Progress This Week

Posted on June 30, 2011October 17, 2012

Congressional Schedule: The House is in recess this week and the Senate is scheduled for recess next week (week of July 4^th). The House has another recess scheduled for the week of July 18^th, and both chambers have recess scheduled for the month on August (August 8^th through September 6^th).

Debt Negotiations Continue: Yesterday, President Obama used a White House news conference to urge lawmakers to “do their job” and make the “tough choices” needed to get the nation’s fiscal house in order as the August 2^nd deadline for raising the debt ceiling approaches. He said those choices might include a Medicare overhaul, cuts in defense spending, and increasing taxes. Calling the early August date a “hard deadline,” Obama said lawmakers should scrap any recesses until they hammer out a budget deal. The House has been in recess this week and has another recess schedule for the week of July 18^th. The Senate is scheduled to be in recess next week.

Appropriations Update: The Senate Appropriations Committee will hold its first markup of FY12 spending legislation today, starting with the least controversial of the 12 annual bills — the measure funding veterans’ programs and military construction. The House passed its FY12 Military Construction-VA bill on June 14^th. Additionally, the House has already approved FY12 bills for Agriculture and Homeland Security, and the Defense and Financial Services bills have been approved by committee and are ready for floor action.

Pell Grant Program Vulnerable: Amid a political climate in congress where virtually every corner of federal spending is in jeopardy, the Administration says it wants to protect Pell grants for low-income college students. But the quasi-entitlement program faces a huge funding shortfall for FY12 and has become a tempting target for Republican budget hawks, who say that it is a prime example of overspending and “promises we can’t keep.” Those close to talks on a debt reduction deal are saying little about which programs are likely to be on the chopping block, but education experts say the large increases required to sustain the Pell grant program make it particularly vulnerable.

The Pell grant program is one of the federal government’s largest education initiatives, and has been one of President’s top priorities. The program faces a shortfall each year because it is partially funded through discretionary spending, not just mandatory dollars that would sustain it automatically. With the economic difficulties of the past few years, more people are qualifying for the grant and more people are going back to school to earn degrees, leaving the program strapped for cash. Program costs have more than doubled since 2008, from $16 billion to an estimated $35 billion in FY12. In order to maintain the current $5,550 maximum award, lawmakers must make up for an estimated $11 billion shortfall. Lawmakers in both parties are looking at proposals to restructure the Pell grant program to reduce costs, but those decisions are unlikely to be made until after the White House and congressional leaders negotiate a deficit reduction plan.

Bipartisan Support for Tax Reform: Leaders of the Senate Finance Committee sounded a rare bipartisan note Wednesday on a tax issue. They called for scrapping the current code and replacing it with a far simpler one that would help increase federal revenue. Lawmakers said making it easier for individuals and businesses to pay taxes would go a long way toward closing the $300 billion gap between taxes actually owed and those that are paid. The remarks came at the latest in a series of Senate Finance hearings on rewriting the tax code.

Congressional Pay Freeze: Lawmakers in both the House and Senate have introduced nearly 20 pieces of legislation this year to try and slash or freeze their own paychecks for 2013. Attacks on their six-figure salaries have become increasingly popular in recent years, as members face the wrath of constituents dissatisfied with the state of the economy and often plagued by personal financial challenges themselves. With heated discussions under way on whether to raise the debt ceiling by August 2^nd, several lawmakers have introduced bills that would nix any congressional increase in pay for every year that the government runs a deficit. The last pay increase members received was in 2009, when they got a 2.8 percent raise. The House and Senate have frozen their salaries for 2011 and 2012 at $174,000. But pay raises for 2013 are still in order. Members of Congress, under current law, automatically receive a cost-of-living pay adjustment each year unless they vote against it, as they’ve done each year since 2010.

Immigration Reform Legislation Begins to Emerge: On June 22 Senator Menendez (D-NJ) reintroduced the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2011 (S 1258). As in past years, his legislation focuses primarily on issues such as border security and guest worker visas, but it also includes language that would exempt individuals with an “advanced degree” in a science, math, or engineering field from visa caps. Meanwhile, on June 14 Congresswoman Lofgren (D-CA) introduced the Immigration Driving Entrepreneurship in America (IDEA) Act of 2011 (HR 2161), which would ease green-card applications for non-immigrants with advanced STEM degrees, but would also protect fair wages. The primary legislative driver, however, for comprehensive immigration reform in the Congress is the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act of 2011, also known as the DREAM Act of 2011, which does not address foreign nationals studying in a STEM field. The DREAM Act has been reintroduced in both the House (HR 1842) and the Senate (S 952).

DOE Offers $120 Million to Support Innovative Manufacturing Processes: As part the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership launched June 24^th by President Obama, the Department of Energy is offering an investment of up to $120 million over three years to develop transformational manufacturing technologies and innovative materials. The Advanced Manufacturing Partnership is a national effort bringing together industry, universities, and the federal government to invest in emerging technologies that will create high-quality manufacturing jobs and enhance US competitiveness. For more information, see the funding opportunity announcement and the DOE press release.

Navy Increases Support for STEM Education: Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced the Navy’s commitment to improve science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. The Navy will increase funding for STEM education initiatives from $54 million in 2010 to over $100 million by 2015. The Navy views this as an investment in its future workforce.

The Week in Review

Posted on June 24, 2011October 17, 2012

Calendar: The House is preparing to begin its Fourth of July holiday recess today and is slated to return July 5, while the Senate remains in session throughout next week before their scheduled recess during the week of July 4th.

Deficit Negotiations Stalled: Attempts by Congress and the White House to broker a budget deal that would allow for raising the debt ceiling stalled Thursday as two key Republican negotiators walked away from the table, blaming the impasse on Democratic demands for tax increases. Debt reduction talks now move up to the highest levels, between President Obama and House Speaker Boehner, as had been expected to occur eventually. In a press conference yesterday morning, Boehner said that to reach an agreement by the end of this month “the president is going to have to engage,” while also adding that “tax hikes are off the table.” Boehner also reiterated that House Republicans would not agree to raise the debt limit “without serious spending cuts and reforms to the way we spend the American people’s money.”

House Science Committee Examines NOAA’s Climate Service: On Thursday this week, the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology held a hearing to review the Administration’s FY12 budget request proposal to reorganize the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to create a Climate Service. NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco was taken to task by the committee chair for her agency’s slow response to committee member’s questions over the past several months. Read more at the House Science Committee web page.

Defense Appropriations Moves Forward: On Thursday, the House began work on its FY12 Defense appropriations bill. Numerous objections were raised by the White House regarding funding levels for various activities, citing insufficient funding for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for high-priority science and technology programs, acquisitions of certain satellites and classified programs, and for the Air Force’s Rockey Systems Launch Program. Additionally, the White House objects to language in the bill that would limit the use of funds to transfer detainees held at the US Naval base in Guantanamo Bay. Floor debate on this bill will resume when the House returns from recess.

Patent Overhaul Approved in House: The House passed a broad overhaul of the US patent system Thursday, after overcoming opposition to changes in provisions related to patent office fees. But the changes will make it harder for the House and Senate to agree on a final compromise on the legislation. The bill would reform how the US Patent and Trademark Office is funded and how it regulates inventions. Despite the ultimate 304-117 victory in the House, the bill has a dim future in the Senate where a handful of Senators have already expressed their opposition to the bill.

FY11 Funding for University Link: The Federal Transit Administration has announced its FY11 New Starts and Small Starts funding. The agency is doling out money to eight existing full funding grant agreements, four full funding grant agreement projects listed as pending, six projects recommended for future full funding grant agreements, and nine Small Starts recommended for funding. Sound Transit’s University Link LRT Extension will receive $110,000,000 as expected.

Progress on Debt and FY12 Appropriations

Posted on June 22, 2011October 17, 2012

FY12 Appropriations

Senate appropriators have been holding off on their FY12 bills, waiting for an agreement on overall discretionary spending to be reached through the ongoing bipartisan debt reduction talks. But because the end of the current fiscal year is just over three months away, they indicated yesterday that the Senate would move forward with their process despite not having a top-line discretionary number. The Senate Appropriations Committee will reveal their first FY12 spending bill next week. The first bill to be considered will be the Military Construction-VA bill. The House version of that bill passed the House on June 14, and the Senate subcommittee has indicated that they will follow the House’s lead and produce a similar bill. The House bill boosts funding for VA programs and benefits, while reducing military construction spending because of a lower need for base-closing funds. Overall discretionary spending is reduced by just $615 million. The Senate subcommittee markup is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, June 28^th.

In addition to the Military-VA bill, the House has passed two other bills — Homeland Security and Agriculture. On Thursday, the House is set to begin debate on its FY12 Defense bill. Defense is the only House bill slated to get a spending boost over current levels, and might be a likely candidate for quick Senate consideration.

Debt Limit

The bipartisan debt reduction group being led by Vice President Biden meets again today, as leaders in both chambers yesterday said every effort should be made to reach a long-term deal and avoid a short-term increase in the debt limit as Senate Minority Leader McConnell (R-KY) suggested. McConnell believes that a short-term increase in the debt limit might be necessary if a major debt reduction deal involving entitlements cannot be reached before the August 2^nd deadline for raising the debt limit.

Reaching a majority in the House for any increase in the debt limit will be a challenge, which may have factored into McConnell’s contingency planning for a short-term measure as a backup. A number of House GOP freshmen promised they would never vote to increase the debt limit, while many others, along with GOP conservatives, want fundamental changes to dramatically cut the size of government. Negotiators may know by the end of the week whether a deal is possible. Central to that effort is resolving questions regarding revenues and entitlements, with debate over entitlements focused on whether there should be fundamental changes to Medicare and Medicaid as proposed by House Republicans, or whether billions could be saved through various adjustments to the programs, such as raising Medicare co-payments or deductibles.

First FY12 Appropriations Bill Approved

Posted on June 3, 2011October 17, 2012

Appropriations

On Thursday the House passed their FY12 Homeland Security bill, its first FY12 appropriations measure of the year. Democrats have declared the funding levels in the bill insufficient and are particularly unhappy about cuts to homeland security and first responder grants, although some funding to hire/re-hire/retain firefighters was restored by an amendment on Wednesday. Overall, twenty Republicans opposed the bill, mostly conservatives who wanted to cut spending in the bill further. An amendment by Indiana Republican Todd Rokita to cut most accounts across-the-board by 10 percent was rejected, 110-312 – but that’s 110 members that agree that more drastic cuts are necessary.

Also on Thursday the House began debate on its FY12 Military Construction-VA spending bill. There is some controversy with this bill, mostly related to a procedure rule that will allow members to vote on VA funding independent of the Military funding. This could put VA funding in jeopardy as many conservatives want to curtail VA spending. Further consideration of the measure won’t occur until the House returns from its one-week recess on June 13^th.

Finally, the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee approved its draft FY12 spending measure by voice vote on Thursday. The draft measure reflects the Republican’s highest priorities by supporting Energy Department national defense programs and funding water infrastructure and basic science research, at the expense of applied energy research. Overall, the draft House bill provides $30.6 billion in discretionary spending, $1 billion below FY11 enacted levels and $5.9 billion (16 percent) less than the President’s FY12 budget request. The full committee will mark up the measure when the House returns from recess.

Debt Ceiling

Despite new urgency from top congressional leaders that the debt ceiling dispute should be resolved quickly, rank-and-file lawmakers remain deeply divided over how to do it. Both Democrats and Republicans want to avoid instability in the financial markets with a debt showdown, and most agree that something must be done to curb the nation’s deficit. But after a week of meetings with President Obama and other administration officials, several major roadblocks stand in the way of an agreement, particularly the issue of taxes.

Separate events involving Democrats and Republicans on Thursday illustrated the difficulty that negotiators will have in reaching an agreement to reduce deficits. In a meeting with the President, House Democrats stressed that new revenue must be part of any deal to reduce the deficit and raise the nation’s $14.3 trillion debt limit. They urged the President to ensure that tax hikes on the wealthy and an end to tax breaks for oil companies would be part of any agreement reached with Republicans on debt reduction. Republicans continue to insist, however, that tax increases are a non-starter. Democrats also urged Obama not to give too much ground on spending, particularly on Medicare, where Republicans want to fundamentally restructure the program.

Also this week, freshman Republicans met with Treasury Secretary Geithner and came away from that meeting “unimpressed” that the administration was serious about addressing the nation’s fiscal problems. GOP members said Geithner warned of the consequences of failing to raise the debt limit, but were dismayed that he called for higher taxes to help reduce the deficit and failed to specify how the costs of entitlements such as Medicare should be reduced. Republicans are focused on achieving major deficit reduction through cuts in spending, with a particular focus on Medicare.

The hard line being taken by the two parties prompted another credit rating company yesterday to warn that the United States could lose its top credit rating. Moody’s Investor Services said it may lower the US rating if Congress is unable to raise the debt limit and prevent a default. In April, Standard & Poor’s downgraded its outlook on the US credit rating to negative, saying the path to reducing large budget deficits and growing debt was uncertain.

The appropriations and debt limit situations are closely tied together and are created an environment for a “perfect storm” by August. The strong push by Republicans to cut spending is driving the debate on the debt limit – they simply won’t agree to the debt limit issue until the Administration agrees to corresponding spending cuts. It will certainly be a long, hot summer in DC!

FY12 Energy & Water Appropriations

Posted on June 1, 2011October 17, 2012

The House Appropriations Committee today released the FY12 Energy and Water and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, which will be considered in the Energy and Water Subcommittee tomorrow.

The legislation provides the annual funding for the various agencies and programs under the Department of Energy, including the Office of Science, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration, as well as the Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and various regional water and power authorities. The bill released today totals $30.6 billion – a cut of $5.9 billion below the President’s FY12 request and $1 billion below FY11 enacted levels – which brings the total cost of the bill to nearly the FY06 funding level.

Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE): The bill provides $1.3 billion total, $491 million below the FY11 enacted level and $1.9 billion below the President’s request. Of note:

Solar Energy: The bill provides $166 million total, $97 million below the FY11 enacted level and $291 million below the President’s request.
Fuel Efficient Vehicle Technologies: The bill provides $254 million total, $46 million below the FY11 enacted level and -$334 million below the President’s request. These funds are used to improve fuel efficiency with better engines, better batteries and engines that burn clean, domestic fuel. The bill also reduces Vehicle Technology Deployment by more than $200 million, a program which expands electric transportation initiatives.
Building Technologies: The bill provides $150 million total, $61 million below the FY11 enacted level and $321 million below the President’s request. These funds are used to research energy-efficient technologies in buildings which account for roughly 40% of all US energy use. The bill also proves no funds for the Race to the Green competitive grant program which incentives streamlined energy efficiency regulations, codes and performance standards through a competitive grant process.
Biomass and Bio-Refinery Research and Development: The bill provides $150 million total, $33 million below the FY11 enacted level and $191 billion below the President’s request.
Weatherization Assistance: The bill provides $33 million total, $141 million below the FY11 enacted level and $287 million below the President’s request.

View the FY12 Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee Summary Table here.