This Week on the Hill
The House and Senate are not in session until after the elections, returning on November 13. The Senate Judiciary Committee will consider judicial nominees at a hearing on Wednesday.
CMS Proposes Rule for Prescription Drug Manufacturers to Post Prices
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed to require that prescription drug manufacturers post the wholesale acquisition cost or list price for drugs covered in Medicare or Medicaid in direct-to-consumer television advertisements. Under the proposed rule, the price required to be posted would be for a typical course of treatment for an acute medication like an antibiotic, or a thirty-day supply of medication for a chronic condition that is taken every month, and the posting would take the form of a legible textual statement at the end of the ad. The Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) would maintain a public list of drugs that were advertised in violation of this rule. CMS would provide an exception to the requirement to post prices for prescription drugs with list prices of less than $35 per month. Additional information on the proposed rule can be found here. Comments are due by December 17, 2018.
Treasury Releases Proposed Regulations on Opportunity Zones
On Friday the Treasury Department issued a notice of proposed rulemaking for the Opportunity Zone tax incentive included in last December’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The tax incentive was designed to spur economic development and job creation by encouraging long-term investments in economically distressed communities across the country. The proposed regulations clarify what gains qualify for deferral, which taxpayers and investments are eligible, the parameters for Opportunity Funds, and other guidance. Working with state and local governments, the department certified 8,761 communities in all states, the District of Columbia, and five territories as Opportunity Zones, which are home to nearly 35 million Americans. According to the release, the proposed regulations should provide investors and fund sponsors enough information to enter into new business arrangements in designated Opportunity Zones, and additional guidance will be issued before the end of the year. The proposed regulations can be found here and additional information on Opportunity Zones can be found here.
DOJ Awards Project Safe Neighborhood, SMART Grants
The Department of Justice recently awarded grants through two different public safety programs. First, a total of $28 million was awarded to U.S. Attorneys in districts across the county through the Project Safe Neighborhood program, which targets the most violent criminals in the most violent areas. A list of award allocations can be found here. The Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking (SMART) announced awards of nearly $13 million to states, territories and tribal communities to improve the registration and tracking of sex offenders. The awards will be used to help jurisdictions meet the requirements of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), Title I of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. A list of award allocations can be found here.
Fiscal 2018 Federal Budget Deficit Hits $779 Billion
Last week the Treasury Department released the final monthly treasury statement for federal fiscal year 2018, showing the federal government ended the year with a deficit of $779 billion, an increase of $113 billion over 2017. The deficit, the largest in six years, accounted for 3.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). The deficit reached a peak of $1.4 trillion in fiscal 2009 and gradually declined until reaching a recent low of $438.5 billion in fiscal 2016. Total receipts rose 0.4 percent in 2018, while outlays increased 3.2 percent; interest costs rose by $62 billion, an increase of 23.6 percent over the prior year’s level. For fiscal year 2019, Treasury is estimating an annual deficit of over $1 trillion
Congress to Increase Focus on Maternal Deaths
Recently, both the House and Senate have signaled increased attention to the issue of maternal mortality in the United States. In the Senate, a bipartisan group of 14 senators sent a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar and Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Seema Verma requesting a focus on strategies to reduce maternal mortality rates, including for pregnant women and mothers enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The letter cited as a special concern the racial and ethnic disparities in maternal and infant health. The senators asked for a response to several questions by November 1. In the House, the Ways and Means Committee announced it was launching an investigation to determine why maternal mortality and morbidity rates are rising in the U.S. and what federal agencies, states, and hospitals are doing and can do to address this issue.
Asset Forfeiture Case at Supreme Court
Next month the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Timbs v. Indiana, which asks whether the Eighth Amendment Excessive Fines Clause applies to the states. Indiana sought to forfeit the plaintiff’s vehicle, which he used to buy and transport heroin, under the federal civil asset forfeiture law; Timbs challenged that the fine would be excessive under the Eighth Amendment, which asserts that excessive fines shall not be imposed. Groups representing opinions on both ends of the political spectrum, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the CATO Institute, have filed friend-of-the-court briefs. A summary of the case, prepared by the State and Local Legal Center, can be found here. Oral arguments are scheduled for November 28.
Recently Released Reports
Use of 529 Plans Rising - Along with Revenue Impact
The Pew Charitable Trusts
Public Spending on Transportation and Water Infrastructure, 1956 to 2017
Congressional Budget Office
Work Requirements and Safety Net Programs
The Hamilton Project
Access to Health Care for Low-Income Adults in States with and without Expanded Medicaid Eligibility
U.S. Government Accountability Office
State Archiving in the Digital Era: A Playbook for the Preservation of Electronic Records
National Association of State Chief Information Officers
Economic News
Job Openings Reach Series High of 7.1 Million in August
The number of job openings reached a series high of 7.1 million on the last business day of August, according to data recently released by the U.S. Department of Labor (up from 7.07 million in July). The open jobs outnumbered unemployed Americans actively searching for work by 902,000 in August, which is the largest difference recorded. Job openings increased in August for construction (+23,000), financial activities (+30,000), professional and business services (+74,000) and health care and social assistance (+16,000) but decreased in mining and logging, manufacturing, leisure and hospitality, and government. The number of hires reached a series high of 5.8 million in August and the hires rate was 3.9 percent. The number of separations was little changed at 5.7 million. The 3.6 million quits reported in August were little changed from July; many economists closely watch the number of quits as a measure of employee confidence in finding another job. Finally, layoffs and discharges edged up to 1.8 million, up 176,000 from July. Over the 12 months ending in August, hires totaled 67.0 million and separations totaled 64.7 million, yielding a net employment gain of 2.4 million.