Senate Legislative Activity The Senate will convene on Monday, May 23, at 3:00pm. Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 4:30pm with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each. At 4:30pm, the Senate will proceed to the consideration of Calendar #422, S.2613 – Adam … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House and Senate to Continue Appropriations Bills Markups, Floor Consideration The House and Senate Appropriations Committees will continue to markup appropriations bills this week, while the House is expected to consider its FY 2017 Energy and Water Development Appropriations bill on the floor. It is unclear which appropriations bill the Senate will consider … Continue Reading
Legislative Update DOL Overtime Rule In response to this week’s final Overtime Rule, lawmakers have introduced the Protecting Workplace Advancement and Opportunity Act (S. 2707/ H.R. 4773), legislation that seeks to ensure DOL pursues a balanced and responsible approach to updating federal overtime rules. Both bills are currently pending in their committees of jurisdiction – … Continue Reading
Legislative Action Energy Bill Last week, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee released a 50-page section-by-section of the recently passed S. 2012 Energy Modernization Policy Act of 2016. Looking forward to a potential conference of the Senate and House energy bills, Chairman Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee recently … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House and Senate Remain Focused on International Issues This week, the House Financial Services Task Force to Investigate Terrorism Financing will hold a hearing titled “Stopping Terror Finance: A Coordinated Government Effort” to specifically focus on: 1) how the Treasury Department works with relevant agency and law enforcement officials as part of a … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Ways and Means Committee to Consider Proposals to Advance Hospital Reforms and Improve TANF On Tuesday, May 24, the House Committee on Ways and Means will continue their bipartisan work by marking up three pieces of legislation, including two bills to reform the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Program and the much … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Debate Over Growing TSA Lines Continues Lawmakers maintained their focus on growing airport security lines, as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) continues to grapple with the growing number of summer travelers. Congressman Mike McCaul (R-TX), Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, and several colleagues are preparing legislation aimed at easing the bottlenecks, including … Continue Reading
President Barack Obama departed on Sunday for what will be his 10th trip to Asia, with scheduled stops in Vietnam and Japan. The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) released its much-anticipated report reviewing the Trans-Pacific Partnership’s (TPP) implications to the U.S. economy last Wednesday. The Administration immediately pointed to the report and called for Congress … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity As June Nears, Tax-Writers Press Forward with Tax Reform Proposals Following last week’s Senate Finance Committee hearing to discuss Chairman Orrin Hatch’s (R-UT) “corporate integration” proposal as relates to the pros and cons of a dividends paid deduction regime, this week, on Tuesday, May 24, the Committee will hold its second in a … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senators Press FCC for Extension of Broadband Privacy Comment Period On May 19, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Sen. John Boozman (R-AR) wrote a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Tom Wheeler requesting that the FCC extend the comment period for the FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on a proposed framework … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Appropriations Committee to Markup THUD Bill The House Appropriations Committee will mark up its FY 2017 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations Act on Tuesday, May 24, after an uneventful Subcommittee markup last week. This comes on the heels of the Senate passing its THUD Appropriations bill last … Continue Reading
Senate Legislative Activity The Senate will convene on Monday, May 16, at 2:00pm. Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 4:30pm with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each. At 4:30pm, the Senate will enter Executive Session to consider the nomination of Executive Calendar … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) The debate surrounding whether federal standards should exist for the labeling of GMOs will continue this week. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is charged with the regulation of GMOs and has determined that foods derived … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Considering THUD and MilCon-VA, After Finally Passing Energy-Water Bill This week, the Senate will resume consideration of the FY 2017 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations Act and the FY 2017 Military Construction and Veterans Affairs (MilCon-VA) Appropriations Act, after finally passing the FY 2017 Energy and Water Development (Energy-Water) Appropriations … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Perkins CTE Act Senators Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Bob Casey (D-PA) are working on a bill to rewrite the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. The Perkins Act, which hasn’t been updated since 2006, sets policy on career and technical education. Lawmakers, including House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John … Continue Reading
Legislative Action Future of House Energy and Water Appropriations Bill The House Appropriations Committee favorably reported its $37.4 billion Energy and Water Appropriations bill on April 19 by voice vote. With the House having not yet adopted a budget resolution, the bill cannot be considered on the floor until mid-May. With the Senate having passed … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Zika Funding Proposal Scheduled for House and Senate Vote Both the House and Senate are expected to vote on Zika funding proposals this week, ending several weeks of disputes on the issue. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) announced H.R.__, the Zika Response Appropriations Act, 2016, will be considered on the House Floor. … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Lawmakers Approve Reallocated Funds for TSA House appropriators followed on their Senate colleagues and approved reallocated funds for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to address growing screening lines over the summer. Rep. John Carter (R-Texas), Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security, indicated that agency heads have already cautioned that they may … Continue Reading
Last Friday, President Barack Obama hosted the Nordic Leaders Summit in Washington, with the Leaders affirming shared fundamental values and areas of collaboration, while also spotlighting Russia’s military activities in the Baltic Sea region and confirming multilateral sanctions imposed on Russia will remain in place. Secretary of State John Kerry attended the Global Anti-Corruption Summit … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Subcommittee Holds Hearing on FCC’s Proposed Broadband Privacy Rules On May 11, the Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing titled “Examining the Proposed FCC Privacy Rules.” The hearing examined the substance and implications of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) Notice of … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House and Senate Work on THUD Appropriations Bills This Week The Senate and House are both expected to make progress on their respective FY 2017 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Appropriations Acts this week, the Senate on the floor and the House in the Appropriations Committee. A potentially problematic issue … Continue Reading
Senate Legislative Activity The Senate will convene on Monday, May 9, at 3:00pm. Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 4:00pm, at which time the Senate will resume consideration of H.R.2028, Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2016. Time will be equally divided … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) On Thursday, May 12, the House Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing to examine issues some retailers face while navigating SNAP requirements. During the first 16 months of the 114th Congress, the House Agriculture Committee, along with its Subcommittee on Nutrition, held 14 hearings that focused on SNAP. … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Republicans Hope ‘Third Time is the Charm’ on Energy-Water Bill The Senate will bring up the FY 2017 Energy and Water Development (Energy-Water) Appropriations Act for a third cloture vote on the Senate floor this week. The previous votes both failed to reach the requisite 60 ayes, as Democrats have chosen to … Continue Reading
