On July 10, the House voted 253-70 to approve a fiscal 2015 Energy-Water appropriations bill (H.R.4923) after a marathon session that featured debate and votes on a series of amendments. Overall, the $34 billion Energy-Water appropriations bill would give the EPA $7.5 billion for fiscal 2015, 9 percent below current spending levels. It would also provide the Army Corps with $5.5 billion and fund $10.3 billion in DOE energy and science programs, with cuts to clean energy spending compared to the President's budget request. The bill included a prohibition against using EPA funds to work on the Administration’s Clean Power plan, which seeks to limit carbon dioxide pollution from power plants.
Month: July 2014
Washington Wakes Up To Socioeconomic Status
This post, penned by Thorn Run Partner's Billy Wynne, originally appeared in the July 11 edition of Health Affairs.
John Mathewson, executive vice president of Health Care Services for Children with Special Needs (HSC) – a Medicaid managed care plan in D.C. for children on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) – recently spoke at the Association for Community Affiliated Plans (ACAP) CEO Summit before the July 4 Recess.
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TRP Signs Five New Clients, Headlines Beltway ‘Influence’ Press
In today’s edition of Politico Influence, Washington’s leading government relations beat, the author cites TRP’s latest signing of five clients in headlining lobbying news. The newest additions to the firms robust roster of clients include the National Association of Certified Professional Midwives, the Cleveland Clinic, Republic Airways, eBay and Sidecar, Politico reports. “We are very proud and excited to be working with such a great collection of new clients,” said TRP co-founder, Andrew Rosenberg.
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TRP Financial Services Report
Once again Democrats were smirking as Republicans appeared to wage civil war, this time over the decision to renew the charter for the Export-Import Bank. All Art Vandelay jokes aside, the debate over the Ex-Im bank once again has shown the schism in the Republican party, and how there are really three parties in Congress – Republican, Democratic, and Tea Party. While it looks like both sides may be able to claim victory in this instance by kicking the can down the road for a few years, it is worth noting that we continue to witness similar battles and results on other issues. As a result, more and more items are being added to the lame duck agenda, and it is shaping up to be a very busy November and December in our nation’s Capital – the only question is will there be enough runway to get all things done.
TRP Health Policy Report
The House and Senate were in recess last week for the Fourth of July recess. Despite the break on Capitol Hill, healthcare remained a hot topic in Washington, with two Supreme Court rulings that could have lasting impacts on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In a 5-4 decision last Monday, the Court ruled that some private companies may, on religious grounds, opt out of the ACA’s requirement that employer-sponsored health insurance plan provide contraception coverage. Three days later, the high court voted 6-3 to provide temporary relief to a non-profit college that also objected to the contraception coverage mandate. The rulings fiercely divided the court, as well as supporters and opponents of the 2010 health law.
TRP Clean Energy Report
On June 24, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) office said that the Senate Appropriations Committee is unlikely to consider a fiscal year 2015 Energy and Water Development bill after an amendment dispute ended a planned markup of the legislation. Further debate on the $34.2 billion draft legislation was cancelled after the White House said it would veto the bill if an amendment by McConnell to block the EPA's power plant carbon dioxide standards was included.