Congress Faces September Budget Sprint to Avoid Shutdown
Washington Update
Appropriations
Congress will need to pass a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government funded beyond the September 30 deadline. Still up for debate, though, is the length of that funding patch. The House Freedom Caucus continues to press for the CR to extend into the new calendar year while Senator Ben Cardin (MD) predicts it would end before Thanksgiving. House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (OK) has also repeatedly pushed for lawmakers to finish their funding work this year and is more reluctant to punt the work into next year. House conservatives are also striving to attach the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which calls for stricter proof-of-citizenship requirements for voting, to the expected CR. Any funding bill that includes the legislation almost certainly wouldn’t be able to pass the Democratically-controlled Senate. When the House considered the bill last month President Biden vowed to veto the bill — arguing it would make it more difficult for eligible voters to register and increase “the risk that eligible voters are purged from voter polls.”
The House passed partisan versions of nearly half of the 12 regular funding bills, but intraparty fighting has held up the others from passing on the House floor. The Senate has advanced most of its spending bills out of committee but hasn’t passed any on the floor, and is unlikely to take up the House version of any of the measures.
House Committee on Small Business Hearing
On Wednesday, September 25, the House Committee on Small Business Subcommittee on Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Workforce Development will hold the hearing “Avenues to Success: Examining Workforce Training Programs for Employees.”
Click here to access the hearing information on the Committee website.
Department of Commerce
The U.S. Department of Commerce is expected to announce more grants for semiconductor projects under the CHIPS and Science Act — there is $2.2 billion in funding remaining. Last month, White House deputy chief of staff Natalie Quillian told reporters that the administration expects the CHIPS program to finish announcing all its remaining investments for the $39 billion in funding by the end of the year. Also this month, Commerce is expected to continue rolling out new approvals for states to access the $42.45 billion of money from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program.
Farm Bill/SNAP
As Congress returns from summer recess this week, they have only 22 days to reauthorize the Farm Bill before it expires on September 30. With elections following closely thereafter, many experts say a deal is unlikely to be reached until later this year, but that means Congress still needs to pass some sort of legislation or an extension before the current law expires. A major hurdle for passage of the bill is food assistance. In May, Republican members of the House Committee on Agriculture passed a version that would cut $30 billion in benefits over the next decade. On Tuesday, August 27, the Democratic Women’s Caucus sent a letter to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (LA) asking him to report the current proposal so that a 2021 update that raised monthly allowances under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) would remain in effect. The letter argues SNAP is essential to the economic security and well-being of women and children experiencing poverty.
The 2018 update of the farm bill authorized the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to re-examine how it determines how much food assistance people should receive and began considering factors like current food prices, consumption patterns, modern dietary guidance, and the ability to buy more fish and vegetables. The House bill would undo the changes the Agriculture Department made to that tool, known as the Thrifty Food Plan. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (MI) told reporters the change would not pass the senate. The 2018 farm bill, which is revised every five years, was set to expire last year but lawmakers extended it for another year. Leaders in both parties have indicated a temporary extension of the current law is most likely.
Click here to access the Democratic Women’s Caucus letter.
Department of Education/TRIO Grants
The U.S. Department of Education (Ed) is looking to expand eligibility for the federal college prep TRIO programs to allow high school students to participate regardless of immigration status. Lawmakers and advocates say the move would advance TRIO’s mission of serving disadvantaged students. The programs are intended to help disadvantaged students — including high schoolers with disabilities, those who come from low-income families, and those who have parents who didn’t attend college or are experiencing homelessness — progress through the academic pipeline from middle school to post baccalaureate programs. Eligibility is currently limited to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and some noncitizens like refugees and asylum seekers.
Under the proposal, undocumented students would not be eligible for a direct cash stipend associated with the program in order to comply with federal law barring undocumented individuals from receiving federal benefits. Some 50,000 more students would be eligible to participate, according to the White House. On July 24, the Department published its proposed rule with its 30-day comment period closing last week.
Initial Jobless Claims
In the week ending August 24, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 231,000, a decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 232,000 to 233,000. The 4-week moving average was 231,500, a decrease of 4,750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 236,000 to 236,250. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.2 percent for the week ending August 17, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate.
Click here to access the report.
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