This Week on the Hill
The House and Senate return this week and begin a six-week work period prior to their break for the party nominating conventions and traditional August recess.
The House convenes Tuesday and will consider eleven bills under suspension of the rules, including H.R. 5338 which grants the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) increased flexibility to utilize all TSA personnel to address longer lines at airport security checkpoints and H.R. 5273 which includes numerous provisions that modify the Medicare program. On Wednesday the House will consider a House amendment to S. 2276, the pipeline safety reauthorization bill, and H.R. 4775, a bill to extend for eight years the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) deadlines for implementing its new air pollution standards for ground-level ozone, resulting in implementation in 2025 rather than 2017. For Thursday and Friday, the House will consider the Legislative Branch appropriations bill (H.R. 5325), the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (H.R. 5278), and two resolutions expressing the sense of Congress over a carbon tax (H. Con. Res. 89) and the President’s budget proposal for a $10 tax on every barrel of oil (H. Con. Res. 112). Several committees have scheduled hearings this week: the Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing Wednesday on changes to the Medicare program; and the Education and the Workforce Committee will hold a hearing Thursday on the impact of the administration’s overtime rule on workers, students, nonprofits and small businesses. Also this week, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) will begin a roll-out of a six-point policy program, focused on poverty, national security, healthcare, tax reform, innovation, and investments.
The Senate convenes today and will begin consideration of the fiscal year 2017 defense authorization measure (S. 2943). Several committees have scheduled hearings this week: the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee will hold a hearing Wednesday on implementing the FAST Act; the Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a hearing Tuesday on EPA mandates on state, local and tribal governments and will hold a hearing Thursday on the Supreme Court stay of the Clean Power Plan.
Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Update
The House is scheduled to vote on the $3.5 billion Legislative Branch appropriations bill (H.R. 5325) on Thursday, and the bill will be considered under a structured rule, which has a more limited amendment process. The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security will markup its fiscal year 2017 spending bill on Thursday while the full committee will hold a vote on the $21.7 billion Financial Services appropriations bill.
The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor-Health and Human Services-Education will vote on its fiscal year 2017 appropriations bill on Tuesday, and it will be considered by the full committee on Thursday. The committee has a suballocation of $161.9 billion, which is only slightly different from the fiscal year 2016 enacted amount of $162.1 billion. The House appointed members to a conference committee for Zika funding, but the Senate has not named its members at this time. The House passed a bill providing $622 million in Zika efforts for fiscal year 2016, while the Senate approved $1.1 billion in funding that is not restricted to a fiscal year. The President had originally requested $1.9 billion in emergency funding.
CFPB Releases Rule to Reform Payday Lending Practices
Last week the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a proposed rule that requires lenders to take steps to make sure consumers have the ability to repay their loans while also cutting off repeated debit attempts that increase fees. The changes would affect payday loans, auto title loans, deposit advance products, and certain high-cost installment and open-end loans. Lenders would be required to comply regardless of whether they operate online or out of a physical location and regardless of the types of state licenses they may hold. The proposed ability-to-repay protections include a “full-payment” test that would require lenders to determine upfront that consumers can afford to repay their loans without reborrowing. The CFPB has additional resources available, including a fact sheet and a summary of research findings.
Supreme Court Decision Rules in Favor of Landowners in Water Case
On Tuesday the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co., Inc. that landowners can go to the federal courts to challenge U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ jurisdictional determinations under the Clean Water Act. The Clean Water Act prohibits “the discharge of any pollutant” without a permit into “navigable waters”; the ruling noted it is often difficult to determine whether a piece of property contains navigable waters, but there are important consequences if it does, noting the significant cost of permits and time necessary for review. This decision is not directly related to the legal challenges brought against the administration’s “Waters of the U.S.” rule, which is currently subject to a court-ordered stay.
CMS Releases Information about Medicaid Services and the Zika Virus
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released an informational bulletin about how Medicaid services can help states and territories prevent, detect, and respond to the Zika virus, including efforts to prevent the transmission and address health risks to beneficiaries from the Zika virus. In addition, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) posted presentations, resources, and a webcast from an April summit that provided senior state and local officials with information to improve Zika preparedness and response within their states and jurisdictions.
DOT Releases Final Rule on Transit Planning
The Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation recently finalized a rule updating the regulations governing the development of metropolitan transportation plans and programs for urbanized areas, and long-range statewide transportation plans. The rule reflects the passage of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) and the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. One change to highlight is a new mandate for state departments of transportation (states) and metropolitan planning organizations to take a performance-based approach to planning and programming. The rule requires states, planning organizations, and operators of public transportation to establish targets in key national performance areas to document expectations for future performance and all planning entities must coordinate the targets set for key areas. The rule is effective 30 days after the date of publication in the Federal Register.
Recently Released Reports
The Condition of Education 2016, National Center for Education Statistics
FEMA Needs to Assess Its Effectiveness in Implementing the National Disaster Recovery Framework, U.S. Government Accountability Office
Juveniles in Residential Placement, 2013, U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
Connecting the Justice-Involved Population to Medicaid Coverage and Care: Findings from Three States, Kaiser Family Foundation
Value and Vulnerability: The Internet of Things in a Connected State Government, National Association of State Chief Information Officers
Implementing EPA's Clean Power Plan: Model State Plans, National Association of Clean Air Agencies
Economic News
Economy Adds 38,000 Jobs in May
New data released last week by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 38,000 in May and the unemployment rate declined by 0.3 percentage point to 4.7 percent; analysts had predicted the creation of about 158,000 jobs. Over the past three months, employment growth has averaged 116,000. The data also shows that in May there were 7.4 million unemployed persons, down from the 7.9 million unemployed persons in April. The number of long-term unemployed (jobless for 27 weeks or more) declined by 178,000 to 1.9 million in May, accounting for 25.1 percent of the total unemployed. The labor force participation rate decreased by 0.2 percentage point to 62.6 percent. In May, job gains occurred in health care (46,000) with over the year health care employment increasing by 487,000. Mining jobs continued to decrease in May, down 10,000, while employment saw little change for construction, wholesale trade, retail trade, and government. The average hourly earnings for all employees increased by 5 cents to $25.59 in May, following an increase of 9 cents in April. Over the year average hourly earnings have risen by 2.5 percent.
Federal Reserve “Beige Book” Highlights Modest Economic Growth
Information collected as part of the newest edition of the Federal Reserve’s “Beige Book” from the 12 Federal Reserve Districts mostly described modest economic growth since the last report. Economic activity in April through mid-May increased at a moderate pace in the San Francisco District, while modest growth was reported by Philadelphia, Cleveland, Atlanta, St. Louis, and Minneapolis. Chicago and Kansas City noted the pace of growth slowed, while Dallas reported that economic activity grew marginally and New York characterized activity as generally flat. Consumer spending was up modestly on balance in many Districts, though Boston, Cleveland, Minneapolis, and Dallas reported mixed or flat activity and New York reported weakened sales. Modest growth was seen in nonfinancial services and manufacturing activity was mixed across the Districts.