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Category: On the Hill

Energy Production Legislation Debated

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This morning the House will continue debate on the Strategic Energy Production Act of 2012 (HR 4480), which seeks to increase domestic oil and gas production and reduce regulation of the energy industry in order to reduce energy prices and boost economic growth. This measure is the result of compiling the text of 7 separate bills – two reported by the Energy and Commerce Committee and five reported by the Natural Resources Committee. The new comprehensive bill would delay implementation of certain EPA air quality and fuels regulations, and create an interagency committee to review the impact of EPA rules and regulations on energy prices and the broader economy. It also changes the management of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to require additional oil and gas leasing on federal public lands and waters commensurate with a release of the Reserve’s oil.

More specifically, the bill requires the Interior Department to develop a strategic plan for the nation’s energy needs over 30 years and set domestic production goals to meet demand; increases the amount of federal land available for energy production and streamlines the process for approving drilling permits; and sets new standards for judicial review of civil actions filed against energy lease sales or drilling permits.

Several amendments will be considered today, with a final vote predicted for this afternoon.

This Week in Congress

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The House was in recess last week, while the Senate kept itself busy with continued consideration of the “Farm Bill”. This bill authorizes agricultural research programs, as well as a host of other programs that support the US agriculture industry. The Senate Appropriations Committee also considered a few more spending bills, including the FYFiscal Year 2013 Financial Services spending bill and the FYFiscal Year 2013 Labor-HHS-Education bill, which funds the National Institutes of Health. Both the House and Senate will be in session this week, beginning the busy rush that will lead up to the 4th of July recess week.

Appropriations & the Sequester:  Having passed nearly half their annual spending bills, House appropriators return this week expecting to take on three additional FY 2013 measures:  Interior-Environment, Transportation-HUD, and Agriculture. However, slow-moving negotiations on a long-term surface transportation reauthorization (highway and transit programs) could force leaders to hold off on moving the spending bill for the departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which would provide $51.6 billion in discretionary funding.

Appropriators from both chambers are seeking answers from the Obama Administration on how it plans to carry out automatic spending cuts (sequester) early next year, as directed by the Budget Control Act approved last August.  Senate appropriators unanimously backed a recent provision that would require the administration to report to Congress with details about how the sequester would be applied. That provision in the Senate Financial Services Appropriation bill is nearly identical to language found in the House Financial Services draft bill. It would require the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which is funded under the measure, to send Congress a list of each account that would be subject to the automatic cuts, organized by appropriations subcommittee, within 60 days of enactment. It also would require the President to report within 30 days on how the sequester would be applied for FY 2013 based either on appropriations bills or the current rate of a continuing resolution (CR), if one is in effect.

Surface Transportation Negotiations:  House and Senate negotiators say they are still talking about a new surface transportation bill but the two chambers now face a serious schedule crunch. The House officially gets back to work this afternoon following a weeklong recess, which leaves just two weeks of work before the next scheduled recess period. With the two sides still so far apart on big issues, more observers now think Congress will have to extend current road and transit programs so they don’t expire at the end of this month.

The next two weeks is critical for lawmakers as they try to finish the highway bill, and at the same time they are negotiating final legislation on student loan interest rates, flood insurance, Food and Drug Administration user fees, and farm policy. And to add fuel to the fire, their attention could be diverted at any moment from a pending Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act.

Senate L-HHS-ED Appropriations

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Earlier today, the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), Education Appropriations Subcommittee approved their FY 2013 appropriations measure by a vote of 10-7.  That bill would provide $158.8 billion in discretionary spending for the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, as well as related agencies.  This is about $2 billion more than the FY 2012 level and roughly equal to the President’s budget request.  The bill includes a discretionary program level of $12.342 billion for the Department of Labor (FY 2012 level $12.553 billion), $71.0 billion for the Department of HHS (FY 2012 level $69.62 billion), $68.52 billion for the Department of Education (FY 2012 level $68.112 billion) and $14.15 billion for related agencies (FY 2012 level $13.832 billion).

The full Senate Appropriations Committee plans to markup the bill on Thursday.  At this time, we hope to also see the report accompanying the bill, which will provide more detailed information on how funds are to be spent within each of the programs.  Stay tuned for more information.

You can read a summary of the bill on the Senate Appropriations Committee web page.

This Week in Congress

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Senate appropriators are scheduled to release their Labor-HHS-Education spending bill at a subcommittee markup Tuesday. This tends to be the most controversial appropriations measure each year and will likely receive a fair amount of Republican opposition given provisions that would fund key elements of the 2010 health care and financial regulatory overhauls. Action on the spending measure comes as lawmakers anticipate a Supreme Court ruling on the health care overhaul later this month. The House has not yet released its Labor-HHS-Education bill but has indicated they will do so by the end of June.

Meanwhile, there are two authorizing measures moving their way through the messy legislative process: Highways and Transit, and the Farm Bill. Congress has until the end of June to reauthorize the highway and transit bill or settle for another extension of current spending authority. If conferees don’t have the major elements of a deal put together when the House gets back from their recess next week, the odds are against getting a new surface transportation bill before the November election. The Office of Federal Relations continues to urge our delegation and the conferees to retain language in the bill to reauthorize the University Transportation Centers (UTCs) in their current configuration. UW operates the Region X UTC, which was re-launched last month as the PacTrans Center.

The Senate is expected to spend most of this week considering the five-year farm bill. In a policy statement released June 7, the Obama administration expressed disappointment that the $969 billion measure wouldn’t achieve the savings it seeks in crop insurance and the commodity program. The leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee have argued that reducing premium subsidies for crop insurance, something the president proposed in his 2013 budget request, might cause farmers to leave the program or reduce their level of coverage, which ultimately could cost the federal government in the event of a disaster. But critics of the program argue that the federal government is subsidizing private insurance companies and well-financed farm operations. Several research programs are also authorized in this bill, which could impact UW research efforts on biofuels, forestry, and resource management.

Today in Congress

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The Senate’s in at 9:30am and is expected to hold a key procedural vote on the farm bill at 10:30am. The House is in at 10:00am with first votes expected between 1:30—2:30pm and last votes expected between 10:00—11:00pm. The House is set to repeal parts of the health care act, including the medical device tax. It will also continue consideration of the Homeland Security appropriations bill, and vote on a motion to instruct conferees on the highway bill. The House Transportation-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee marks up its FY2013 spending bill.