House lawmakers will begin their legislative work week this afternoon as the chamber looks to clear two key legislative priorities. For today, the House will consider three bills under suspension of the rules out of the Foreign Affairs Committee, including a measure (H.R. 1704) that seeks to foster commercial relations with foreign countries and support U.S. economic and business interests abroad. Off the floor, lawmakers in the House Rules Committee will meet later today to develop the rule that will govern debate for both the disaster relief aid bill (text; summary) and legislation that would reverse Trump-era Affordable Care Act guidance (H.R. 986). A vote on final passage of these bills is expected later this week.
Month: May 2019
Health Policy Report
The Week in Review
House and Senate lawmakers returned from a two-week district work period to begin four weeks of legislative business. During their first week back, House lawmakers cleared a pair of resolutions out of the Financial Services Committee aimed at promoting financial literacy. The resolutions seek to support the protection of elders through financial literacy (H.Res 328) and would encourage greater public-private sector collaboration to promote financial literacy for students and young adults (H.Res. 327).
This Week on the Hill: House Lawmakers to Consider Health Care, Disaster Relief Bills
Health care legislation will hit the House floor this week, as lawmakers are expected to vote on legislation to reverse Trump-era Affordable Care Act (ACA) regulations and a pair of bills that take incremental steps toward the broader goal of addressing prescription drug prices. The Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions Act (H.R. 986) prohibits the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Treasury from taking any action to implement, enforce, or otherwise give effect to the Section 1332 State Innovation Waivers — which allows states to experiment with other strategies to provide health coverage to residents that delivers at least the same level of protections guaranteed under the ACA. Meanwhile, drug pricing measures (H.R. 1503 and H.R. 1520) would respectively update the FDA’s Orange Book and Purple Book to provide better information on brand drug and biologic patent exclusivity.
Financial Services Report (5/6)
This week, the House Financial Services Committee is set to mark-up a series of bill, a few of which may end up achieving bipartisan consensus, while the Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing on data privacy.
On the Floor, much of the messaging will be focused on the Pre-existing coverage bill, but a Disaster Relief bill is also scheduled to be on the floor, and that legislation contains an extension of the Flood Insurance program through September. As the overall Disaster measure has stalled in the Senate over Puerto Rico funding, it is unclear how this will all get resolved but current funding for the Flood program expires around Memorial Day.
The Senate will continue to take up nominations, including, potentially a few related to the Ex-Im Bank, perhaps bringing that saga to a close.
Next Week on the Hill: Lawmakers Look to Break Disaster Relief Impasse
House lawmakers are poised to take up another disaster relief bill (text; summary) in hopes of breaking a months-long impasse over the emergency funds. The latest $17.2 billion offer from House Appropriations Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) includes additional funding for Army Corps of Engineers projects, Community Block Development Grants, and the Department of Agriculture's Emergency Conservation program. The bill would also provide an extension of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), pushing the expiration date from the end of this month to Sept. 30 in hopes of providing lawmakers with more time to hammer out a long-term reauthorization measure.
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Today on the Hill: House Begins Consideration of Measure to Affirm U.S. Support for Paris Climate Agreement
Lawmakers in the House are set to begin consideration of a bill that would reject President Donald Trump’s stance on the Paris Climate Agreement. The Climate Action Now Act (H.R. 9) — which is expected to pass later this week along party lines — would bind the Trump administration to the carbon-cutting goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement after the president vowed to withdraw the U.S. from almost two years ago. The lower chamber’s work on the bill will start with consideration of 30 amendments to the underlying text.