Legislative Activity Senate to Vote on Highway Funding Bill This week, the Senate is expected to vote on H.R. 5021, the Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2014, which recently passed the House by a vote of 367-55. The bill would patch and reauthorize the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) through May 2015 by using transfers … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Reid, Paul Working on Repatriation Bill to Fund Transportation Infrastructure On June 10, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) indicated that they are working on legislation that would allow corporations to repatriate foreign earnings at lower rates, suggesting that this revenue could be used to fund improvements to … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senate Finance Committee Outlines Path Forward on Tax Reform On June 5, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-UT) announced the Committee’s next steps with regard to comprehensive tax reform. As part of its efforts, the Committee will hold three hearings during June and July focused on: … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity This Week’s Hearings: Tuesday, May 20: The House Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will hold an oversight hearing on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is scheduled to testify. Thursday, May 22: The House Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade will hold a hearing on legislation to enhance … Continue Reading
Executive Branch Activity U.S. Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity Dashboard The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to begin using a new dashboard in January 2015 that will display real-time visual data of the cybersecurity status of federal networks. The dashboard is part of DHS’s cybersecurity efforts through its Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM), … 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
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 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 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
Legislative Activity This Week’s Hearings: Tuesday, September 10: The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing on the nominations of Ms. Wanda Felton to be First Vice President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States and Ms. Katherine M. O’Regan to be an Assistant Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Tuesday, … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Pell Grant Report The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report examining the recent growth of the Pell Grant Program and policy options to address the cost of the program. As lawmakers look to reauthorize the Higher Education Act in the coming year, there is no doubt the cost of the Pell Grant … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Senators Submit Tax Reform Letters to Finance Committee; Promised 50 Year Secrecy on Tax Expenditure Submissions Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-UT) asked their Senate colleagues on June 27 to provide proposals in response to a “blank-slate” approach (i.e., assuming elimination of all tax expenditures from … Continue Reading
Legislative and Regulatory Activity E-rate Modernization The FCC adopted a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) during its Open Meeting on July 19, seeking comment on rules to update and modernize the E-rate program in order to support high-speed broadband for digital educational technology in classrooms and libraries. FCC staff indicated that they have three goals … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Secretary of Homeland Security After Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano’s announcement last week that she will be stepping down from her position, it remains unclear who will be chosen to replace her as the head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Several names have been mentioned in connection with a possible … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Secretary of Homeland Security Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano announced last Friday that she will be stepping down from her position to become the next president of the University of California system. She will continue to serve as Secretary until early September during which time President Obama will nominate her replacement. Immigration … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Cybersecurity Legislation The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee is expected to mark up a bipartisan cybersecurity bill drafted by Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Ranking Member John Thune (R-SD) by the end of this month. The bill will be focused on defining industry standards for critical infrastructure and strengthening cybersecurity … Continue Reading
Legislative and Regulatory Activity Privacy The World Wide Consortium (W3C), which has led the multistakeholder effort to establish a universal Do Not Track (DNT) standard, will reach its last call deadline next Monday, July 1. In an email to members of the working group last week, W3C co-chairs Peter Swire and Matthias Schunter pledged to … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Cybersecurity Legislation In the Senate, the committees with jurisdiction over cybersecurity issues continue to work on drafting legislation that will be introduced in the coming weeks, including the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, and the Senate Intelligence Committee. Previous efforts to pass cybersecurity … Continue Reading
Legislative Branch Activity Cybersecurity Legislation The House Homeland Security Committee will introduce a new piece of cybersecurity legislation that would codify the cyber roles and responsibilities of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as well as address other key aspects of cybersecurity. The committee has been working with stakeholders for several weeks on its draft … 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
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 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
