This Week on the Hill
The Senate is in session this week, while the House is in recess until September 4.
The Senate convenes today and will consider a judicial nomination. Several committees scheduled hearings this week: the Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a hearing Wednesday on activities of the Environmental Protection Agency; the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will hold a hearing Tuesday on reducing health care costs; and the Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing Tuesday on immigration enforcement and family reunification efforts.
Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Update
The House and Senate continue to advance spending bills, with the House Appropriations Committee passing its final bill last week.
- House Homeland Security: The Appropriations Committee voted 29-22 along party lines to approve $51.4 billion in discretionary spending, an increase of $3.7 billion above the fiscal year 2018 enacted level. The bill includes $5 billion for a southern border wall and $6.7 billion for major disaster relief and emergency response activities through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
- Senate Spending Package: The Senate is expected to hold a final vote this week on a second spending package, encompassing the Transportation-Housing and Urban Development, Interior-Environment, Financial Services, and Agriculture spending bills. The substitute amendment containing all four bills can found here. Together the four bills total $154.2 billion, which is an increase of 1.3 percent over the fiscal year 2018 enacted levels. Senators Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Richard Burr (R-NC) filed an amendment to permanently authorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which expires on September 30.
CMS Approves Wisconsin Reinsurance Waiver Proposal
On Sunday the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved Wisconsin’s application for a State Innovation Waiver under Section 1332 of the Affordable Care Act to create a reinsurance pool. Wisconsin's was the first such waiver approved this year, and fourth overall. According to the approval letter, implementation of the reinsurance program will lower individual market premiums in the state and the premium tax credits to which Wisconsin residents would have been entitled absent the waiver; these savings will be passed through to the state to be used for implementation of the waiver plan. According to the governor’s press release, the state is funding $34 million of the waiver’s cost and the federal government will cover $166 million. The approval is effective for a waiver period of January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2023.
Senate to Vote on Flood Insurance Extension This Week
The Senate is expected to vote this week to extend the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which expires on July 31. The bill (S. 1182), which extends the program through November 30 without making any policy changes, passed the House last week by a vote of 366-52. Some members have been opposed to passing an extension without making policy changes addressing financial problems in the program, as the NFIP is $20.5 billion in debt. However, the bill is expected to pass the Senate.
House Holds Hearing on Changes to Foster Care Financing
On Tuesday the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources held a hearing entitled “Implementation of the Family First Prevention Services Act”, which was passed in February as part of the 2018 Bipartisan Budget Act. The bill permits, for the first time, states and tribes to use federal title IV-E funds to prevent children from entering foster care; traditionally, a significant portion of federal funding has been used for foster care. In his testimony, Jerry Milner, Associate Commissioner, Children’s Bureau, and Acting Commissioner, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Department of Health and Human Services, indicated the agency will strive to provide maximum flexibility to states and tribes in claiming funding for prevention services. He also outlined implementation challenges including start up costs for states, availability of placement options, length of prevention services, and review of all studies on prevention programs and services. A recording of the hearing can be found here.
Administration Announces $12 Billion in Aid for Farmers
Last week U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the Department of Agriculture (USDA) will take several actions to assist farmers in response to trade damage, including authorizing up to $12 billion in programs to assist producers in meeting the costs of disrupted markets. USDA will utilize the following programs to assist farmers: the Market Facilitation Program to provide payments incrementally to producers of soybeans, sorghum, corn, wheat, cotton, dairy and hogs; Food Purchase and Distribution Program to purchase unexpected surplus of affected commodities such as fruits, nuts, rice, legumes, beef, pork and milk; and Trade Promotion Program to assist in developing new export markets. The specifics of the aid plan will be subject to a federal rulemaking process, and USDA is expected to make a determination around Labor Day on timing of the aid.
Ways and Means Chair Releases Framework for Tax Reform 2.0
On Tuesday House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) released a listening session framework for “Tax Reform 2.0,” which is described as “a new commitment to improve the tax code each and every year for American families and local businesses.” Provisions outlined in the framework include making the individual and small business tax cuts from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent, create or expand retirement savings options, and spur new business innovation. House Republicans aim to hold a vote in September, after returning from their summer recess.
President to Sign Career and Technical Education Bill Tuesday
Last week both chambers of Congress approved H.R. 2353, to reauthorize the Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, which provides about $1 billion in federal aid to secondary and post-secondary career and technical education programs. The Senate included a substitute amendment from Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) to limit the Education Department's role in how the federal government allocates funding; the change would eliminate a negotiation process between states crafting goals for their career and technical education programs and the Education secretary. Instead, states would set their goals and the secretary would approve them, assuming they meet the law's requirements. The bill would also require states to make "meaningful progress" toward their goals. The President has indicated he will sign the bill at a ceremony tomorrow.
House Holds Hearing on Wayfair Decision
On Tuesday the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing examining the Wayfair online sales tax decision on consumers and small businesses. Last month the Supreme Court overturned a precedent that blocked states from collecting sales taxes from out-of-state online vendors. The witnesses at the hearing represented Americans for Tax Reform, National Retail Federation, American Legislative Exchange Council, National Conference of State Legislatures and small businesses. In a statement, Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) indicated the hearing will help the committee assess “whether and how Congress should intervene…per the Wayfair decision.” In the Senate, four senators released a statement “reinforcing that they would oppose premature efforts to prevent states from implementing the Wayfair decision.” Witness testimony and video of the hearing can be found here.
DOJ Releases FY2018 Byrne/JAG Solicitations
The Department of Justice recently released the fiscal year 2018 state and local solicitations for the Byrne/Justice Assistance Grant Program (JAG), which are the primary provider of federal criminal justice funding to states and units of local government. In general, funds awarded to a state under this fiscal year 2018 solicitation may be used to provide additional personnel, equipment, supplies, contractual support, training, technical assistance, and information systems for criminal justice programs, including law enforcement, prosecutors, courts, corrections, drug treatment, crime victim and witnesses, and mental health. The solicitation continues the certification requirement established last year regarding compliance with certain federal law related to access to prisons and 48-hour notification of prisoner release. Applications are due August 22 and a list of expected allocations by state and territory can be found here.
Recently Released Reports
Governors Staying Ahead of the Transportation Innovation Curve
Governors Staying Ahead of the Energy Innovation Curve
National Governors Association
State Prisons and the Delivery of Hospital Care
The Pew Charitable Trusts
Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act: States and Local Areas Report Progress in Meeting Youth Program Requirements
U.S. Government Accountability Office
Economic News
GDP Increased 4.1 Percent in the Second Quarter of 2018
Last week the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis released data on the gross domestic product (GDP) for the second quarter of 2018 (advance estimate), showing an increase at an annual rate of 4.1 percent, which is the highest level in almost four years. Real gross domestic product is the value of goods and services produced by the nation’s economy less the value of the goods and services used up in production, adjusted for price changes. The increase in real GDP in the second quarter reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures, exports, nonresidential fixed investment, federal government spending, and state and local government spending. Negative contributions were due to residential fixed investment and private inventory investment. The “second” estimate for the second quarter, based on more complete data, will be released on August 29.