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Category: Administration

House FY2016 E&W Fails on the Floor

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Earlier today, House’s FY2017 Energy and Water Appropriations bill (HR 5055) failed by a vote of 112-305. It is the second regular appropriations bill to be considered by the House this year. The first was the FY2017 Mil-Con measure, which passed last week.

The measure failed to pass due to a series of amendments that poisoned the bill for both Republicans and Democrats. For the Democrats, there were a host of provisions added that dealt  illegal immigration “sanctuary cities” and the Iran nuclear deal among others. Additionally, the President had previously issued a veto threat on the measure over several policy riders, including ones that ease protections for an endangered fish to allow more water to be diverted within drought-stricken California as well as provisions to prevent implementation of Clean Water Act regulations..

The damning amendment for conservative Republicans was an added last night by Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) and passed by a vote of 223-195, which would bar federal contractors from discriminating against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.The Maloney amendment was first offered on the House FY2017 Mil-Con bill, which appeared to pass 217-206, but ultimately was defeated after the Leadership’s effort switched enough Republican votes to defeat the measure, 212-213. Many House Republicans opposed the amendment because it would have the effect of enacting into law a 2014 Executive Order by President Barack Obama.

Upon the amendment’s failure on the FY2017 Mil-Con bill, Rep. Maloney insisted he would continue to offer the amendment, or similar to each subsequent appropriations measure. This position lead to the House Republicans changing their tactics on future appropriations considered on the Floor, but not until after the HR5055, the FY2017 E&W bill was already on the Floor for consideration.

Ultimately, just 106 Republicans voted in favor of the bill, while 130 voted against it. There were only six Democratic votes in favor as well, with 175 opposed.

With the failure of the bill, the House recessed for the Memorial Day Recess period.

White House Threaten Veto on House FY 2017 E&W Bill

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This week, the House is expected to consider on the House Floor HR 5055, Energy and Water Appropriations for FY 2017. The bill provides a total of $37.4 billion in funding subject to discretionary caps for FY 2017 for the Energy Department and federal water projects, $259 million more than comparable FY 2016 funding and $168 million more than requested. On a programmatic level, after factoring out rescissions and other scorekeeping adjustments, it provides a total of $37.7 billion to the departments and agencies funded by the measure, $350 million more than the current level and $88 million more than requested. Compared with current funding, the measure increases funding for the Army Corps of Engineers by 2%, nuclear weapons activities by 4% and fossil fuels energy research by 2%. It decreases funding for nuclear nonproliferation programs by 6%, the Bureau of Reclamation by 10% and research on renewable-energy programs by 12%.

The White House has issued a veto threat though a Statement of Administrative Policy (SAP) late yesterday. The Administration cites the failure to adequately or robustly fund energy research accounts. This is not the first, nor likely the last veto threat of the fiscal year.

Read the SAP here.

Veto Threat on Senate’s FY2017 T-HUD/Mil-Con Package

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The White House issued a Statement of Administrative Policy (SAP) today threatening to veto the FY2017 T-HUD/Mil-Con package the Senate is expected to consider this week.

While, the language in the SAP does not link the veto threat to any particular policy provision in the bill under consideration, which is similar to the open-ended veto threat issued by the Administration as the Senate took up its first appropriations measure, the FY2017 E&W spending bill, the SAP criticizes “problematic ideological provisions” in the legislation, including restrictions on funding related to the Guantanamo Bay detention center. 

House Unveils Zika Funding

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Today, House Appropriations Committee released the House Republicans’ $622 million supplemental appropriations bill to fight Zika. The supplemental is expected to be considered by the House this week.

The bill is fully offset, according to a statement released by the Committee. It uses $352 million in “unobligated” money that was appropriated to address the Ebola outbreak in 2014 and $270 million in “unused administrative funding” from the Health and Human Services Department. Funds would be allocated for FY 2016, which means they could be used during the next five months. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) previously announced that the Committee intends to include Zika funding in the FY 2017 Labor-H bill. 

The proposal is likely to be derided by Democratic Members and the Administration, which have repeatedly called for $1.9 billion in emergency funding without offsets to research and combat the mosquito-borne virus.

 

ED Unveils Pell Dual Enrollment Pilot Program

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The Department of Education unveiled its plan to allow dual enrollments in the Pell grant program today. The plan, which would take place in the 2016-2017 school year, would allow high school students, who are Pell-eligible, to pay for and enroll in college classes using Pell Grant funds.

At a cost of $20 million, this latest experimental site will benefit up to 10,000 low-income students who will be able to enroll in college coursework while still moving through high school. Dual enrollment and early college programs have been shown to boost high school grades and college persistence and graduation rates. However, most students cover the tuition out-of-pocket at nearly half of colleges that offer dual enrollment.

ED will publish a notice in the Federal Register next week inviting colleges, in partnership with public secondary schools or local education agencies, to apply to participate.

Read the Department of Ed’s blog post about the program here.