MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2010
THE WEEK AHEAD
The Senate convened at 2:00 p.m. today to take up job creation and preservation legislation. The Senate is scheduled to resume consideration of the motion to proceed to the Creating American Jobs and Ending Offshoring Act (S. 3816). The bill would prohibit business deductions for costs associated with closing plants or moving business operations overseas, and would end the policy that allows U.S. companies to defer paying taxes on the income of foreign subsidiaries until the income is imported back to the United States. The proposed policy changes would be used to offset the cost of a tax holiday for businesses that move jobs back to the United States, which would not have to pay Social Security taxes for new domestic workers. If approved, the tax holiday would run from September 22, 2010 until September 21, 2012.
The House convenes at noon on Tuesday for legislative business, and to take up 62 bills under suspension of the rules. Wednesday, and for the balance of the week, the House is scheduled to consider three measures subject to a rule. No votes are expected Monday.
The House is set to take up Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act (H.R. 2378) during the September 27 week. The bill would allow the Commerce Department to determine whether a nation's undervalued currency can be deemed an export subsidy. The legislation is designed to address the manipulation of foreign currency, including China's yuan, which is viewed as undervalued.
Both the House and Senate are expected to adjourn at the end of this week, and therefore must consider a continuing resolution (CR) during the September 27 week, with the fiscal year set to end September 30. The CR would likely extend FY 2010 funding levels into November, when Congress is likely to return for a lame duck session to work on the regular FY 2011 appropriations bills. The CR could come up in either chamber as early as September 28.
KEY HEARINGS & MARKUPS
Wednesday, September 29 at 2:30 p.m., 124 Dirksen Building.
BANKING, HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS: The Senate
Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee will hold a hearing titled
“Implementing the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection
Act”.
Thursday, September 30 at 10:00 a.m., 538 Dirksen Building.
BUDGET: The Senate Budget Committee will hold a
hearing on the outlook for the economy and fiscal policy.
Tuesday, September 28 at 10:00 a.m., 608 Dirksen Building.
COMMERCE, SCIENCE & TRANSPORTATION: The Consumer
Protection, Product Safety and Insurance Subcommittee of the Senate
Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will hold an oversight
hearing on the NHTS, focusing on the highway safety provisions of
SAFETEA-LU”.
Tuesday, September 28 at 10:30 a.m., 253 Russell Building.
Tuesday, September 18 at 3:00 p.m., 253 Russell Building.
ENVIRONMENT & PUBLIC WORKS: The Senate
Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a hearing on innovative
financing for transportation projects.
Tuesday, September 28 at 10:00 a.m., 406 Dirksen Building.
Thursday, September 30 at 10:00 a.m., 406 Dirksen Building.
FINANCIAL SERVICES: The House Financial Services
Committee will hold a hearing titled “The Future of Housing Finance – A
Review of Proposals to Address Market Structure and Transition”.
Wednesday, September 29 at 10:00 a.m., 2128 Rayburn Building.
HOMELAND SECURITY: The Emergency Communications,
Preparedness and Response Subcommittee of the House Homeland Security
Committee will hold a hearing titled “Emergency Logistics Management:
Transforming the Delivery of Disaster Relief for the 21st Century”.
Wednesday, September 29 at 10:00 a.m., 311 Cannon Building.
JUDICIARY: The House Judiciary Committee will
hold a hearing on state regulation of alcohol.
Wednesday, September 29 at 11:00 a.m., 2141 Rayburn Building.
Thursday, September 30 at 10:30 a.m., 2237 Rayburn Building.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: The Technology and
Innovation Subcommittee of the House Science and Technology Committee
will hold a hearing titled “Standards for Health IT: Meaningful Use and
Beyond”.
Thursday, September 30 at 10:00 a.m., 2318 Rayburn Building.
TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE: The House
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will hold a hearing titled
“Recovery Act Transportation and Infrastructure Projects: Impacts on
Local Communities and Businesses”. Wednesday, September 29 at
10:00 a.m., 2167 Rayburn Building.
SENATE PASSES SMALL BUSINESS PACKAGE, HOUSE EXPECTED TO FOLLOW SUIT
The Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 passed the Senate with a 61-38 vote last Thursday and is expected to clear the House this week. President Obama has expressed eagerness to pass the bill as soon as possible in order to provide much needed relief for small businesses and spur employment.
The bill establishes a lending fund for small businesses, enhances federal programs that support small businesses, and grants $12 billion in tax breaks for such eligible institutions. It also extends by one year a provision from the 2009 economic stimulus law that allows businesses to write off half of the cost of capital that would go into service the following year. John Kerry (D-MA). and John Ensign (R-NV) also added language that eliminates certain taxes imposed on employer-provided cell phone transmissions.
Many Republicans remain opposed to various provisions to the bill, specifically a $30 billion lending fund provided to help community banks make loans to small businesses.
REAL ID, PASS ID DEBATE LIKELY DELAYED UNTIL NEXT YEAR
In an effort to eliminate a security threat that contributed to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, Congress passed REAL ID in 2005. The act mandated a nationally uniform identification method for administering IDs, such as driver’s licenses, including the requirement for individuals to present multiple forms of identification when applying for state IDs. However, REAL ID exceeded cost estimates to such a large extent that many states opposed the law and some did not implement at all.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano opposes REAL ID and instead favors PASS ID, a less rigorous reform to state ID distribution. PASS ID, like REAL ID, implements federal standards to state identification, but eliminates certain provisions deemed excessive and would cut the cost to states in half.
While Secretary Napolitano lobbied Congress to pass PASS ID this year, with elections approaching it is increasingly unlikely the bill will be addressed until next year.
TWO TAX BILLS AWAIT COMPLETION IN THE SENATE
As the election nears, Congress continues to work on two pieces of tax legislation. One piece is the tax extenders measure. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Baucus has updated and re-tooled the tax extenders bill, which includes miscellaneous expiring tax credits and provisions that he has been trying to pass in some form or another for several months. Included in the bill: Build America Bonds, deductions for state and local sales tax, incentives for biodiesel, the funding needed to settle the Cobell lawsuit, and funding for job programs.
The Baucus tax extenders bill totals about $50 billion and is fully offset. One offset is achieved by raising the per-barrel tax on oil to 78 cents from the current 8 cents. A 23-page summary of the bill is at http://finance.senate.gov/newsroom/chairman/release/?id=17f14745-0d33-4cac-9c0a-504e632e39b7
Another piece is the expiring Bush tax cuts from 2001 and 2003. It is not clear if Congress will extend these before Election Day or wait until the lame duck session. While extending tax cuts for the middle class seems a likely outcome at this point, what remains uncertain is whether Congress will also extend (temporarily or permanently) the tax cuts for upper income earners ($200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for married couples).
The White House has strongly supported allowing the tax cut for individuals making more than $200,000 and families making more than $250,000 a year to expire, while extending the tax cut for all other families. Republicans and some Democrats are calling for the tax cuts to be extended for all Americans.
ENERGY AND CLIMATE LEGISLATION ON HOLD UNTIL AFTER ELECTION
A Senate mark-up of the Interior-Environment spending bill was abruptly cancelled this week. While the official reason for the cancellation was that the Committee needed more time to review a recent funding request from the Department of the Interior, it is widely understood that an amendment which would delay the EPA regulatory process for greenhouse gas emissions had cobbled together enough supporters for adoption. Rather than risk that amendment, leadership pulled the bill from the schedule. As such, there is now a good chance that the Interior-Environment bill will not be considered at all by itself and instead will be rolled into the lame duck omnibus.
While it has not been scheduled, Senator Rockefeller maintains that Reid has promised him a vote on his bill (S. 3072) that would delay the EPA’s greenhouse gas regulations for two years.
Meanwhile, work on Reid’s narrow energy bill (S. 3663) and whether or not to include RES language with it seems to be on hold until the lame duck session.
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE ADVISORY PANEL RELEASES REPORT ON SUPPORT TO CIVIL AUTHORITIES
Last week the Advisory Panel on Department of Defense (DoD) Capabilities for Support of Civil Authorities After Certain Incidents released its final report which includes a number of recommendations for federal and state governments to strengthen how they respond to catastrophic incidents involving weapons of mass destruction. The recommendations include a review of statutory authorities, DoD policies and budget, the role of the Reserve forces, command and control arrangements and response planning.
Specifically, the report recommends that: the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Council of Governors, develop a handbook regarding how DoD capabilities may be used to provide support to civil authorities; the Secretaries of Homeland Security and Defense jointly offer personal training on response planning and operation to all governors; the Secretary of Defense and the Council of Governors promote unity of effort between state and federal military forces during a response effort by enhancing the use of dual-status command and by developing plans for coordination of command and control authorities in the event of a multi-state incident.
In addition, the report recommends that DoD elevate the importance of the homeland security mission to be equal to war fighting and that National Guard Civil Support Teams be augmented with at least six additional personnel each while the overall number of such teams be preserved for the time being.
The report also discusses the beneficial role that Federal Reserve forces could play in a response effort but notes that expanding the use of such forces should be predicated on resolution of how unity of effort will be achieved during a response. The full report may be found at: http://rand.org/nsrd/DoD-CBRNE-Panel/.
SENATE TO DEBATE DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION BILL
On Tuesday, the Senate will begin debate on the Defense Authorization bill. Republicans are calling for a “clean bill,” absent any unrelated measures. However, Democrats have indicated they will attach several measures to the Defense bill in hopes it can be a vehicle for their passage. Among the more controversial measures are the DREAM Act and a repeal of the military’s "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy for gay persons in the U.S. armed forces.
The DREAM Act would allow young illegal immigrants brought to the country as minors who graduate from U.S. high schools to attain citizenship if they go to college or serve in the military for at least two years. Republicans view the DREAM Act as amnesty for illegal immigrants. Democrats view the DREAM Act as an important first step for comprehensive immigration reform.
CONGRESSIONAL LAME DUCK SESSION PREVIEW
November 15 is currently scheduled as the beginning of the lame duck session, and potential agenda items include: an appropriations omnibus, Congressional votes on the recommendations from Obama’s Fiscal Commission, another round of unemployment benefits, efforts to block a cut in Medicare pay rates to doctors, and mine safety legislation. Additionally, Congress could consider whatever else it is not able to finish in September: tax cuts, energy, Gulf oil spill response, food safety rules, reauthorization of child nutrition programs, and the New START nuclear arms treaty.
Obviously, much about the lame duck session will hinge on the outcome of the elections. However, a rather immediate impact in the Senate involves the fact that special election winners for West Virginia, Illinois and Delaware will be seated as soon as the elections are certified without having to wait for January. If Republicans win those states, Senate Majority Leader Reid may find it harder to corral the votes he needs and that could affect the Democratic agenda for the lame duck.
The Nevada Weekly is published when Congress is in session.
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