This Week on the Hill
The House and Senate are both in session this week as work continues on crafting a measure to keep the government running for federal fiscal year 2017, which begins on October 1.
The House returns today but does not have votes scheduled until Tuesday. On Tuesday it is scheduled to consider 35 bills under suspension of the rules, including H.R. 670, the Special Needs Trust Fairness and Medicaid Improvement Act and H.R. 5963, the Supporting Youth Opportunity and Preventing Delinquency Act (see more on this bill below). For Wednesday and the balance of the week, the House is scheduled to consider 14 bills under suspension of the rules and five bills subject to a rule. One bill up for consideration is H.R. 2315, the Mobile Workforce State Income Tax Simplification Act of 2015; this bill seeks to address the issues of residents who live in one state but work and earn income in another, and would preempt the authority of states to tax the income of certain residents who work in a state fewer than 30 working days a year. Several committees have also scheduled hearings this week: the Homeland Security Committee scheduled a hearing Wednesday on stopping future terror attacks; the Natural Resources Committee scheduled a hearing Wednesday on federal management of wolves; and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee scheduled a hearing Wednesday on FEMA’s role in local land use development decisions.
The Senate has scheduled a procedural vote tonight for the fiscal year 2017 continuing resolution. The Senate may also consider S. 3136, a child nutrition bill (see more on this bill below). Several committees have also scheduled hearings this week: the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee scheduled a hearing Wednesday on combating the opioid epidemic; the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee scheduled a hearing Wednesday on the state of the farm economy; and the Appropriations Agriculture-FDA Subcommittee scheduled a hearing Wednesday on the FDA’s role in the generic drug marketplace.
Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Update
The Senate continues negotiations on a continuing resolution (CR) that would fund the government through December 9. A procedural vote for the CR legislative vehicle (H.R. 5325) has been scheduled for the Senate floor today at 5:30 pm but if a deal has not been reached, this vote could be postponed. While there appears to be agreement on the overall discretionary funding limit ($1.067 trillion), unresolved issues as of last week included disaster aid for Louisiana and other states with flood disasters, the transfer of internet oversight to an international body, a funding package for Zika, and a provision to restart large loans from the Export-Import Bank.
Senate Passes Water Resources Development Act, Uncertain Future in the House
Last week the Senate voted 95-3 to approve reauthorization of the Water Resources Development Act (S. 2848). The bill authorizes $10.6 billion for more than 30 water projects, including watershed restoration efforts, repairs and improvements to waterways and flood-control systems, and drinking water infrastructure programs. The bill also includes $220 million in loans and grants to assist Flint, MI and other communities with drinking water repair needs; $100 million for water infrastructure improvements available to “states with emergency drinking water situations” via state revolving fund loans; $70 million in Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) credit subsidies; and $50 million for health screening and education grants. The House’s version of the water bill (H.R. 5303) does not include the Flint provision, which would require a conference to reconcile the different bills. Some members are advocating attaching the Flint provision to the continuing resolution needed to keep the government running after October 1. The bill language as passed by the Senate can be found here.
Perkins Reauthorization Bill May Be Fast Tracked
The House passed its version of a bill by a vote of 405-5 that reauthorizes a program to train students for unfilled jobs as a Senate version may be released and marked up this week. The bill (H.R. 5587) updates the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, which was last reauthorized in 2006. The federal program helps fund state and locally-developed training to prepare students for high-skilled jobs; proposed changes in the measure would give states and districts more control over their programs. The measure encourages training programs to collaborate with area employers to get an improved sense of what skills and training would be needed, while giving more power to the states in formulating their plans and accountability criteria, subject to approval from the U.S. Department of Education. The Senate version of the bill has not been released but it is scheduled for markup on Wednesday by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. If the measure is not passed before the end of the year, funding would continue but updates to the program would not be enacted. The new bill would require a gradual increase in funding to $1.23 billion in fiscal 2022, costing $7.1 billion between fiscal 2017 and fiscal 2022.
Senate Moves Child Nutrition Bill, May Be Considered This Week
Last week Senator Pat Roberts (R-KY) and Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) filed to expedite a bill (S. 3136) reauthorizing the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010. If there are no objections to expediting the bill, it could pass on the floor by unanimous consent and may be considered as early as Tuesday. The legislation sets policies for federal school lunch and breakfast programs, child summer meal programs, after-school and summer meal programs for low-income children, and the Women, Infants and Children supplemental nutrition program. The Senate proposal changes the primary grantee for the $22.1 billion school lunch program from “state educational agencies” to “authorized state agencies” determined by the governor. The bill also shifts the period that states must inspect schools to ensure they are in compliance with federal child nutrition rules from every 3 years to every 5 years. The House Education and the Workforce Committee advanced its bill (H.R. 5003) in May on a party-line vote.
CMS Finalizes Rule on Medicare and Medicaid Emergency Preparedness
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized a rule that will require certain participating providers and suppliers to adequately plan for disasters and coordinate with federal, state, and local emergency preparedness systems. The final rule addresses three key essentials CMS believes is necessary for maintaining access to healthcare services during emergencies: safeguarding human resources, maintaining business continuity, and protecting physical resources. The four elements of the emergency preparedness program are: risk assessment and emergency planning; policies and procedures; communication plan; and training and testing. These regulations are effective on November 15, 2016. Health care providers and suppliers affected by this rule must comply and implement all regulations by November 15, 2017.
FCC Releases Final Rate Caps for Inmate Calls
The Federal Communications Commission released a final rule last week that amends its rate caps for inmate calling services. According to the rule, these changes are intended to better allow inmate calling services (ICS) providers to recover costs incurred as a result of providing inmate calling services, including the costs of reimbursing facilities for any reasonable costs they may incur. The final rule increases the rate caps to reflect the costs facilities may incur and to ensure further deployment of ICS. Most provisions of the final rule take effect on March 13, 2017.
House Committee Votes to Reauthorize Juvenile Delinquency Prevention Act
Last week the House Committee on Education and the Workforce unanimously approved by voice vote a bill that reauthorizes the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevent Act (JJDPA). The Supporting Youth Opportunity and Preventing Delinquency Act (H.R. 5963) aims to better aid state and local entities in their efforts to serve at-risk youth and juvenile offenders. The bill makes several changes to required state plans by addressing input from stakeholders and ensuring the plans take into account the most vulnerable juvenile populations; encourages collaboration among state leaders to develop a better transition out of the juvenile justice system; and phases out a policy that allows children to be detained for status offenses (offenses that would not be crimes if committed by adults). The bill also restructures an existing local delinquency-prevention grant program to better assess and respond to unmet community needs; eligible states will award five-year grants to help local leaders meet those specific needs. The Senate passed its version of the reauthorization (S. 1169) out of committee last December but it is uncertain if a reconciled bill can receive approval in both chambers before the end of the legislative calendar in December. A fact sheet on the House bill can be found here and a summary can be found here.
Senate Agriculture Committee Approves Wildfire Funding by Party-Line Vote
On Tuesday the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry voted along party lines to approve a forest management bill (H.R. 2647) that would expedite environmental reviews of logging and brush removal projects and provide a way for federal agencies to tap federal disaster funds to cover wildfire costs. Many members expressed concerns that a particularly bad fire season could deplete funds from the disaster fund maintained by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The departments of Agriculture and Interior would be eligible for disaster funding if the president issues a declaration that a major wildfire disaster exists; however, there are no caps on the amount of funds the agencies could receive. A separate provision would prohibit the Forest Service from shifting funds from non-fire accounts to cover wildfire costs when funds allocated for fire activities are depleted. Due to member concerns over the disaster funding, changes are expected as the bill proceeds through the markup process.
Recently Released Reports
Tax Incentive Evaluation in 2016-in Law and Practice, The Pew Charitable Trusts
Medicaid: Key Policy and Data Considerations for Designing a Per Capita Cap on Federal Funding, U.S. Government Accountability Office
The Impact of the Opioid Crisis on the Healthcare System: A Study of Privately Billed Services, FAIR Health, Inc.
Census of Problem-Solving Courts, 2012, Bureau of Justice Statistics
Medicaid High-Need, High-Cost Programs: Promising Practices for Evaluation Metrics, National Governors Association
Economic Development Administration 2015 Annual Report, U.S. Department of Commerce
Economic News
Median Household Incomes Rose in 2015 as Poverty Rate Dropped
Last week the U.S. Census Bureau released two reports showing that real median household income increased by 5.2 percent between 2014 and 2015 while the official poverty rate decreased 1.2 percentage points. At the same time, the percentage of people without health insurance coverage decreased. The reports are Income and Poverty in the United States: 2015 and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2015. Median household income in the United States in 2015 was $56,516, an increase in real terms of 5.2 percent from the 2014 median income of $53,718. This is the first annual increase in median household income since 2007. The nation’s official poverty rate in 2015 was 13.5 percent, with 43.1 million people in poverty, 3.5 million fewer than in 2014. The 1.2 percentage point decrease in the poverty rate from 2014 to 2015 represents the largest annual percentage point drop in poverty since 1999. The Census Bureau also released a third report last week, The Supplemental Poverty Measure: 2015, which describes research showing a different way of measuring poverty in the U.S. and includes estimates for numerous demographic groups, including state-level estimates.