The Ferguson Group Blog

Senators Propose 12 Cent Gas Tax Hike

On June 18 Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) released their proposal to increase the fuel tax by 12 cents over two years to create revenue necessary to shore up the Highway Trust Fund and pay for a long term transportation authorization bill.

Senator Murphy wrote notes in a press release “…the purchasing power of the gas tax is approximately 63 percent of what it was in 1993…” when last the tax was increased.  The Senators’ proposal would increase the federal gasoline and diesel taxes by six cents in each of the next two years. According to the Senators, this increase would provide enough funding to offset current MAP-21 spending levels over the next 10 years and replace all of the buying power the federal gas tax has lost since it was last raised in 1993.

The plan also would index the gas tax to inflation, using the Consumer Price Index (CPI), to ensure that it remains viable into the future.

The press release with a link to a one-page fact sheet is located here:

http://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/murphy-corker-unveil-bipartisan-plan-to-shore-up-highway-trust-fund-boost-economic-growth

What are your thoughts on this proposal?

Senate Passes Flood Insurance Delay Bill

After weeks of floor debate and herculean efforts by a handful of determined Senators, on Thursday afternoon, the Senate passed the Homeowners Flood Insurance Affordability Act (S. 1926) by a strong vote of 67-32.  The bill now heads to the House, where the legislation will face a tough journey towards final passage, unarguably more difficult than its Senate run.

The homestretch for S. 1926 began Monday evening when the Senate agreed to end debate, allowing them to proceed on voting up or down on seven amendments. On Wednesday afternoon, however, Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) brought a budget point of order to the floor, saying that the bill violated the Budget Act of 1974 because bill activities added to the deficit.  A motion to waive all applicable budgetary discipline was quickly launched. The motion to waive any violations to the Budget Act of 1974 was agreed to after a couple short hours of debate. Later that evening, the amendments offered by Senators Reed, Whitehouse and Gillibrand were quickly passed by voice vote. On Thursday morning, the Senate shot down the Toomey, Coburn, and Heller amendments. Senator Merkley withdrew his amendment from consideration. After a short lunch recess, Senators reconvened in the chamber at 1:50PM, strongly passing the bill a short time later.  

In general, S. 1926 calls to delay the implementation of certain parts of Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reauthorization Act of 2012 for four years to allow for FEMA to address affordability and mapping issues before rate premium changes are implemented.  Although the “as amended” text version of S. 1926 (S. 1926 including the Reed, Whitehouse, and Gillibrand amendments) will not be available for a couple of days, the bill can be found at Congress.gov here, which will be updated as soon as the amended version is available. 

Congress Approves $1.1 Trillion Omnibus

On Thursday evening, the Senate easily passed the massive Omnibus spending bill by a vote of 72-26. The 1,582-page bill, which packages all 12 appropriations bills into one, rings in with a price tag of $1.1 trillion dollars.  Although the bill boosts spending by $26 billion over FY 2013 levels, the total budget is about $30 billion below pre-sequester levels.  It provides $63 billion in sequester relief and $85 billion in total savings over the next two years, resulting in about $23 billion in deficit reduction.

This is how the budget adds up:

   $520 for defense

+$491 million non-defense

=$1.012 trillion

+

$98 billion not subject to spending cap (mostly war spending and disaster relief)

=$1.1 trillion

 

Here are some highlights of the omnibus:

• Restores $20 billion for domestic programs that would have been cut by the sequester
• Cuts daily agency operations by $79 billion
• Increases civilian federal workers pay by 1%, the first pay increase in 4 years
• Blocks the U.S. Postal Service from ending Saturday mail delivery
• Increases TIGER funds to $600 million, a 20% increase
• Provides an additional $636 million to fight forest fires
• Decreases funding for CDBG by $278 million
• Decreases Defense Appropriations by $8 billion

The Omnibus was introduced on Monday, and sailed through the House Wednesday afternoon by a vote of 357-64.  The House and Senate had to approve a three-day extension of the current Continuing Resolution to keep the government running while they considered the massive spending package.  The three-day extension will keep the government running until 11:59PM on January 18^th, where after the new Omnibus will take effect at midnight. The Omnibus has been sent to the President for final approval. Read More…

House Passes 3 Day CR

Today the House passed a three-day extension of the current stopgap spending measure. Instead of federal funding authority running out Wednesday night, Congress now has until midnight on January 18th to pass the massive FY 2014 omnibus spending bill introduced yesterday. The House took less than five minutes to the pass the extension and the Senate is expected to vote on the CR tomorrow at noon.

As the House gears up to vote on the omnibus bill Wednesday morning, spirits are high that the measure will get the support is needs to quickly move onto the Senate. Senate Majority Lead Harry Reid said he is ready to call up the bill Wednesday after House passage. The Senate will then consider the measure until Thursday or Friday until a cloture vote is called. After the 60-vote threshold is obtained for cloture, the Senate will then bring the omnibus to the floor for a final vote. The goal is to have the bill to the President for his signature by Saturday before the new CR expires.

A new leader at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

The Senate has confirmed President Obama’s nominee to head the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).  The agency has been without a settled leader since former Secretary Janet Napolitano left this summer to lead the University of California System. Secretary Jeh Johnson, approved on a 78-16 vote, will lead one of the federal governments largest and most complex agencies, without a confirmed Deputy.  

More than a third of the agency’s other top leadership positions are vacant.  Secretary Johnson, who previously served as General Counsel at the Pentagon, does come with lengthy experience in addressing terrorist threats.  Given the difficult personnel issues Johnson will face, President Obama cited his skills in implementing the repeal of the former “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy at the Defense Department.  

The new Secretary is not without his critics.  Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) disputed the President’s claim that Johnson has a strong background in Homeland Security.  "I'm not saying he's not a good man, but he's not a good choice for this," the Senator said.  Senator John McCain (R-AZ) said that Johnson’s failure to answer interrogatories on immigration policy were troubling.

USDA Promoting Farm Bill Benefits

The USDA is ramping up its social media campaign to tout the benefits of Farm Bill-authorized programs, especially as they promote job growth and retention and advance agricultural research around the nation. They are inviting stakeholders to help drive this social media campaign by using the hashtag #MyFarmBill and asking them to share stories of how the #MyFarmBill impacts them.  Twitter, Facebook,, Instagram, YouTube, and others. A guide to suggested methods can be gleaned from videos, photos and tweets that you can view here. The current Farm Bill expired in September but it's impact has been staggered. Dairy farmers have raised the ire of impending increases in mike prices, what they call the "dairy cliff."  USDA programs will slowly shut down in the absence of a Farm Bill exptension or full scale reauthorization.  

Furlough Freebies

Lawmakers have yet to pass a bill to fund U.S. government operations for the fiscal year that started October 1 that President Obama will sign, and that means that nearly 800,000 government workers throughout the country are at home without pay. As both the House and Senate chambers are eyeing weekend sessions, there are no real signs that a deal will be made. Businesses however – both inside and outside the Beltway – are luring customers and media attention by offering discounts or freebies to federal workers who just need to show their government ID. Offerings include free cups of coffee, sandwiches, movies passes, oil changes, and haircuts. The Hyundai Motor Company is allowing federal employees who own Hyundais to defer their car payments for as long as the shutdown keeps them out of work and in Hawaii, a skydiving company is offering free jumps to furloughed federal workers. It is only the beginning of the government shutdown and for at least one D.C. area business the goodwill proved too costly and they had to end their program due to overwhelming demand.  

Health Exchanges Roll Out Amid Controversy

The Obama Administration released partial data on insurance rates for those state-based health insurance exchanges that will be run by the federal government.  The rates have been much-anticipated because they will cover the major of states (35) that did not choose to run the exchanges on their own.  The announcement gave sample rates but not precise figures and should help the White House ease the public’s fear of “rate shock.”  Plan rates are based on tiers (Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum) that change according to the level of monthly premiums, reimbursement rates, and coverage.  Tennessee would have the least expensive bronze plan costing $119 per month, while Wyoming would have the most expensive at $286 per month.  Subsidies for individuals and families earning up to 400% of the federal poverty level would further lower those rates.   The announcement emphasized how affordable coverage would be for young adults (27 or older) after subsidies, citing rates of $48 per month in Arkansas and an average among covered states of $100 per month.  Final rates for all federally-run state exchanges are not expected until October 1, when full scale enrollment is set to begin.

With the White House celebrating the rate announcements, opponents in the Congress continue their efforts to delay implementation and defund the Affordable Care Act’s core programs.  Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) ended a sometimes dramatic floor speech that nearly lasted a full day.  He and other opponents are seeking to pass a Continuing Resolution that defunds the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as part of the effort to keep the government funded under a Continuing Resolution.  The House Republican Study Committee recently released a “repeal and replace” proposal that completely replace the ACA with a series of market reforms.  With a looming show down on the need to raise the nation’s debt borrowing capability, opponents are also seeking to repeal or delay ACA implementation as part of those negotiations. 

Slow Going in the 113th Congress

As the 113^th Congress approaches the final four months of its first session, only twenty-two bills have become laws as of August 1. These bills include disaster relief for Hurricane Sandy, the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, awarding a congressional gold medal and a measure regarding commemorative coins. In total, the U.S. House of Representatives has introduced 2,899 bills while the U.S. Senate has introduced 1,416 for this year, according to the House Clerk’s Office.  A summary of the twenty-two bills signed into law thus far can be found at: http://www.congress-summary.com/C-113th-Congress/Laws_Passed_113th_Congress_Seq.html.

 

Additionally, none of the fiscal year (FY) 2014 annual spending bills have been passed. Only four of the twelve annual spending bills have been completed by the House, all defense and security-related. The Senate has completed none. With the House and Senate far apart on total spending levels, a government shutdown is possible on October 1, when the current spending law expires. It is increasingly likely Congress will have to pass a short term funding measure, especially since Congress is in session for only nine days in September. The debt ceiling debate will also be a key issue faced by Congress upon its return. The federal government is expected to run out of borrowing authority later this fall and will default on its obligations unless Congress extends that authority.

When lawmakers return on September 9th, it will certainly be interesting to see what is accomplished in the months ahead.

Your Member of Congress is Home – Time to Get Involved

Members of Congress headed home last week for 5 weeks. Some call it recess, some call it vacation, and some call it district work period. Regardless of what it’s called, Members are back in their districts and now is a good time to communicate your priorities directly to your elected officials. Current spending bills run through the end of September, yet no appropriations bills have been passed into law. The current farm bill expires at the end of September, yet there is no final bill. The Senate has passed comprehensive immigration reform, but there is no real movement in the House. Leaders in the House and Senate are hoping to move comprehensive tax reform this fall, but we don’t have a blueprint of what that reform may look like. Will we still be able to deduct home mortgage interest; we will still have a child tax credit; will interest on municipal bonds continue to be tax exempt? Many issues in front of Congress affect you… and now is a great time to talk directly to your Member and communicate how these and other federal issues will impact you and your community.

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