THE DAILY WHIP: THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2015

**MEMBERS ARE ADVISED THAT CLOSE VOTES ARE EXPECTED TODAY, INCLUDING POTENTIAL VOTES ON AMENDMENTS RELATED TO PROJECT LABOR AGREEMENTS (PLAS) AND DAVIS-BACON TO H.R. 2029 – MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND VETERANS AFFAIRS APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2016 AND H.R. 2028 – ENERGY AND WATER APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2016 ANY EXPECTED ABSENCES SHOULD BE REPORTED TO THE WHIP’S OFFICE AT x5-3130.

**Members are also advised that the GOP Leadership has announced that votes will occur after 7:00 p.m. when the House is considering Appropriations bills, therefore the House may be voting late into the evening today.

H.Res. 231 – Rule providing for consideration of the Conference Report to S.Con.Res. 11 – FY2016 Budget (Rep. Price (GA) – Budget), H.R. 1732 – Regulatory Integrity Protection Act of 2015 (Rep. Shuster – Transportation and Infrastructure), and H.J.Res. 43  – Disapproving the action of the District of Columbia Council in approving the Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Amendment Act (Rep. Black – Oversight and Government Reform). The Rules committee has recommended one Rule which provides for consideration of 3 measures.

For the Conference Report to S.Con.Res. 11, the Rules committee has recommended a closed Rule that provides for one hour of general debate. The Rule does not provide for a motion to recommit, and waives all points of order against the legislation.

For H.R. 1732, the Rules committee has recommended a structured Rule that provides for one hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. The Rule allows for 2 amendments, debatable for 10 minutes equally divided between the offeror and an opponent. The Rule allows one motion to recommit, with or without instructions, and waives all points of order against the legislation.

For H.J.Res. 43, the Rules committee has recommended a closed Rule that provides for one hour of general debate equally divided between the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The Rule does not provide for a motion to recommit, and waives all points of order against the legislation. Members are urged to VOTE NO.

Complete Consideration of H.R. 2029 – Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2016 (Rep. Dent – Appropriations). H.R. 2029 appropriates $76.057 billion in discretionary budget authority for veterans' programs and military construction for FY 2016, which is $4.2 billion (5.9%) above FY 2015 levels but $2.7 billion below the President’s request. Accounting for mandatory programs, including veterans’ pensions, the measure provides a total of $171 billion in spending. The legislation also provides $63.2 billion in advance appropriations for FY 2017 for veterans’ health benefits.

Republicans are developing this year's spending bills based on their budget resolution’s adherence to sequester level discretionary spending caps for FY 2016, established in the Budget Control Act of 2011. The two-year Ryan-Murray Bipartisan Budget Agreement to replace much of the sequester’s cuts to defense and non-defense funding has expired, limiting resources for the regular appropriations process to $1,016.6 billion for FY 2016, a funding increase of just 0.29%. Because this MilCon-VA appropriations bill includes an increase larger than 0.29%, cuts to other non-defense Appropriations subcommittees’ 302(b) allocations will be necessary without an agreement to replace the sequester. At the same time, Republicans are exempting defense from the sequester by shifting $38 billion of the President’s base defense request into the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) war funding account, relieving pressure to replace the sequester for non-defense priorities. For these reasons, the Administration issued a SAP stating that, should it reach his desk, the President’s advisors would recommend he veto this bill.

The House has completed all debate on H.R. 2029.  The following amendments have recorded vote pending:

Reps. Van Hollen/Mulvaney Amendment
Reps. Mulvaney/Van Hollen Amendment #1
Reps. Mulvaney/Van Hollen Amendment #2
Rep. Nadler Amendment
Rep. Blumenauer Amendment
Rep. Pocan Amendment
Rep. Hice Amendment
Rep. King (IA) Amendment

Bill Text for H.R. 2029:
PDF Version

Background for H.R. 2029:
House Report (HTML Version)
House Report (PDF Version)

Continue Consideration of H.R. 2028 – Energy and Water Appropriations Act, 2016 (Rep. Simpson – Appropriations). H.R. 2028 appropriates $35.4 billion in discretionary budget authority for the Department of Energy, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and other agencies funded in the bill for FY 2016, which is $1.2 billion (3.5%) above FY 2015 levels but $633 million below the President’s request.

The measure also increases funding for the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile, but makes significant cuts to funding for fossil fuels and alternative energy programs. Advanced energy research, environmental cleanup activities, nuclear non-proliferation programs, and most renewable energy programs would see flat funding or minor increases.  The Department of Energy’s Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency office is cut $266 million below FY 2015. The bill also includes numerous controversial policy riders, including three that hinder the Corps of Engineers’ ability to address water pollution under the Clean Water Act, one blocking the agencies in the bill from implementing the National Ocean Policy, and one allowing guns to be carried on all Corps of Engineers lands.

Republicans are developing this year's spending bills based on their budget resolution’s adherence to sequester level discretionary spending caps for FY 2016, established in the Budget Control Act of 2011. The two-year Ryan-Murray Bipartisan Budget Agreement to replace much of the sequester’s cuts to defense and non-defense funding has expired, limiting resources for the regular appropriations process to $1,016.6 billion for FY 2016, a funding increase of just 0.29%. Because this Energy & Water appropriations bill includes an increase larger than 0.29%, cuts to other non-defense Appropriations subcommittees’ 302(b) allocations will be necessary without an agreement to replace the sequester. At the same time, Republicans are exempting defense from the sequester by shifting $38 billion of the President’s base defense request into the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) war funding account, relieving pressure to replace the sequester for non-defense priorities. For these reasons, as well as the policy riders in the bill, the Administration issued a SAP stating that, should it reach his desk, the President’s advisors would recommend he veto this bill. Members are urged to VOTE NO.

The Rule provides for no further general debate.  As of last night, the House had competed reading through page 22, line 7 of the bill.  Today, the House will continue reading the bill paragraph and considering amendments. The following amendments have recorded votes pending: 

Rep. McClintock Amendment#1
Rep. Ruiz Amendment 
Rep. Griffith Amendment
Rep. Swalwell Amendment
Rep. Byrne Amendment
Rep. McClintock Amendment#2

Bill Text for H.R. 2028:
PDF Version

Background for H.R. 2028:
House Report (HTML Version)
House Report (PDF Version)

Conference Report to S.Con.Res. 11– FY2016 Budget (Rep. Price (GA) – Budget) (One Hour of Debate). The Republican Budget Conference Report contains nearly all of the $5.5 trillion in spending cuts included in House Republicans’ Budget Resolution, including cuts to nondefense discretionary appropriations of $496 billion below the Budget Control Act’s sequestration level caps – continuing the “meat-ax” approach to reducing the deficit through un-itemized discretionary cuts.

Like the House Republican Budget, this Republican Budget Conference Report proposes to end the Medicare guarantee and turn it into a voucher program.  It would also pocket roughly half a trillion dollars from turning Medicaid and CHIP into a capped block grant.  It counts roughly $2 trillion in savings from repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including the Medicaid expansion, without providing a replacement for the more than 16 million people who have gained coverage so far, despite the fact that the law has withstood over 50 votes in the House to repeal or undermine the law.  To accomplish ACA repeal, it includes reconciliation instructions limited to the Ways & Means, Education & Workforce, and Energy & Commerce Committees in order to fast-track legislation tailored to this purpose in the Senate.

It would make destructive cuts to nutrition assistance, building on the $125 billion in cuts to the SNAP program in the House budget, while converting it into a block grant program that CBO has stated could both allow for federal SNAP funding to be diverted to other programs by states and cause even worse economic conditions for low income families.  It would eliminate nearly $85 billion in Pell Grants, making college less affordable for students and their families. In addition to proposing policies rejected by the American people, this Republican Budget Conference Report doesn’t even balance – instead, it relies on dubious dynamic scoring and a $1 trillion magic asterisk to hide the policy specifics behind additional spending cuts to make it appear that it balances.

The Republican Budget Conference Report continues to exempt defense spending from the consequences of their budget cutting ideology: sequestration.  It shifts $38 billion from the President’s base defense funding request for FY16 – and a total of $187 billion over the 2016-2021 period – into the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account, a designation intended to be reserved for war costs and not counted toward the sequester level spending cap.  Shifting this extra funding from the base defense budget to OCO, while eliminating a point of order in the Senate Republican Budget calling for these costs to be offset at a later date, illustrates House Republicans’ desire to remove any budget constraints on the Pentagon – while putting the burden of deficit reduction squarely on the backs of the vulnerable and working families.

The Republican Budget Conference Report is very similar to the Budget Resolution that passed the House in March, and to the budgets that Republicans have proposed in recent years and the American people have opposed each time.  Once again, it is not a serious document: it avoids tough decisions, and it forces the American people to play ‘fill in the blanks’ with the details.  It is an ideological message document written for hard-line conservatives that threatens our nation’s future and our economy by disinvesting in innovation, education, and infrastructure.  It does not reduce the deficit in a responsible way, instead placing the burden of deficit reduction onto seniors, working families, and the most vulnerable Americans. Members are urged to VOTE NO.

Text of the Conference Report S.Con.Res. 11:
PDF Version

H.J.Res. 43  –  Disapproving the action of the District of Columbia Council in approving the Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Amendment Act (Rep. Black – Oversight and Government Reform) (One Hour of Debate). The resolution would disapprove, the District of Columbia's Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Amendment Act of 2014, which is intended to ensure that individuals are protected from discrimination by an employer because of the individual's "reproductive health decisions" — including the use of contraception or the planned or intended initiation or termination of a pregnancy.

H.J.Res. 43 is an abuse of Congress’ authority over the District of Columbia and Congress should not override the decisions of local elected officials. Once again, Republicans are seeking to undermine the will of the people of the District of Columbia by advancing this resolution of disapproval to overturn D.C.’s law protecting women’s personal healthcare decisions.  The Reproductive Health Non-Discrimination Amendment Act is purely a local matter within D.C’s authority under the Home Rule Act, and Congress should not be responsible for legislating on behalf of District residents. Members are urged to VOTE NO.

Bill Text for H.J.Res. 43:
PDF Version

TOMORROW’S OUTLOOK
The GOP Leadership has announced the following schedule for Friday, May 1: The House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business.  The House is expected to complete consideration of H.R. 2028 – Energy and Water Appropriations Act, 2016 (Rep. Simpson – Appropriations). The House may also consider H.R. 1732 – Regulatory Integrity Protection Act of 2015 (Rep. Shuster – Transportation and Infrastructure).