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April 9, 2018 - Washington Report

By Leah Wavrunek posted 04-09-2018 03:52 PM

  

This Week on the Hill

The Senate returns today, and the House convenes tomorrow.

The Senate convenes today and will resume consideration of the nomination of John Broomes to be U.S. District Judge for the District of Kansas. The chamber is expected to consider several other nominations this week for both the administration and the judiciary. Several committees scheduled hearings this week: the Appropriations Committee will review fiscal year 2019 budget proposals for the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Transportation and Labor; the Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a hearing Tuesday on cooperative federalism under the Clean Air Act; and the Joint Commerce, Science and Transportation and Judiciary Committees will hold a hearing Tuesday on Facebook.  

The House convenes Tuesday and will consider five bills including H.R. 4203, the Combat Online Predators Act. On Wednesday, the chamber will consider two financial bills and on Thursday will consider H.J. Res. 2, which proposes a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. The amendment would prevent Congress from spending more than the government brings in each year, unless three-fifths of each chamber votes to allow excess outlays. Two-thirds of each chamber would need to approve the amendment and three-fourths of states would need to ratify it. Several committees scheduled hearings this week: the Appropriations Committee will review fiscal year 2019 budget proposals for several agencies; the Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing Wednesday on Facebook; and the Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hold a hearing Thursday on improper payments in Medicaid.

 

CBO Releases New Economic Baseline

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its Budget and Economic Outlook for 2018 to 2028 today. The annual deficit is projected to be $804 billion in 2018 and $981 billion in 2019, reaching over one trillion in 2020. Projected deficits over the 2018-2027 period have increased markedly since June 2017, when CBO issued its previous projections, with the increase stemming primarily from tax and spending legislation enacted since then. Debt held by the public approaches 100 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2028, which is far greater than the debt in any year since just after World War II. On the growth side, real GDP is projected to rise to 3.3 percent in 2018 and then drop to 2.4 percent the following year; the average annual growth over the entire decade remains moderate at 1.9 percent.

 

Action on Opioid Crisis Continues Across the Federal Government

Both Congress and the administration continue work on addressing the opioid epidemic, with two committee hearings scheduled this week, a new initiative announced by the National Institutes for Health (NIH) and a public health advisory issued by the U.S. Surgeon General related to naloxone.

  • The House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee has scheduled a hearing on April 11 entitled Combating the Opioid Crisis: Improving the Ability of Medicare and Medicaid to Provide Care for Patients. The hearing will consider more than two-dozen bipartisan bills exploring a wide array of coverage and payment issues.
  • The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee has also scheduled a hearing on April 11 to review draft legislation entitled The Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018. The legislation aims to spur development of non-addictive painkillers, encourage responsible prescribing behavior, improve detection and seizure of illegal drugs, provide support for states to improve their Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs, strengthen the healthcare workforce, and help states improve plans of safe care for infants born with neonatal abstinence syndrome. The bill text can be found here, and a summary can be found here.
  • The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced the launch of the HEAL (Helping to End Addiction Long-Term) Initiative last Wednesday, which is an aggressive, trans-agency effort to speed scientific solutions to stem the national opioid public health crisis. With the recent passage of the fiscal year 2018 spending bill, NIH is nearly doubling funding for research on opioid misuse/addiction and pain from approximately $600 million in fiscal year 2016 to $1.1 billion in fiscal 2018.
  • The Surgeon General released a public health advisory last week to urge more Americans to carry a medication (naloxone) that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. The medication is already carried by many first responders, such as EMTs and police officers. The Surgeon General is now recommending that more individuals, including family, friends and those who are personally at risk for an opioid overdose, also carry naloxone.

 

EPA Moves to Revise Auto Emissions Standards

Last week, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt announced that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for cars and light trucks, for model years 2022-2025, are not appropriate and should be revised. This begins a joint process with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to develop a notice and comment rulemaking to set new GHG emissions standards and Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. Under the Clean Air Act (CAA), EPA sets national standards for vehicle tailpipe emissions of certain pollutants. Through a CAA waiver granted by EPA, California can impose stricter standards for vehicle emissions of certain pollutants than federal requirements; twelve other states and the District of Columbia also adopted those stricter standards. According to the announcement, California’s waiver is still being reviewed by EPA. The final determination on the standards from the administrator can be found here.

 

President Signs Order to Mobilize National Guard at Border

On Wednesday President Trump issued a presidential memorandum for the Secretary of Defense, Attorney General, and Secretary of Homeland Security related to securing the southern border of the U.S., which includes mobilizing National Guard personnel to support U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s border security mission. In a press briefing, Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen indicated she has spoken to the governors and will continue to discuss details with all four border governors. The transcript from the press briefing can be found here and a White House fact sheet can be found here.

 

Second Round of WIFIA Funding Announced

On April 4 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a second round of credit assistance available under the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA). The Consolidated Appropriations Act, signed by the President on March 23, provided at least $55 million in budget authority for the WIFIA program, which is estimated to provide approximately $5.5 billion in credit assistance and may finance approximately $11 billion in water infrastructure investment. The EPA issued a notice of funding availability to solicit letters of interest from prospective borrowers seeking credit assistance from the agency; letters of interest must be submitted by July 6. A letter was also sent to all governors regarding the funding, and the EPA Administrator stated in the letter that “I am placing the highest priority on projects that keep lead and other contaminants out of drinking water and update our nation’s aging drinking water and wastewater infrastructure.” Additional information on the WIFIA program and application process can be found here.

 

GAO Releases Report on Disparities in School Discipline, Education Meets on Policies

Last week the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on discipline disparities in K-12 public schools. The report found that Black students, boys and students with disabilities were disproportionately disciplined (e.g., suspensions and expulsions) according to an analysis of Department of Education national civil rights data for school year 2013-14. These disparities were widespread and persisted regardless of the type of disciplinary action, level of school poverty, or type of public school attended. To obtain information on how selected school districts are addressing discipline issues, GAO interviewed state education, school district, and school officials in California, Georgia, Massachusetts, North Dakota, and Texas. Also last week, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos hosted two listening sessions on school safety and school climate, focused on the Dear Colleague letter issued jointly by the Departments of Education and Justice on January 8, 2014, related to prohibiting racial discrimination and school discipline. The department is considering repealing the guidance issued by the previous administration, and repeal of the guidance was identified as an issue area to be studied by the Federal School Safety Commission, created by the President on March 12.  

 

FTA Announces $264 Million in Funding Awarded to Modernize Bus Infrastructure

On Thursday the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced approximately $264 million in project selections to improve the safety and reliability of the nation’s bus systems. A total of 139 projects in 52 states and territories will receive funding from the Buses and Bus Facilities Infrastructure Investment Program. According to the press release, “the grants will fund projects to replace, rehabilitate, and purchase buses and related equipment as well as projects to purchase, rehabilitate and construct bus-related facilities, such as buildings for bus storage and maintenance.” A list of the funded projects by state and territory can be found here.

 

CMS Releases Final Report on 2018 Health Exchange Enrollments

Last week the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its final report on the 2018 open enrollment period for health insurance exchanges. The report summarizes enrollment activity in the individual exchanges during the open enrollment period for the 2018 plan year for the 50 states and District of Columbia. According to the report, 11.8 million consumers enrolled in an exchange plan during the 2018 open enrollment period, down slightly from the 12.2 million who enrolled during 2017. This includes approximately 8.7 million consumers in the 39 states using the HealthCare.gov platform and 3.0 million consumers in state-based exchanges. Of the total enrollees, 27 percent were new consumers, 47 percent were active re-enrollees, 24 percent were automatic re-enrollees and 2 percent were unknown.

 

Education Releases Report on Student Usage of Digital Learning Resources at Home

A report released last week by the National Center for Education Statistics looked at internet usage of students outside the classroom. The Student Access to Digital Learning Resources Outside of the Classroom report found that 61 percent of children ages 3 to 18 had internet access at home in 2015. Regarding high-speed internet service, the report found that about 78 percent of children ages 3 to 18 who used the internet at home accessed it through a high-speed service installed at home, lower than the 89 percent reported in 2010. The report also found higher average achievement scores for students who used computers at home and/or had internet access at home than for those who did not. The report was required by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to study the educational impact of access to digital learning resources outside the classroom.

 

Recently Released Reports

How States Are Addressing School Safety

National Conference of State Legislatures

Municipal Bond Analyst Survey, 2018

The PNC Financial Services Group

City Rights in an Era of Preemption: A State-by-State Analysis

National League of Cities

January 2018 Medicaid and CHIP Enrollment Data Highlights

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Corrections-Based Responses to the Opioid Epidemic: A New York Case Study

Vera Institute of Justice

 

Economic News

 

Economy Adds 103,000 Jobs in March

New data released last week by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 103,000 in March and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1 percent. This is lower than the expected 178,000, but job gains have still averaged 202,000 over the past few months. The data also shows that in March there were 6.6 million unemployed persons, down slightly from 6.7 million in February. The number of long-term unemployed (jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 1.3 million, accounting for 20.3 percent of the total unemployed. The labor force participation rate was little changed at 62.9 percent (down from 63.0 percent in February). In March, job gains occurred in manufacturing (22,000), health care (22,000), mining (9,000), and professional and business services (33,000). Slight decreases were seen in retail trade (-4,000) and construction (-15,000) while employment saw little change for transportation and warehousing, wholesale trade, information, financial activities, government, and leisure and hospitality. The average hourly earnings for all employees increased by 8 cents to $26.82 in March, following an increase of 4 cents in February. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 71 cents, or 2.7 percent.