This Week on the Hill
The House and Senate are in session this week.
The House convenes Tuesday through Friday and will consider bills including H.R. 2, the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 (the Farm Bill). Leadership is still counting votes and it is unknown if there are sufficient votes to gain approval; there are concerns over crop subsidies and proposed work requirements for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants. Several committees scheduled hearings this week: the Education and the Workforce Committee will hold a hearing Thursday on how schools and states keep data safe; the Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing Thursday on homelessness in America; and the Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing Wednesday on tax reform.
The Senate convenes today and has scheduled two votes on judicial nominations. Democrats may also force a vote this week on a Congressional Review Act resolution (S.J. Res. 52) to repeal a Federal Communications Commission order issued in January to end net neutrality rules imposed in 2015. It is expected to pass on a 50-49 margin but is unlikely to receive a vote in the House. Several committees scheduled hearings this week: the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will hold a hearing Tuesday on trends in mobile technologies and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will hold a hearing Tuesday on the 340B drug pricing program.
Supreme Court Rules in Favor of States in Sports Betting Case
Today the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal law that effectively banned sports betting in most states, known as the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992. The law prohibited states from authorizing sports gambling with exemptions for sports betting in Nevada, and sports lotteries in Delaware, Montana and Oregon. New Jersey challenged the federal law after voters amended its state Constitution to allow sports betting, and the legislature passed a law authorizing it. In the decision on the case, Murphy v. NCAA, the court ruled the federal law violates the anticommandeering rule. The Supreme Court’s opinion can be found here.
Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Update
The House continues to advance appropriations bills, with several bills approved in markups last week and votes scheduled this week. Also, the Senate Appropriations Committee released their markup schedule today.
- Military Construction-Veterans Affairs: Passed the Appropriations Committee on Tuesday by a vote of 47-0, although the White House sent a letter stating concerns on “underfunding key investments in critical areas.” The $96.9 billion bill represents an increase of $4.2 billion over the current enacted funding level. This bill may now be considered on the House floor.
- Legislative Branch: Passed the Appropriations Committee on Tuesday by a vote of 47-0, and the $3.8 billion represents a funding increase of $132 million over the current enacted funding level. This bill may now be considered on the House floor.
- Energy-Water: Passed the subcommittee on Monday by a voice vote. The $44.7 billion bill is an increase of $1.5 billion over the current enacted level and includes funding increases for the Department of Energy and Army Corps of Engineers, while repealing the Waters of the U.S. rule. The full committee will mark up the bill on Wednesday.
- Agriculture-FDA: Passed the subcommittee on Wednesday by a voice vote. The bill includes $23.27 billion in discretionary funding, which is an increase of $14 million over the current enacted level. Provisions in the spending bill include more than $3.079 billion for rural development programs, with over $637 million for water and waste grants and $620 million to support the expansion of broadband service. The full committee will mark up the bill on Wednesday.
- Commerce-Justice-Science: Passed the subcommittee on Wednesday by a voice vote. The bill provides $62.5 billion in discretionary spending, which is an increase of $2.9 billion over the current enacted level. Funds are provided to combat the opioid crisis, reduce violent and gun crime, and ramp up for the 2020 census.
Two subcommittees are planning markups this week, with the Interior-Environment markup scheduled for Tuesday and the Transportation-Housing and Urban Development markup planned for Wednesday. Draft text on these spending bills has not yet been released.
Administration Releases $15 Billion Rescission Request
The President sent a proposed rescissions package to Congress with 38 items totaling $15.4 billion in unspent funding from prior years. Included in the package is a proposed rescission from the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) of $5 billion from fiscal 2018 budget authority and $2 billion that would be cut from the CHIP contingency fund. The transmittal letter indicates that the amounts proposed for the CHIP rescissions would not affect the program since the budget authority to obligate the $5 billion already expired and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) does not expect any states will require contingency fund payments in fiscal 2018. Other programs identified in the package include: Farm Security and Rural Investment Programs; Watershed and Flood Prevention Operations; Economic Development Assistance Programs; and Federal Highway Administration miscellaneous appropriations. The House may vote on the rescission package this week, although some appropriators have expressed reservations over the request.
DOT Announces Drone Integration Pilot Sites
On Wednesday the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced the selection of 10 state, local and tribal governments as participants in the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Pilot Program. First announced last October, this White House initiative partners the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) with local, state and tribal governments, which then partner with private sector participants to safely explore the further integration of drone operations. Over the next two and a half years, the selectees will collect drone data involving night operations, flights over people and beyond the pilot’s line of sight, package delivery, detect-and-avoid technologies and the reliability and security of data links between pilot and aircraft. The data collected through the pilot program will help DOT and FAA craft new enabling rules regarding drone usage. The ten sites selected are: Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; City of San Diego, CA; Virginia Tech - Center for Innovative Technology; Kansas Department of Transportation; Lee County Mosquito Control District, Ft. Myers, FL; Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority, Memphis, TN; North Carolina Department of Transportation; North Dakota Department of Transportation; City of Reno, NV; and University of Alaska-Fairbanks.
President Delivers Speech on Drug Pricing
On Friday President Trump delivered a speech outlining his plan to lower drug prices. The President laid out contributing factors affecting high drug prices, including government rules preventing health plans and vendors from negotiating drug prices through Medicare Part B and Part D, gaming of regulatory processes and the patent system by the pharmaceutical companies, the lack of transparency in drug pricing, and the role of "middlemen" or Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs). The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) then released “American Patients First”, the administration’s blueprint to lower drug prices and reduce out-of-pocket costs. The blueprint proposes four key strategies for reform: improved competition; better negotiation; incentives for lower list prices; and lowering out-of-pocket costs. Steps that HHS may take to implement the blueprint include measures to promote innovation and competition for biologics, developing proposals to stop Medicaid and Affordable Care Act programs from raising prices in the private market, measures to restrict the use of rebates, and reforms to the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program.
Senate Introduces Bipartisan Water Infrastructure Bill
Last week Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works Chairman John Barrasso (R-WY) and Ranking Member Tom Carper (D-DE) introduced America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018. The bill is intended to support the economy and keep communities safe by improving the country’s water infrastructure. The bill reauthorizes water infrastructure programs and projects, increases transparency during the permitting process for new water storage projects done by a state or local government, reauthorizes the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) through fiscal year 2021, and increases the amount of authorized appropriations for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The committee held a hearing on the bill last week and a markup is expected on May 24. The committee released the bill text, a summary, and a section-by-section analysis.
House Committee Holds Markup on Opioid Bills
The House Energy and Commerce Committee held a markup last week and approved 25 bills related to the opioid crisis. The bills approved by the committee address topics such as research on non-addictive pain medications, education on synthetic drugs, a loan repayment program for substance abuse disorder treatment providers, access to a patient’s complete health history, and protocols for hospitals discharging patients who have presented with an opioid overdose. The committee will hold a second markup on additional opioid legislation this Thursday. Meanwhile, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) and Ranking Member Richard Neal (D-MA) released legislative proposals to help combat the opioid crisis. According to the press release, the committee plans to mark up four “packages”, which will include several measures from introduced legislation.
CMS Releases First Rural Health Strategy
Last week the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the agency’s first Rural Health Strategy to help improve access to high quality, affordable healthcare in rural communities. According to the release, approximately 60 million people live in rural areas in the U.S., including millions of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries; CMS developed this strategy to focus on areas where the agency can better serve individuals in rural areas. The strategy identifies five specific objectives intended to achieve the agency’s vision for equitable rural health: apply a rural lens to CMS programs and policies; improve access to care through provider engagement and support; advance telehealth and telemedicine; empower patients in rural communities to make decisions about their health care; and leverage partnerships to achieve the goals of the strategy, including working with state Medicaid agencies and other state partners. Additional information on the Rural Health Strategy can be found here.
Recently Released Reports
Task Force on Apprenticeship Expansion Final Report
U.S. Department of Labor
Progress Report on the Substance-Exposed Infant Initiative
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
New Rules to Expand Association Health Plans: How Will They Affect the Individual Market?
Society of Actuaries
Medicaid Work Requirements Could Affect Millions of Beneficiaries and Billions in Spending
PwC Health Research Institute
Economic News
Job Openings Hit Series High 6.6 Million in March
The number of job openings increased to 6.6 million on the last business day of March, according to data recently released by the U.S. Department of Labor (up from 6.1 million in February and hitting a series high). The largest increases in job openings were for professional and business services (+112,000), construction (+68,000), and transportation, warehousing and utilities (+37,000). The number of hires was little changed at 5.4 million in March and the hires rate was unchanged at 3.7 percent. The number of separations was little changed at 5.3 million. The 3.3 million quits reported in March were up slightly from 3.2 million in February; 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 1.6 million. Over the 12 months ending in March, hires totaled 65.7 million and separations totaled 63.4 million, yielding a net employment gain of 2.3 million.
Consumer Price Index Increased in April as Real Hourly Earnings Were Unchanged
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released new data on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for April, showing the CPI-U increased 0.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis after falling 0.1 percent in March. Over the last twelve months, the all items index increased 2.5 percent before seasonal adjustment. The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.1 percent in April, while the energy index rose 1.4 percent, due mainly to a 3.0 percent increase in the gasoline index. The index for all items less food and energy rose 2.1 percent for the 12 months ending in April, while the food index increased 1.4 percent and the energy index rose 7.9 percent. Meanwhile, real average hourly earnings for all employees was unchanged from March to April, 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.