Update from Washington, D.C. 02/17/2012
On February 16th, congressional leaders announced that they had
reached a long-awaited deal on legislation to extend the payroll
tax cut through the end of the year. The agreement brings an end
to months of partisan bickering over whether and how to continue
the payroll tax holiday and other expiring programs.
Under the final deal, the current Social Security payroll tax
rate for workers, as well as benefits for the long-term
unemployed, will be maintained. Additionally, the bill will
prevent a cut in the reimbursement rate to physicians who provide
services to Medicare patients.
Final votes on the conference report to the legislation (HR 3630)
are expected to occur as early as Friday. Barring any last minute
hang-ups, rank and file members in both chambers are expected to
give their blessing to the negotiated package, with President
Obama expected to sign the legislation into law.
In addition to the payroll tax cut legislation, transportation
reauthorization continued to dominate much of the headlines in
Washington, as lawmakers in the House and Senate focused
considerable attention on their respective surface transportation
bills.
In the Senate, floor action on the chamber’s two-year, $109
billion reauthorization measure was stymied this week as several
members sought to offer a series of unrelated amendments to the
legislation. In response, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
(R-NV) has scheduled another cloture vote for Friday, February
17, which would limit debate on specific amendments in an attempt
to keep the bill moving forward.
There are several pending amendments of interest to California
counties, including an amendment sponsored by Senators Roy Blunt
(R-MO) and Bob Casey (D-PA) that would maintain dedicated funding
for off-system bridges.
Across Capitol Hill, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) announced
this week that consideration of the chamber’s highway and transit
reauthorization bill (HR 7) would be delayed until after the
President’s Day recess. Although the House had been scheduled to
debate the measure late into the week of February 13th,
Republican leaders were forced to change course due in part to a
decision to spend a portion of the bill’s offset (money derived
from federal employee pensions) on the payroll tax extension.
Additionally, Republicans cited the roughly 300 amendments that
have been filed as another reason for the delayed action on the
legislation.
It should be noted that Representatives Mike Thompson (D-CA) and
Lois Capps (D-CA) have submitted to the House Rules Committee an
amendment that is similar to the aforementioned Blunt-Casey
off-system bridge proposal, which would require dedicated funding
for local bridges. Additionally, there are several other pending
amendments of interest to counties, including an amendment that
would restore the High Risk Rural Roads (HRRR) set-aside under
the Highway Safety Improvement Program.
The House bill also includes a new streamlining program
championed by Representative Gary Miller (R-CA). CSAC has worked
very closely with Congressman Miller on the development of the
program, which would significantly expedite the delivery of
transportation projects by eliminating duplicative State and
Federal environmental review procedures. The draft report to HR 7
includes language drafted by CSAC that expresses the
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s expectation that
units of local government and local transportation agencies that
are responsible for carrying out the environmental review process
required by State law will be permitted to participate in the new
program.
For its part, the Obama administration issued this week its
Statement of Administration Policy on HR 7. According to the
statement, the president’s senior advisors would recommend that
he veto the legislation due to a wide variety of concerns with
the bill.
Secure Rural Schools
In other news, the House Natural Resources Committee approved
along party lines legislation February 16th that would
reauthorize the Secure Rural Schools (SRS) program. The bill,
entitled the Federal Forest County, Revenue, Schools and Jobs Act
of 2012 (HR 4019), also would authorize a five-year extension of
the Payments-in-Lieu-of-Taxes (PILT) program. SRS expired at the
end of FY 2011, and PILT is set to expire at the end of FY
2012
Specifically, HR 4019 would direct the Forest Service to carry
out trust projects on each unit of the National Forest System in
order to meet an annual revenue requirement. Trust Projects could
include anything from increased logging to the issuance of
grazing permits. Additionally, the measure would authorize a
two-year transition to continue making payments to counties while
the Forest Service begins identifying and implementing the
aforementioned trust projects.
House Republicans contend that increased use of the land will
provide rural counties with a stable and dependable source of
revenue, but Democrats have raised concerns about the new forest
management provisions. During the markup, Representative Martin
Heinrich (D-NM) offered a substitute amendment that would have
extended the current system of county payments for an additional
five years. That amendment was defeated along party lines.
It is unclear when HR 4019 will be scheduled for House floor
action.
President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2013 Budget
For a full budget breakdown, please click
here.