Federal Issues Update 6/6/2014
Senate appropriators this week continued to press ahead with an aggressive committee markup schedule, making measurable progress towards their goal of passing all 12 annual spending measures by July 10. On June 5, the Appropriations Committee approved both the fiscal year 2015 Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) spending bill, as well as Transportation-Housing and Urban Development (T-HUD) appropriations package.
The Senate CJS bill includes $51.2 billion in total discretionary funding, which is nearly $400 million below current spending levels. The legislation would provide $150 million for the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (a $30 million reduction from fiscal year 2014), as well as level funding for COPS Hiring Grants ($181 million) and Byrne Justice Assistance Grants ($376 million).
With regard to the T-HUD bill, the legislation would provide a total of $54.4 billion in discretionary spending for fiscal year 2015, or approximately $3.4 billion above current levels. Among other things, the legislation proposes to spend $40.3 billion for the Federal-aid Highways program (the same as current spending). The bill also assumes that MAP-21 will be extended through fiscal year 2015.
To see how key transportation, housing, and justice programs would fare under the Senate CJS and T-HUD spending bills, please see the comparative funding charts below.
Looking ahead, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has reserved the final two weeks of June to consider the various appropriations measures. To best utilize the available floor time, Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) has expressed a desire to bundle several of the spending measures together into a larger package, called a “minibus.” At this point, however, it is unclear which bills will be considered as part of such a strategy.
In other transportation developments, Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-WA) – who also chairs the T-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee – recently released a Democratic staff report encouraging Congress to shore up the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) before it runs short of funding sometime this summer. Among other things, the report warns of the negative effects that could be triggered if the trust fund balance reaches levels low enough that the Department of Transportation has to delay reimbursements. For their part, House GOP leaders have put forward a controversial plan to pay for a temporary HTF fix by cutting Saturday mail deliveries.
In other news this week, House and Senate leaders announced agreement on a measure – theWorkforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (HR 803) – that would reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). Notably, the bill would maintain funding for and ensure continued local control over workforce programs. While the legislation would eliminate several existing programs, it would preserve core programs such as adult employment and training activities, youth workforce investment programs, and the dislocated worker program.
Although it is unclear when the final workforce reauthorization legislation will be cleared by Congress, the Senate plans to consider the bill first, followed by House floor action. For its part, the Obama administration has not expressed a formal position on the compromise, but has expressed support for bipartisan efforts aimed at reauthorizing WIA.
On the regulatory front, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released June 2 a proposed rule that seeks to significantly reduce carbon emissions from existing power plants by 2030. The proposal, which will play a central role in President Obama’s climate change policy, received mixed reactions from lawmakers and key stakeholders.
While a number of congressional Democrats praised the rule, Republicans and coal-state Democrats criticized the plan and vowed to take legislative action against it. In fact, there have already been several bills introduced that would bar EPA from regulating carbon emissions from new or existing power plants. In addition, several lawmakers are discussing a strategy that would involve adding a policy rider to the fiscal year 2015 Interior-Environment appropriations bill that would prevent EPA from spending federal dollars to implement the regulation.
Finally, the Senate confirmed Sylvia Mathews Burwell to be the next secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. After several weeks of questioning Burwell relative to her views on the controversial 2010 health care law, twenty-four Republicans voted in support of her confirmation.
To follow is a set of funding charts for a number of key transportation, housing, and justice programs. The numbers in the charts are in millions of dollars.
DEPARTMENTS OF TRANSPORTATION-HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT |
||||
FY 2014 ENACTED |
FY 2015 PRESIDENT’S BUDGET |
FY 2015 HOUSE T-HUD |
FY 2015 SENATE T-HUD |
|
FEDERAL-AID HIGHWAY OBLIGATION LIMIT |
$40,300 |
$48,600 |
$40,300 |
$40,300 |
TIGER GRANTS |
$600 |
$1,250 |
$100 |
$550 |
TRANSIT FORMULA PROGRAM |
$8,600 |
$13,900 |
$8,600 |
$8,600 |
CAPITAL INVESTMENT GRANTS |
$1,900 |
$2,500 |
$1,700 |
$2,200 |
AIRPORT IMPROVEMENT GRANTS |
$3,400 |
$2,900 |
$3,400 |
$3,500 |
CDBG |
$3,000 |
$2,800 |
$3,000 |
$3,000 |
HOME INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM |
$1,000 |
$950 |
$700 |
$950 |
CHOICE NEIGHBORHOODS INITIATIVE |
$90 |
$120 |
$25 |
$90 |
HOMELESS ASSISTANCE GRANTS |
$2,100 |
$2,400 |
$2,100 |
$2,200 |
JUSTICE PROGRAMS |
||||
FY 2014 ENACTED |
FY 2015 PRESIDENT’S BUDGET |
FY 2015 HOUSE CJS |
FY 2015 Senate CJS |
|
SCAAP |
$180 |
—- |
$210 |
$150 |
COPS HIRING GRANTS |
$180 |
$247 |
$180 |
$181 |
BYRNE/JAG |
$376 |
$376 |
$380 |
$376 |
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT PROGRAMS |
$417 |
$423 |
$430 |
$430 |
COMP. SCHOOL SAFETY INITIATIVE |
$75 |
$75 |
$75 |
$75 |
SECOND CHANCE ACT PROGRAMS |
$67.7 |
$115 |
$65.5 |
$70 |
Meth Enforcement |
— |
$7 |
$10 |
$7 |
DRUG COURTS |
$40.5 |
* |
$44 |
$41 |
MENTALLY ILL OFFENDER ACT |
$8 |
* |
$13 |
$9 |
RESIDENTIAL SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT |
$10 |
$14 |
$12 |
$12 |
JUVENILE ACCOUNTABILITY BLOCK GRANT |
— |
$30 |
— |
— |
PART B – STATE FORMULA GRANTS |
$55.5 |
$50 |
$45 |
$61.5 |
VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING GRANTS |
$14.3 |
$10.5 |
$45.4 |
$15 |
JUSTICE REINVESTMENT INITIATIVE |
$27.5 |
$30 |
$30 |
$22 |
YOUTH MENTORING GRANTS |
$88.5 |
$58 |
$90 |
$53 |