Weekly Legislative Update

February 26, 2024

Congressional Outlook

The House and Senate are in session this week after last week’s recess, returning Wednesday and Monday, respectively. After Congress failed to release Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 government funding legislation on Sunday, the odds of at least a temporary partial federal government shutdown are high. Lawmakers will face their first government funding deadline on Friday, March 1.


The prospects of a partial government shutdown skyrocketed over the weekend when Congressional leaders could not work out differences over policy riders to release bill text for the bills funding the Departments of Agriculture, Energy, Veterans Affairs, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, in addition to the Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Bureau of Reclamation, among other smaller agencies, that expire on Friday. Top negotiators Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) began finger-pointing as Congress needed to unveil legislative text by Sunday to ensure Congress would have enough procedural time to pass the bill. In a Dear Colleague letter sent on Sunday, Leader Schumer said that Democrats and Republicans must work together to avoid a partial government shutdown and “fulfill our shared responsibility to protect our national security both at home and abroad.” The main policy issues that are holding up the spending bills are $1 billion in Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) funding, whether the VA can send information on veterans to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), earmarks which many Republicans oppose, and other controversial policy riders. On Tuesday, President Joe Biden will host the top four congressional leaders at the White House to work on avoiding a partial government shutdown and negotiate passage of the $95.3 billion in emergency aid for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and the Indo-Pacific region the Senate approved on February 13 by a vote of 70-29

 

If Congress cannot pass final, negotiated funding for the Agriculture-FDA, Energy and Water, Military Construction-VA, and Transportation-HUD bills this week, lawmakers may pivot to a Friday, March 22 stopgap continuing resolution (CR), to avoid a partial shutdown and provide several additional weeks to complete work on the FY24 spending bills. If lawmakers opt for another short-term CR, a new deadline of April 30, 2024 would become relevant, as all FY24 non-defense spending will face an effective automatic five percent funding cut, defense spending will incur a one percent cut for the duration of FY24, and FY24 earmarks would be in serious jeopardy if full-year funding does not pass. If a partial government shutdown were to occur beginning on Saturday, March 2, thousands of career federal employees at the aforementioned departments and agencies would be furloughed without pay until Congress passed some type of funding bill. The remaining federal departments and agencies covered by the eight remaining spending bills are currently funded through Friday, March 8.

 

The House will consider twelve bills under suspension of the rules, including the Airport and Airway Extension Act of 2024, which extends Federal Authorization Administration (FAA) authorities and Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF) revenue collections from March 8 to May 10, 2024. The House will also consider the Encouraging Success Act (H.R. 6591), requiring the Small Business Administration to regularly reassess the asset and net worth thresholds for qualifying as an economically disadvantaged individual. The Senate will see a delay in addressing the impeachment articles of Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas as House Speaker Johnson will hold off on signing and sending the articles of impeachment to the upper chamber until after Congress has passed FY24 spending legislation. When the Senate does turn to the articles of impeachment, many expect the chamber to quickly reject the effort by a simple majority vote. The Senate will also vote this week on Jacqueline Becerra and David Leibowitz to be U.S. District Judges for the Southern District of Florida and Hampton Dellinger to be Special Counsel at the U.S. Office of Special Counsel for a term of five years.

 

For the remainder of the week, the Senate will hold several committee hearings, including an Environment and Public Works hearing on “Water Resources Development Act 2024: USACE Water Infrastructure Projects, Programs, and Priorities;” an Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee hearing on “Oversight of the Department of Agriculture” with testimony from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack; a Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing on “The Retirement Crisis: Examining Pension Plans.” Representative-elect Tom Suozzi (D-NY) will be sworn into Congress this Wednesday, updating the makeup of the House of Representatives to 213 Democrats and 219 Republicans (with three current vacancies in New York, Ohio, and California).

Bills and Regulations of Interest to You

Bill

Title

Sponsors

Background

H.R. 7412

Rural Housing Voucher Enhancement Act

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX-30)

Addresses several administrative issues within the Rural Housing Voucher Program, enhances the readability of government notices, and bolsters outreach to participating landlords to make affordable housing more accessible for rural residents, especially seniors and individuals with disabilities in affordable housing.

H.R. 7416

Closing the College Hunger Gap Act

Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT-10)

Notifies college students of their eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) based on information reported through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form

H.R. 7429

Negating Neighborhood Noise Act

Rep. Nikema Williams (D-GA-5)

Amends the National Highway System Designation Act of 1995 to permit the construction of certain noise barriers with funds from the Highway Trust Fund.

H.R. 7444

Rural Partnership and Prosperity Act

Rep. Andrea Salinas (D-OR-6)

Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to provide rural partnership program grants and rural partnership technical assistance grants.

H.R. 7445

Airport Immigration Enforcement Act

Rep. Keith Self (R-TX-3)

Prohibits the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration from authorizing airport space to house undocumented migrants.

H.R. 7451

Youth Homelessness Guaranteed Income Pilot Program Act

Rep. Rashida Talib (D-MI-12)

Establishes a pilot program to provide financial and non-financial housing assistance to certain homeless individuals, to provide for a study of the effects of the pilot program.

H.R. 7452

Bill for broadband grants to underserved areas

Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ-2)

Directs the Federal Communications Commission to establish a program to make grants to States for the deployment of broadband service in underserved areas by small business broadband providers.

H.R. 7453

Bill prohibiting increases to broadband internet service during major disasters

Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ-2)

Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit providers of broadband internet access service from increasing rates or enforcing data caps or allowances during an emergency or major disaster.

Agency

Title

Proposed Regulation

Comment Deadline

DOA

National Handbook of Conservation Practices for the Natural Resources Conservation Service

NRCS plans to revise the conservation practice standards in the NHCP. This notice provides an overview of the planned changes and gives the public an opportunity to offer comments on the specific conservation practice standards and NRCS's proposed changes.

March 4, 2024

Census

Providing Public Access to the Results of Federally Funded Research

The document outlines the Census Bureau's plan for implementing new requirements to manage the public access of scientific data and publications. Public comments received on the Public Access Plan will inform Census Bureau as it develops policies and procedures to implement the Plan.

March 12, 2024

EPA

Initiation of Prioritization Under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)

EPA seeks comment on prioritization process for five chemical substances as candidates for designation as High-Priority Substances for risk evaluation under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)

March 18, 2024

FCC

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act: Prevention and Elimination of Digital Discrimination

Establishes a framework to facilitate equal access to broadband internet access service by preventing digital discrimination of access.

March 22, 2024 (effective date)

NIH

Inform Development of the FY 2026-2030 NIH Strategic Plan for HIV and HIV-Related Research


Requires the Office of AIDS Research to develop a comprehensive plan, reviewed annually and revised as appropriate, that establishes HIV/AIDS research priorities and serves as a guiding framework for allocation of HIV/AIDS funding across NIH.

April 1, 2024

FEMA

Standard Flood Insurance Policy, Homeowner Flood Form

Revises the Standard Flood Insurance Policy by adding a new Homeowner Flood Form and five accompanying endorsements. The new Homeowner Flood Form would replace the Dwelling Form as a source of coverage for homeowners of one-to-four family residences.

April 8, 2024

Corps of Engineers

Guidelines for Federal Investments in Water Resources

Provides a framework to govern how the Corps would evaluate proposed water resource investments, including identification of which Corps programs and activities are subject to the Principles, Requirements, and Guidelines.

April 15, 2024

FEMA

Individual Assistance Program Equity

Amending its regulations governing the Individual Assistance program to increase equity by simplifying processes, removing barriers to entry, and increasing eligibility for certain types of assistance under the program.

July 22, 2024

FEMA

Individual Assistance Program Equity


Amending its regulations governing the Individual Assistance program to increase equity by simplifying processes, removing barriers to entry, and increasing eligibility for certain types of assistance under the program.

July 22, 2024

Week in Review

Appropriations talks chug along; stopgap eyed as backup plan


Biden is summoning congressional leaders to the White House to talk Ukraine and government funding

 

Freedom Caucus pushes Speaker Johnson for full-year CR in absence of policy concessions


Senate: Leaders seek quick dismissal of impeachment case against Mayorkas