Legislative Activity Farm Bill Timeline Today at 2:00 pm is the deadline the House Rules Committee has set for members to file amendments to the Farm Bill (H.R. 1947). The House Rules Committee will then meet at 5:00 pm to consider rules for floor debate on the bill. The Farm Bill is scheduled for floor … Continue Reading
The Senate will reconvene today, Monday, June 17, at 2:00 pm. Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 5:00 pm. At 5:00 pm, the Senate will proceed to Executive Session to consider two nominations: (1) Executive Calendar # 48 Luis Felipe Restrepo – to be U.S. District … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Funding Options for Reauthorization Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said last week that she plans to reveal potential funding options for the Highway Trust Fund soon. Sen. Boxer supports maintaining a user-fee system for surface transportation programs saying to the Transportation Construction Coalition last Tuesday, … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Satellite Communications As a follow up to its hearing in mid-February, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will hold a second hearing related to the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act (STELA), which expires in 2014 (see This Week’s Hearings below). The witness list has not yet been finalized, … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Tax Writing Committee Meetings Continue The Senate Finance Committee has continued their series of closed-door Committee meetings on tax reform, recently issuing their latest Option Paper last Thursday, June 6 – this one on Types of Income and Business Entities. The closed-door meetings have facilitated discussion among Senators in an attempt to find … Continue Reading
Executive and Legislative Branch Activity Syria Austria said it is pulling its troops out of the United Nations (U.N.) peacekeeping mission to Syria after increased battles between Syrian troops and rebels in the Golan Heights. The White House condemned the Assad regime’s assault on the city of Qusayr, noting the attack has killed “untold numbers … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Budget and Appropriations Last Thursday, June 6 the House approved the FY 2014 Homeland Security appropriations bill by a vote of 245-182, which provides $38.9 billion in discretionary funding to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Both Republican and Democrat amendments successfully transferred funds from the Office of the Undersecretary for Management … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity This Week’s Hearings: Tuesday, June 11: The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee will hold a hearing titled “Reducing Duplication and Improving Outcomes in Federal Information Technology.” Wednesday, June 12: The Senate Indian Affairs Committee will hold a confirmation hearing on the nomination of Yvette Roubideaux to be the Health and Human … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Student Loan Interest Rates Last week, the Senate held votes on two competing measures to address federally subsidized student loan interest rates, which expire July 1. Both measures failed to garner the 60 votes needed for passage, setting up likely bipartisan negotiations this and next week to work on a compromise bill before … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Last week the House Armed Services Committee marked-up and passed, by a vote of 59-2, its FY 2014 NDAA bill. H.R. 1960 complies with the House Budget Act, funding national defense at pre-sequester levels but within the sequester budget cap of $966 billion for discretionary funding. Next week, … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity House Homeland Security Committee Legislation According to House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX), the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies is planning to mark up legislation on Thursday, June 13 that would codify the cyber roles and responsibilities of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Farm Bill Timeline Last Thursday, the Senate passed a motion to invoke cloture on the Farm Bill (S. 954) by a vote of 75-22. Today, the Senate will resume consideration of the Farm Bill at 5:00 pm. At 5:30 pm, the Senate will only vote on one amendment – an amendment filed by … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Tax Writing Committee Meetings Continue The Senate Finance Committee has continued its series of closed-door committee meetings on tax reform, recently issuing their latest Option Paper on May 23 – this one on Economic Security. The closed-door meetings are intended to facilitate discussion among senators in an attempt to find where agreement on … Continue Reading
Executive and Legislative Branch Activity Syria During last week’s Congressional recess, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) slipped over the Turkish border into Syria to meet with the leaders of the Free Syrian Army. Syrian opposition leaders reportedly called on the United States to increase its support by providing heavy weapons, instituting a no-fly zone and employing … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Budget and Appropriations On May 22, the House Appropriations Committee approved the FY 2014 Homeland Security appropriations bill, which provides $38.9 billion in discretionary funding to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) overall: $35 million below the president’s request, $618 million below the fiscal 2013 enacted amount and $981 million above the … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity E&C SGR Reform Draft and Hearing House Energy & Commerce Committee staff unveiled a draft legislative framework for repeal of the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula. The proposed framework would repeal and replace the SGR and provide an undefined period of stable payments. It would also include the development of quality measures for … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity This Week’s Hearings: Tuesday, June 4: The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing titled “Iran Sanctions: Ensuring Robust Enforcement, and Assessing Next Steps.” Wednesday, June 5: The Senate Banking Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development will hold a hearing titled “Long Term Sustainability for Reverse Mortgages: HECM’s Impact on the Mutual … Continue Reading
Executive and Legislative Branch Activity Pentagon Budget This Wednesday, June 5, the House Armed Services Committee will mark up its version of the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 1960). That same day, the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee will also mark up, in a closed session, a spending bill for the Department of Defense (DOD). It … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Homeland Security Committee Legislation The House Homeland Security Committee is drafting legislation that will codify the cybersecurity roles and responsibilities of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as well as address other key aspects of cyber. This is the last of the cyber bills the House is expected to move through the … Continue Reading
