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Category: Legislation

HASC Passes NDAA

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The House Armed Services Committee once again got its annual National Defense Authorization Act over the finish line this morning. Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) gaveled down at 4:39 a.m. after the panel voted 60-2 to approve the bill and 18 hours after the markup started. Over the course of the session, the panel considered roughly seven dozen amendments – not including those rolled into en bloc packages – with a host of spirited and often lengthy debates.

Overall the NDAA would authorize $495.9 billion in base Pentagon spending, and $611.8 billion in all when the Overseas Contingency Operations budget, Energy Department and mandatory spending are added. The bill is expected to be considered on floor when the House returns the week of May 11, the same week the Senate Armed Services panel will mark up its defense policy measure.

 

House Marks up NDAA TODAY

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The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) is going through its annual ritual of marking up the latest version of the FY16 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which sets defense policy and offers a spending blueprint for appropriators. The marathon markup starts at 10 a.m. and in some years has continued until well past midnight.

The legislation is an annual measure authorizing all defense and defense related programs. A number of amendments are expected including some from HASC Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-WA), who’s still recovering from a recent hip surgery but expects to attend today’s markup.

Additional information on the FY16 NDAA can be found here. 

21st Century Cures Draft Provides $10 Billion Increase for NIH

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Bipartisan House Energy and Commerce Committee leaders have released a discussion draft marking continued progress in the 21st Century Cures Initiative. The discussion draft is the product of months of bipartisan negotiations and bipartisan staff continues working toward finalized legislation.

The biggest and best provision included in the draft provides for an increase in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), both through reauthorization and $10 billion over five years in mandatory funding, starting in FY 2016.

 The discussion draft also includes provisions to:

  • Incorporate the patient perspective in the discovery, development, and delivery process.
  • Foster development of treatments for patients facing serious or life-threatening diseases.
  • Repurpose drugs for serious or life-threatening diseases and conditions.
  • Modernize clinical trials.
  • Break down barriers to increased collaboration and data sharing among patients, researchers, providers, and innovators.
  • Help the development of personalized and precision medicines so the right patient can receive the right treatment at the right time.
  • Provide for continued work in the telehealth space.
  • Advance a truly interoperable health care system.
  • Provide clarity for developers of software products used in health management and medical care.

A complete section-by-section summary of the discussion draft is available online here and a one-page summary is available online here.

White House Issues Veto Threat on Two House Apropriations Bills

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Today, the White House issued a veto threat on two recently marked up House Appropriations bills.  HR 2028 — Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016 and HR 2029 – Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016.

The White House on Tuesday threatened to veto the FY16 Energy and Water Appropriations bill because it “drastically underfunds critical investments.” Republicans are developing FY16 spending bills under the 2011 Budget Control Act’s sequester-reduced spending caps but are providing extra funds for defense through the alternative account. In its statement, the White House also threatened to veto “any other legislation that implements the current Republican budget framework”; it has proposed rolling back sequestration for both defense and non-defense programs.

While a veto threat will not keep the House from considering the measures, it does complicate the funding bills’ futures. The House is expected to consider the FY16 Energy and Water Appropriations legislation for the bulk of the week.

House Releases NASA Authorization

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The House Science Committee released another two year reauthorization, this time it was for NASA. Chairman Lamar Smith released the NASA Authorization Act for 2016 and 2017 today while also announcing the legislation’s markup for Thursday at 11 am.   The FY2016 and 2017 authorization would make deep cuts to NASA’s earth science program under either of the two funding scenarios laid out in the bill – “aspirational” or “constrained.” Top-line funding for NASA would be the same as the President’s FY2016 budget request ($18.5 billion) under the aspirational level or the same as its current funding ($18.0 billion) under the constrained scenario.  Overall, the bill favors human space exploration, planetary science, and astrophysics.

The funding section is complicated because two budget levels are recommended depending on whether Congress removes the caps set by the 2011 Budget Control Act (BCA).

The bulk of the 129-page bill is policy provisions that appear to be virtually identical to those passed by the House in February in the 2015 NASA Authorization Act. That bill’s funding recommendations were only for FY2015, which is in progress and reflected what had already been appropriated. This Republican-sponsored bill substitutes funding recommendations for the next two years, FY2016 and FY2017.

In February of this year, the House Science Committee introduced and passed the following day HR 810- the 2015 NASA Authorization Act. It also passed the full House by voice vote. The bill was virtually identical to the FY2014 NASA Authorization Act passed by the House last year by a vote of 401-2.

Click here to read the text of the NASA Authorization Act for 2016 and 2017.