Legislative Activity This Week’s Hearings And Meetings: Thursday, May 1: The House Commerce Subcommittee on Health will hold a hearing titled “Telehealth to Digital Medicine: How 21st Century Technology Can Benefit Patients.” Thursday, May 1: The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold a markup of the Patents Transparency and Improvements Act of 2013 (S. … Continue Reading
Senate Legislative Activity The Senate will convene today, Monday, April 7, at 2:00 pm. After any leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 5:00 pm, with senators allowed to speak for up to 10 minutes each. After morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of H.R. 3979, the legislative … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Representative Garrett Introduces FSOC Transparency Legislation On Thursday, April 3, House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets Chairman Scott Garrett (R-NJ) introduced legislation to increase transparency at the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC). The legislation would allow all members of the Commissions and Boards represented in FSOC to participate in meetings and vote. The … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity DATA Act Of 2014 Introduced Last Friday, April 4, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) and Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) introduced the bipartisan DATA Act of 2014 (H.R. 4400). The legislation would require commercial entities that own or possess consumers’ personal information to implement information security policies and procedures in compliance with Federal Trade Commission … Continue Reading
Senate Legislative Activity The Senate Appropriations Committee will continue to hold hearings on the FY 2015 Budget this week. See this week’s Budget and Appropriations Capital Thinking Blog Post for further details. The Senate will convene today, Monday, March 31, at 2:00 pm. After any leader remarks, the Senate will proceed to consideration of H.R. 4302, the … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Communications Subcommittee Approves STELA Reuthorization Bill Last Tuesday, March 25, the House Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology approved a bipartisan version of legislation to reauthorize the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act (STELA). The updated version leaves open the question of blocking the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from adopting new rules … Continue Reading
Senate Legislative Activity The Senate will convene today, Monday, March 24, at 2:00 pm. After any leader remarks, the Senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S. 2124, the Ukraine Act. At 5:30 pm, there will be a roll call vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Upcoming Hearings: Wednesday, March 26: The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a hearing at 10:00 am titled “Strengthening Public-Private Partnerships to Reduce Cyber Risks to Our Nation’s Critical Infrastructure.” Wednesday, March 26: The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will hold a hearing at 2:30 pm titled “Protecting Personal … Continue Reading
Executive Branch Activity Climate Change Announcement The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) has announced the creation and launch of www.data.gov/climate which is intended to collect information related to climate change in order to help cities and the business community prepare to become more resilient to climate change. Initially focusing on sea level rise … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Subcommittee Schedules Markup Of STELA Reauthorization Bill The House Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology has scheduled a markup of draft legislation to reauthorize the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act (STELA). The subcommittee will convene for opening statements on Monday, March 24 and will reconvene this Tuesday, March 25 to complete … Continue Reading
Senate Legislative Activity The Senate will convene today, Monday, March 10, at 4:00 pm. After any leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 5:00 pm, with senators allowed to speak for up to 10 minutes each. At 5:00 pm, the Senate will proceed to Executive Session to consider Executive … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Upcoming Hearings: Tuesday, March 11: The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing to consider the nomination of Navy Vice Admiral Michael S. Rogers to be Admiral and Director of the National Security Agency, Chief of the Central Security Services, and Commander of U.S. Cyber Command. In addition, the Committee will … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate to Hold Hearing on Federal Reserve Nominees This Thursday, March 13, the Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing on various nominations to the Federal Reserve Board, including the nomination of Stanley Fischer, former Bank of Israel Governor, to be Vice Chairman. The committee will also consider the nominations of former U.S. Treasury … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Congress And FCC Consider Joint Sales Agreements And Retransmission Consent Last Thursday, March 6, Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR), chairman of the House Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, released the first discussion draft of legislation to reauthorize the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act (STELA), which contains provisions set to expire on December 31, 2014. … Continue Reading
Senate Legislative Activity The Senate will convene today, Monday, March 3, at 2:00 pm. After any leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 5:00 pm, with senators allowed to speak for up to 10 minutes each. At 5:00 pm, the Senate will proceed to Executive Session to consider Executive … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House to Vote on Flood Insurance Bill After delaying plans for a vote last week, Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) is expected to hold a vote on the amended Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act (H.R. 3370) on Wednesday, March 5, under suspension of the rules. Among some of the changes, the latest draft … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity DHS Secretary Johnson Sets Agency Priorities On February 26, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson appeared before the House Homeland Security Committee to discuss DHS operations and his priorities for the agency. In response to concerns from privacy-minded lawmakers, he stated that he might scale back loans of Customs and Border … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Passes Cell Phone Unlocking Bill Last Tuesday, February 25, the House passed the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act (H.R. 1123). The legislation, introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), is intended to promote consumer choice and wireless competition by permitting consumers to unlock their mobile wireless devices without … Continue Reading
The Senate will convene today, Monday, February 24, at 2:00 pm. After any leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 5:00 pm, with senators allowed to speak for up to 10 minutes each. At 5:00 pm, the Senate will proceed to Executive Session to consider Executive Calendar #564, the … Continue Reading
Regulatory Activity EPA To Propose New GHG Emissions Rule for Oil and Gas Facilities The EPA is proposing revisions to the greenhouse gas reporting rule for oil and gas facilities that will revise calculation methods, monitoring and data reporting requirements, terms and definitions including confidentiality determinations. Affected parties are likely to include: pipeline transportation of … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House To Consider Amending Flood Insurance Bill This Wednesday, February 26, and for the duration of the week, the House will consider amending the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act under suspension of the rules. The legislation would scale back flood insurance rate increases. According to Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), “the House will … Continue Reading
The Senate will convene today, Monday, February 10, at 2:00 pm. After any leader remarks, the Senate will resume consideration of S. 1963, the Military Retirement Pay Restoration bill. At 5:30 pm, there will be a roll call vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S. 1963. The House … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Net Neutrality Legislation Introduced Last Monday, February 3, Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) introduced the Open Internet Preservation Act of 2014 (S. 1981 and H.R. 3982). The legislation would restore the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) “net neutrality” rules, which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia … Continue Reading
The Senate will convene today, Monday, February 3, at 2:00 pm. After any leader remarks, the Senate will resume consideration of the conference report to accompany H.R. 2642, the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2013 (also known as the farm bill). Time will be equally divided and controlled until 5:30 pm, when … Continue Reading
