Weekly Legislative Update

March 18, 2024

Congressional Outlook

The House and Senate are in session this week. Congress has until Friday at 11:59 pm ET to pass additional Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 government funding legislation to avoid a partial shutdown for numerous federal departments and agencies amounting to nearly 70 percent of overall discretionary federal funding.

 

Government funding for the Defense, Financial Services-General Government, Labor-Health and Human Services-Education, Legislative Branch, Homeland Security, and State-Foreign Operations spending bills is at the top of the Congressional to-do list, and issues remain unresolved with a Friday deadline looming. Many issues center around funding for the Department of Homeland Security, while the remaining five bills are all but settled. Lawmakers have wavered over whether they will include the Homeland Security spending bill in the second minibus package or work to pass the bill in a standalone manner. Last week, all signs pointed to Congress passing an individual full-year continuing resolution (CR) for the Homeland Security spending bill. President Joe Biden reportedly threatened a veto of the CR proposal of the Homeland Security bill over the weekend. On Sunday, through last minute negotiations, Congress reversed course and decided to include a full-year fiscal 2024 Homeland Security appropriations bill to the minibus package. Congressional leaders, however, have not come to an agreement on specific funding measures within the second FY24 “minibus” spending package, slowing the process of finalizing the overall text. Due to these challenges, Congress will not release text for the funding deal today, missing a critical deadline. In the House, GOP leadership upholds a 72-hour rule, allowing members time to review released bill text. Because of this procedural rule, the potential for a partial government shutdown has increased. A shutdown would mark the latest in the calendar year since 1976.

 

The House will consider eleven bills under suspension of the rules, including the Dr. Michael C. Burgess Preventive Health Savings Act (H.R. 766), which directs the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to more accurately reflect the long-term, cost-saving potential of preventive healthcare initiatives; and the Passport System Reform and Backlog Prevention Act (H.R. 6610), which provides for the modernization of the passport issuance process. The House GOP has named this week “Energy Week” and will also vote on several energy measures, including the Creating Confidence in Clean Water Permitting Act H.R. 7023, a package of bills focusing on streamlining the Clean Water Act (CWA) permitting process with measures to shore up the use of the nationwide permitting program for oil and gas pipelines, blocks the EPA from issuing CWA vetoes in certain circumstances, and shortens the window in which environmental challenges to permits can be filed. The House will also vote on the Protecting American Energy Production Act (H.R. 1121), which prevents the president from declaring a national moratorium on hydraulic fracturing without authorization from Congress; the Restoring American Energy Dominance Act (H.R. 6009), which requires the Bureau of Land Management to withdraw its proposal to modify onshore oil and gas leasing rules; and a bill (H.R. 1023) which repeals the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and methane emissions charges created by the Inflation Reduction Act. The White House has issued three Statements of Administration Policy in opposition to several of the measures proposed during “Energy Week.” The Senate will vote this week on the nominations of Nicole Berner to be a U.S. Circuit Judge for the Fourth Circuit, Edward Kiel to be a U.S. District Judge for the District of New Jersey, and Eumi Lee to be a U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of California.

 

For the remainder of the week, the House will hold several hearings, including an Appropriations Labor-HHS-Education subcommittee hearing on the “FY 2025 Budget Request for the Department of Health and Human Services with Testimony from Secretary Xavier Becerra;” an Appropriations Energy and Water Development subcommittee hearing on the “FY 2025 Budget Request for the Department of Energy with Testimony from Secretary Jennifer Granholm;” an Appropriations Agriculture subcommittee hearing on the “FY 2025 Budget Request for the Department of Agriculture with Testimony from Secretary Thomas Vilsack;” and an Appropriations Financial Services subcommittee hearing on “Budget and Oversight Hearing - President Biden’s Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request and Economic Outlook with Testimony from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, OMB Director Shalanda Young, and Chairman of the Council on Economic Advisors Jared Bernstein.” The House will also hold a Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing on “Influence Peddling: Examining Joe Biden’s Abuse of Public Office.” The Senate will hold several committee hearings, including a Finance Committee hearing on the “FY 2025 Budget Request for the Department of Treasury with Testimony from Secretary Janet Yellen;” a Small Business Committee hearing on the “FY 2025 Budget Request for the Small Business Administration with Testimony from Administrator Isabella Guzman;” a Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing titled “Reforming Federal Records Management to Improve Transparency and Accountability; and an Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on “Examining PFAS as Hazardous Substances.

 

Voters in California’s 20th congressional district head to the polls on Tuesday to vote in a special primary election to determine who will fill the vacancy for the remainder of the 118th Congress created when former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) resigned from Congress on December 31, 2023. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, a special general election between the top two vote-getters will occur on May 21. Voters in Illinois and Ohio will vote in their congressional and presidential primary elections on Tuesday, while voters in Arizona, Florida, and Kansas will vote in their presidential primary elections. 

Bills and Regulations of Interest to You

Bill

Title

Sponsors

Background

H.R. 7611


Facilitating the Reshoring of Energy Grid Component Manufacturing Act of 2024

Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA-3)

Requires the Secretary of Energy to establish a program to provide loans to manufacturers of energy grid products and components.

S. 3904

Bill to improve the Family Self-Sufficiency Program

Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI)

Establishes a pilot program to improve the family self-sufficiency program.

S. 3905

Bill to increase loan limits and available use for housing

Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI)

Amends title I of the National Housing Act to increase the loan limits and clarify that property improvement loans may be used for construction of accessory dwelling units.

H.R. 7634

Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act

Rep. Mike Levin (D-CA-49)

Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to promulgate certain limitations with respect to pre-production plastic pellet pollution.

S. 3907

Literacy Improvement for Transformation (LIFT) Act

Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM)

Aims to improve literacy outcomes for all students by ensuring that every K-12 public school has at least one full-time reading or literacy specialist on staff.

S. 3910

Yes In God’s Back Yard (YIGBY) Act

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH)

Provides technical assistance and grants for faith-based organizations, institutions of higher education, and local governments to increase the supply of affordable rental housing.

S. 3918

Advancing Grid-Enhancing Technologies (GETs) Act

Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT)

Requires the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to establish a shared savings incentive to return a portion of the savings attributable to an investment in grid-enhancing technology to the developer of that grid-enhancing technology.

S. 3930

The Downpayment Toward Equity Act

Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA)

Provides downpayment assistance to first-generation homebuyers to address multigenerational inequities in access to homeownership and to narrow and ultimately close the racial homeownership gap in the United States.

H.R. 7706

Safe Drinking Water for Disadvantaged Communities Act

Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA-3)

Provides that funds made available under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for lead service line replacement projects be provided to disadvantaged communities in the form of forgivable loans or grants.

H.R. 7707 & S. 3940

First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit Act

Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-CA-18) & Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)

Supports homeownership among lower- and middle-income Americans by establishing a refundable tax credit worth up to 10 percent of a home’s purchase price – up to a maximum of $15,000 – for first-time homebuyers.

Agency

Title

Proposed Regulation

Comment Deadline

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

FHWA

Highway Safety Improvement Program

Amends the regulatory language to incorporate the Safe System Approach, clarify the scope of the HSIP to focus on the safety of all road users on the entire public road network, improve evaluation practices, streamline reporting efforts, and ensure States are collecting Model Inventory of Roadway Elements (MIRE) fundamental data elements.

April 22, 2024

USTR

Promoting Supply Chain Resilience


USTR requests comments to inform objectives and strategies that advance U.S. supply chain resilience in trade negotiations, enforcement, and other initiatives.

April 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

Biden releases 2025 budget proposal, laying out vision for second term

 

Final spending package back on track after flurry of DHS talks

 

Senate Democrats seek to maneuver tax deal to the floor

 

Eight House races to watch in Tuesday’s primaries

 

Schumer signals slower pace on TikTok measure in the Senate

 

House easily overcomes objections to pass TikTok bill