providing a detailed account of the performance of the U.S. economy. The annual report highlights that the U.S. economy experienced strong and economically significant acceleration in 2017, with growth in real GDP exceeding expectations and increasing from 2.0 and 1.8 percent in 2015 and 2016 to 2.5 percent, including two successive quarters above 3.0 percent. The unemployment rate fell 0.6 percentage point, to 4.1 percent, its lowest level since December 2000, while the economy added 2.2 million jobs, an average of 181,000 per month. The report also looks at investing in infrastructure to boost productivity, enhancing U.S. trade in a global economy, innovative health policies, and fighting cybersecurity threats.
U.S. Import Prices Increased 1.0 Percent in January
Newly released data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that U.S. import prices increased 1.0 percent in January, after rising 0.2 percent in December. Higher prices for both nonfuel imports and fuel imports contributed to the January advance. Prices for U.S. exports rose 0.8 percent in January following a 0.1 percent increase the previous month. The price index for imports rose 1.0 percent in January, the largest one-month rise since the index increased 1.2 percent in May 2016. Import prices advanced 3.6 percent between January 2017 and January 2018. Export prices increased 0.8 percent in January and the index has not risen by more than 0.8 percent since the index advanced 1.1 percent in May 2016. In January, the increase in nonagricultural prices more than offset a decline in agricultural prices; prices for agricultural exports edged down 0.1 percent in January, after falling 0.3 percent the previous month.