This Week on the Hill
The House and Senate are in session this week before a two-week break, with a deadline of Friday to pass a fiscal year 2018 appropriations bill.
The House convenes today and will consider 11 bills under suspension of the rules, including H.R. 5099, Enhancing DHS’ Fusion Center Technical Assistance Program Act. On Tuesday the chamber will consider one bill subject to a rule, while the balance of the week will be reserved for possible consideration of the fiscal year 2018 spending bill and H.R. 5247, the Right to Try Act. Several committees scheduled hearings this week: the Appropriations Committee will hold several hearings on agency budget requests for fiscal year 2019; the Education and the Workforce Committee will hold a hearing Tuesday on association health plans; and the Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hold a hearing Wednesday on improper payments in state Medicaid programs.
The Senate convenes today and will vote on the nomination of Kevin McAleenan to be commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, followed by a vote to limit debate on H.R. 1865, a bill to expand prohibitions against sex trafficking. Several committees scheduled hearings this week: the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee will hold a hearing Thursday on oversight of the Department of Housing and Urban Development; the Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on the President’s budget request for the Energy Department; and the Finance Committee will hold a hearing Thursday on the President’s trade policy agenda.
Fiscal Year 2018 Continuing Resolution Expires on Friday
The current continuing resolution funding the federal government (P.L. 115-123) expires on Friday and Congress continues to negotiate a fiscal year 2018 omnibus bill. The House is expected to release legislative text tonight that adheres to the spending levels approved in the two-year spending deal, which increases defense spending by $80 billion above the budget caps in fiscal 2018 and increases non-defense discretionary spending by $63 billion. Due to the must-pass nature of the bill, many of the contentious points between the parties relate to policy riders. If the text is released tonight, the House is expected to vote on the bill on Wednesday, followed by a vote in the Senate.
White House Releases Opioid Plan
The President traveled to New Hampshire today to unveil a plan to fight the opioid crisis. The opioid plan contains three major components: education and prevention; law enforcement and interdiction; and treatment and recovery efforts. The administration will seek legislative changes to the Institutions for Mental Diseases (IMD) exclusion and will continue to approve waivers through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Officials also plan to use federal funding opportunities to incentivize states to transition state-based prescription drug monitoring programs to a nationwide program. Also this week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing on Wednesday and Thursday entitled “Combating the Opioid Crisis: Prevention and Public Health Solutions.” As part of the hearing, the committee will consider 25 bills that address access to treatment, tribal addiction and recovery, preventing overdoses, enhancing state-run prescription drug monitoring programs, and research.
Banking Bill Passes Senate, Changes Possible in House
On Wednesday the Senate voted 67-31 to approve a bill (S. 2155) that would roll back parts of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial overhaul. The bill would raise the Dodd-Frank asset threshold for close scrutiny by the Federal Reserve from $50 billion to $250 billion while also exempting banks with less than $10 billion in assets from a rule that bars federally insured banks from trading with depositors’ money. The legislation also corrects an error it made in Dodd-Frank, which excluded some municipal bonds from being considered high-quality liquid assets (HQLA) during a capital solvency risk stress test. The bill now moves to the House, where the chair of the Financial Services Committee has indicated some changes may be made.
DOJ Acts on School Violence, House Passes School Safety Bill
The administration and the House both took action last week regarding school safety. First, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced several steps to prevent violence in schools including enforcing gun laws, protecting schools, supporting law enforcement, strengthening the firearms background check system, and improving federal law enforcement’s response to tips. This is accomplished by using the COPS Hiring Program, a competitive grant for states and local communities to hire more police officers, to prioritize applicants who intend to use the grants for school resource officers, leveraging existing assistance programs to provide support for firearms and situational awareness training for school and law enforcement personnel, prosecuting people who lie in an attempt to thwart the federal background check system, and calling on governors and state attorneys general to improve the reporting of state and local criminal justice data accessed by the firearms background check system. Then, on Wednesday the House voted 407-10 to approve the Student, Teachers and Officers Preventing (STOP) Violence Act (H.R. 4909). The bill would authorize $50 million annually to create a grant program to train students, teachers, school officials and local law enforcement on how to identify and intervene early when signs of violence arise, create a coordinated reporting system, and implement school threat assessment protocols. The Senate introduced companion legislation (S. 2495) last week.
Education Clarifies Student Loan Rule, Preempts State Laws
The Department of Education released a clarification last week on state regulation of federal student loan programs, declaring that the department believes such regulation is preempted by federal law. Specifically, the clarification relates to state-enacted regulatory regimes that impose new requirements on servicers of loans under the federal direct loan program, disclosure requirements on loan servicers with respect to loans made under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, and state regulations that impact Federal Family Education Loan Program servicing. The National Governors Association released a statement outlining their concerns with the department’s action, stating that they “are concerned the department is heading in a direction that runs counter to the principles of collaborative federalism governors presented to Congress. Governors urge the department to collaborate with states to protect students and reconsider the scope of its notice.”
FDA to Examine Lowering Nicotine Levels in Cigarettes
Last week the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking to explore a product standard to lower nicotine in cigarettes to minimally or non-addictive levels. Per the press release, the FDA is interested in public input on critical questions such as what potential maximum nicotine level would be appropriate for the protection of public health and what unintended consequences might occur as a result. The agency is also seeking comment on whether the standard should cover other types of products, including combusted cigarettes, cigarette tobacco, cigars, pipe tobacco, and waterpipe tobacco. Comments may be submitted through June 14.
Study Released on Relationship Between Substance Use Disorders and Child Welfare Caseloads
The Department of Health and Human Services recently released a report outlining how substance use affects child welfare systems across the country. Some of the high-level findings include: nationally, rates of drug overdose deaths and drug-related hospitalizations have a statistical relationship with child welfare caseloads; parents using substances have multiple issues, including domestic violence, mental illness and long histories of traumatic experiences; misunderstanding and mistrust of medication-assisted treatment exist within the child welfare field; and agencies and caseworkers are overwhelmed. According to the report, child welfare caseloads nationally increased by 10 percent between fiscal years 2012 and 2016, although the situation is not uniform across all sites studied.
ACF Releases Report on Child Care and Development Fund Policies
The Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families (ACF) recently released its updated database on state policies regarding the Child Care and Development Fund, which provides federal money to states, territories, and tribes to subsidize the cost of child care for lower-income families. Detailed policies vary widely across jurisdictions, with different priorities established for eligibility requirements; application, waiting list, and redetermination requirements; family copayment policies; and provider requirements and reimbursement rates. This report describes the ways in which policies that were in place in October 2016 vary across jurisdictions within the context of the federal program requirements.
Recently Released Reports
State Revenue Report, Third Quarter 2017
Rockefeller Institute of Government
Funding Transparency Under ESSA
Education Commission of the States
How Medicaid Helps Older Americans
Center for Retirement Research at Boston College
Impact of Auto Enrollment in the 457 Plan for South Dakota Public Employees
Center for State and Local Government Excellence
Economic News
Consumer Price Index Increased in February, Real Earnings Unchanged
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released new data on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for February 2018, showing the CPI-U increased 0.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis after rising 0.5 percent in January. Over the last twelve months, the all items index increased 2.2 percent before seasonal adjustment. The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.2 percent in February following a 0.3 percent increase in January, while the energy index rose slightly. The index for all items less food and energy rose 1.8 percent over the last year, while the energy index increased 7.7 percent and the food index advanced 1.4 percent. Meanwhile, real average hourly earnings for all employees were unchanged from January to February, seasonally adjusted. This result stems from a 0.1 percent increase in average hourly earnings being offset by a 0.2 percent increase in the CPI-U.
Job Openings Increase to 6.3 Million in January
The number of job openings increased to 6.3 million on the last business day of January, a series high, according to data recently released by the U.S. Department of Labor (up from 5.8 million in December). Job openings increased in January for professional and business services (+215,000), transportation, warehousing and utilities (+113,000), construction (+101,000) and several other industries. The number of hires was little changed at 5.6 million in January and the hires rate was also little changed at 3.8 percent. The number of separations was little changed at 5.4 million. The 3.3 million quits reported in January were little changed from December; many economists closely watch the number of quits as a measure of employee confidence in finding another job. Finally, layoffs and discharges were little changed at 1.8 million. Over the 12 months ending in January, hires totaled 65.4 million and separations totaled 63.2 million, yielding a net employment gain of 2.1 million.