Today on the Hill: Congress Adjourns After Passing FAA Extension, Hurricane Tax Relief

Before leaving Washington for the week, lawmakers in both chambers voted yesterday on a bill (H.R. 3823) to extend federal aviation programs before a Saturday deadline and provide tax relief for people affected by recent hurricanes. The six-month reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) (H.R. 3823) also includes provisions to extend a few expiring public health care programs. Health care measures in the bill included short-term extensions of the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) program and the Special Diabetes Program for Indians, as well as a three-year extension a of Medicare demonstration allowing patients with weakened immune systems to receive in-home care.

The extension was needed to keep the FAA running past Sept. 30, when the agency’s current legal authority expires. Lawmakers ended up proposing a short-term patch after they were unable to agree on a longer reauthorization, because House transportation leaders wanted to include a controversial plan to separate air traffic control from the federal government.

Notably, the bill did not include an extension of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), community health center funding, or a slate of Medicare “extenders” that technically expire on Saturday (although many can be funded retroactively). Instead, as House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-TX) said during a House floor debate yesterday, GOP leaders believe that that the Sept. 30 expirations of funding are not “dire or urgent” because states have enough money to get through the end of the year. With respect to the community health centers program, Sessions added that the program “will not have to access mandatory apportions until early December.”