Federal Legislative Update - April 17th, 2023
After a two-week recess, both chambers have returned to the Hill with the hopes of making critical progress on various legislative items, especially the issue of raising the federal debt limit. The House will vote on overriding President Joe Biden’s veto of a disapproval resolution (H.J. Res. 27) to nullify the Biden Administration’s revised “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule—a successful veto override requires two-thirds support in both chambers, which is unlikely; a disapproval resolution (H.J. Res. 42) nullifying the DC Council’s Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022 (B24-320), a package of police accountability measures put in place in the District of Columbia following the 2020 murder of George Floyd; and the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023 (H.R. 734), which prohibits schools that receive federal funding from allowing transgender students assigned male at birth from participating on girls’ and womens’ athletic teams.
The Senate will vote on the Fire Grants and Safety Act (S. 870), which reauthorizes, through FY 2030, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program, FEMA’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program, and the United States Fire Administration (USFA). The Senate will also vote on several Biden Administration nominees, including Radha Iyengar Plumb to be Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment; and Amy Lefkowitz Solomon to be Assistant Attorney General for Office of Justice Programs.
A summary of the Republican plan regarding the debt limit leaked with limited details Friday. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) announced on Monday that House Republicans will introduce their plan to address the debt ceiling on Tuesday. The official introduction will come one day after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) first announced the plan during a speech at the New York Stock Exchange, indicating that the House will vote on the plan “in the coming weeks.” The plan, according to McCarthy’s remarks Monday morning, will aim to extend the debt ceiling until May 2024, limit federal spending and return discretionary funding levels to those from FY 2022. Speaker McCarthy also said the conference will push to “limit the growth of spending over the next 10 years to 1 percent of annual growth” without “touching Social Security or Medicare.” Additionally, McCarthy called for stricter work requirements. The movement from McCarthy and House Republicans comes as the summer deadline to raise the debt ceiling inches closer. The Congressional Budget Office in February said the U.S. could default on its loans as soon as July if Congress does not raise the borrowing limit.
House and Senate appropriators continue to hold FY 2024 budget oversight hearings with the heads of federal departments and agencies this week, including the Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Education, Commerce, and Transportation, FEMA, the NIH, and the CDC. Various authorizing committees in both chambers will also hold FY 2024 budget oversight hearings with the heads of the Departments of the Interior, Homeland Security, and Energy, and the U.S. Forest Service.
Bills and Regulations of Interest to You
Securing Access to Lower Taxes by ensuring (SALT) Deductibility Act
Rep. Garbarino
Amends Section 164(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the limitation on the deduction of state and local property and income taxes.
Improvement of Mapping, Addresses, Geography, Elevation and Structures (IMAGES) Act of 2023
Rep. Mooney
Provides accurate mapping standards within the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
No Taxation on PFAS Remediation Act
Rep. Pappas
Removes federal taxes on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination reimbursements.
FHWA
Inflation Reduction Act, Request for Information
FHWA seeks public input on the implementation of section 60505: Environmental Review Implementation Funds, of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
June 1, 2023
Comment here