Update from Washington, D.C. 05/24/2013
With the Memorial Day recess quickly approaching, both chambers
of Congress headed into the week of May 20 with busy legislative
to-do lists. Following Monday’s devastating tornado in the
suburbs of Oklahoma City, however, lawmakers diverted some of
their time and attention to the question of financing disaster
recovery efforts. Shortly after the tragedy, which claimed 24
lives and likely caused upwards of $2 billion in damage,
President Barack Obama issued a major disaster declaration, a
step that will increase the speed and flow of federal
aid.
The Senate this week began consideration of a major Farm Bill
reauthorization package. The legislation (S 954), which was
approved by the Agriculture Committee on May 14, would
reauthorize for five years a broad range of agricultural and food
assistance programs. Overall, the $955 billion bill would provide
$18 billion in deficit reduction over the next decade, with
another $7 billion in savings expected as a result of
sequestration. The savings are, in large part, achieved by ending
direct payments and other subsidies to farmers and by reducing
spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP),
or CalFresh, as it is known in California.
Across Capitol Hill, the House Agriculture Committee approved its
own five-year Farm Bill reauthorization measure (HR 1947) on May
15. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the
legislation would reduce the deficit by nearly $40 billion over
10 years, with the extra savings coming from deeper cuts to the
SNAP program. The package will likely be considered by the full
House in June.
For its part, the Obama administration on May 20 issued a
Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) indicating support for S
954. It also encouraged the Senate to pursue deeper cuts to farm
subsidy programs. While the Statement expressed the
administration’s support for SNAP, as a program, it did not
reveal the president’s position on the cuts included in the
Senate bill. The White House has, however, openly criticized the
level of SNAP cuts endorsed by House Republicans.
In other news, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved on May 22
a sweeping immigration reform bill (S 744). The panel cleared the
legislation on a 13-5 vote after five days of debate in which
members considered nearly 200 amendments. Three Republican
members joined all 10 Democrats in voting for the measure, which
includes a pathway to citizenship for up to 11 million
undocumented immigrants, an expanded visa program for high-tech
workers along with a new program for lower-skilled workers, and
provisions aimed at strengthening the border.
As reported in a previous edition of the Legislative Bulletin,
the committee approved on May 9 an amendment that would
reauthorize the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP)
at $950 million through fiscal year 2015. The amendment,
sponsored by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), also would allow
jurisdictions to be reimbursed for the costs of housing
undocumented individuals who are accused of certain crimes – and
not only convicted of such offenses, as is allowed for under
current law. The change would correct a long-standing flaw in
federal statute that disadvantages county governments, which
often spend a considerable amount of financial resources housing
pretrial offenders who may not ultimately be convicted of the
crimes for which they are accused.
The Feinstein amendment also includes language drafted by CSAC
that would require the Department of Justice (DOJ) to compensate
jurisdictions for the costs of incarcerating inmates who are
determined to be of “unknown” immigration status. Unknown inmates
are classified as such because they have not had prior contact
with federal immigration authorities and therefore are not
included in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
database.
The intent of the amendment language is to preclude DOJ from
unilaterally instituting a policy that would eliminate payments
for unknowns. Last year, DOJ attempted to implement such a
policy, which would have reduced California’s counties’ SCAAP
allocations by roughly 50 percent. After substantial political
pressure from CSAC – and with the strong support of the
California congressional delegation – DOJ agreed to temporarily
defer the policy change.
Looking ahead, the full Senate will likely begin debate on the
immigration package once members complete action on the chamber’s
Farm Bill reauthorization measure. Members are hoping to conclude
work on the immigration measure before the July 4 recess.
Meanwhile, in the House, a group of bipartisan negotiators
announced May 23 that they again have come to a tentative
agreement on a comprehensive immigration overhaul. The
announcement appears to put reform efforts in the lower chamber
back on track, for now, after a previously announced tentative
deal was temporarily shelved due to disagreements over how and
whether immigrants waiting to become citizens should receive
health care benefits.
According to House negotiators, the deal would not allow
provisional citizens to be eligible for Medicaid; likewise, they
would not be eligible to receive taxpayer subsidies to join
health insurance exchanges. Consistent with current law, which
ensures that all individuals can receive medical care in an
emergency, provisional citizens would be eligible to receive
emergency medical care as long as they pay for the cost of the
services. Provisional citizens also would be required to provide
their own insurance coverage on penalty of deportation.
With regard to fiscal year 2014 spending, House Appropriations
Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY) recently released the
spending allocations for each of the 12 subcommittees. The GOP
spending plan, which was endorsed by the committee on May 21,
would abide by the $967 billion spending cap set by the Budget
Control Act (BCA), which is down from $1.043 trillion in fiscal
year 2013. Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski
(D-MD), on the other hand, is expected to support a higher cap of
$1.058 trillion.
Wasting little time, House appropriators approved a draft DHS
spending bill, as well as draft legislation that would fund
Military Construction and the Department of Veterans Affairs in
fiscal year 2014. With regard to the DHS measure, the bill
includes $38.9 billion in discretionary funding for the
Department and the programs it oversees. While this is $35
million below the administration’s request, it is about $981
million above the current post-sequestration level. In addition,
the bill includes $1.5 billion for state and local grant
programs, $675 for Assistance to Firefighter Grants, and $350
million for Emergency Management Performance Grants.
Finally, the Senate last week put the finishing touches on its
$12.2 billion Water Resources Development Act (WRDA)
reauthorization bill. The legislation (S 601), which cleared the
upper chamber on an 83-14 vote, would authorize a variety of
water resources projects that fall under the purview of the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), including port, levee, drinking
water, dams, and environmental restoration projects.
Among other things, S 601 includes a section that would require
the secretary of the Army to conduct a comprehensive review of
the Corps’ levee vegetation removal policy. In conducting the
review, the secretary would need to consult with other entities,
including representatives of state and local governments, federal
agencies, and appropriate nongovernmental agencies. The section
of the bill is strongly supported by CSAC.
The section also would require the secretary to consider whether
the Corps’ policy can be amended to promote and allow for
consideration of variances on a statewide, tribal, regional or
watershed basis. The bill would require the secretary to base
variances on such factors as: soil conditions, hydrologic
factors, vegetation patterns and characteristics, environmental
resources, levee performance history, any scientific link between
vegetation and levee safety, the availability of limited funds
for levee construction and rehabilitation, etc.
The legislation also would require the secretary to solicit and
consider the views of the National Academy of Engineering and the
National Academy of Sciences as part of the policy review
process.
S 601 also would create a new Water Infrastructure Finance and
Innovation Act (WIFIA) program. Under the program, $50 million
would be authorized annually over five years to the Corps and the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to offer low-interest loans
and loan guarantees for water infrastructure projects expected to
cost at least $20 million; for water systems serving 25,000
people or fewer, the bill would authorize $5 million per
project.
It should be noted that WIFIA is modeled after the popular
Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA),
which was authorized back in 1998 under a previous surface
transportation law (TEA-21). According to the U.S. Department of
Transportation, each federal dollar that is put into the TIFIA
program can leverage $10 worth of project loans.
In addition, the Senate WRDA bill includes provisions designed to
accelerate the completion of water infrastructure projects,
including provisions that would streamline the Corps’
environmental review process. Among other things, the bill would
make the Corps the lead agency for the environmental review
process and would fine other federal resources agencies that miss
prescribed deadlines.
The action on WRDA now shifts to the House, where the
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Water Resources and
the Environment Subcommittee has held both an informal roundtable
and an official hearing on WRDA. The subcommittee will be holding
a hearing in early June to review Army Corps Chief’s reports, and
may hold an additional WRDA hearing in the near future.