This week lawmakers continue to debate FY2015 appropriations, student loans, and VA reform.
Tonight, the House will vote on S. 1254, the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act of 2013. The bill would authorize $20.5 million annually through 2018 for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to reduce the effects of algal blooms and hypoxia in bodies of water.
By mid-week, the Senate will turn its attention to a bill that would allow the nearly 40 million people with more than $1 trillion in student loans to refinance to current lower interest rates. The student loans bill is part of Senate Democrats’ “fair shot” 2014 agenda that included an unemployment insurance extension, minimum wage increase, and pay equity for women. But it is unlikely that enough Republicans will join Democrats to advance the bill, which is paid for by raising taxes on millionaires.
Read more about the week ahead at The Hill.
House Republican leadership has detailed a busy legislative agenda for the remainder of June in a memo sent from Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) to House Republicans sent Friday. The House will address issues at the Department of Veterans Affairs, three appropriations bills, three tax extender bills, and legislation to make gas and other energy prices cheaper. Notably absent from the agenda: any mention of immigration, an unemployment extension, or the expiring Export-Import Bank. Read the memo at Roll Call.
The Office of Federal Relations continues to advance our appropriations priorities, as well as monitoring legislative efforts on student loans.