THE DAILY WHIP: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

H.Res. 533 – Rule providing for consideration of H.R. 2824 – Increasing Opportunity and Success for Children and Parents through Evidence-Based Home Visiting Act (Rep. Smith (NE) – Ways and Means) and H.R. 2792 – Control Unlawful Fugitive Felons Act of 2017 (Rep. Noem – Ways and Means) (One hour of debate).  The Rules Committee has recommended one Rule which would provide for consideration of two bills.

For H.R. 2824, 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 Ways and Means.  The Rule provides for consideration of 4 amendments, each debatable for 10 minutes, equally controlled by the proponent and opponent of the amendment. The Rule allows one motion to recommit, with or without instructions, and waives all points of order against the legislation.

For H.R. 2792, 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 Ways and Means.  The Rule allows one motion to recommit and waives all points of order against the resolution. 

The Rule directs the Clerk to, in the engrossment of H.R. 2824, add the text of H.R. 2792 as passed by the House.  Members are urged to VOTE NO.

H.R. 2824– Increasing Opportunity and Success for Children and Parents through Evidence-Based Home Visiting Act (Rep. Smith (NE) – Ways and Means)(One hour of debate).  This bill would authorize five years of flat funding for the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting program (MIECHV) at $400 million per year.  This funding level currently allows only six percent of families eligible to participate in the program.  MIECHV is a proven program that has provided over 2 million home visits to families in at-risk communities in order to help them improve their parenting skills and promote healthy living, child development, and school readiness.  The program is set to run out of funding on September 30, 2017. 

Home visiting experts oppose two additions to the program proposed in this legislation.  The first is the proposal to, require home visiting programs to measure employment and earnings instead of focusing solely on family stability, health, safety, and child development outcomes. The second is a state match requirement that could cause states to cancel existing effective programs. 

The MIECHV program is a valuable, life-changing program for millions of low-income families across the country.  While it is essential that the program be adequately funded before the end of the fiscal year, H.R. 2824 is not the answer.  It adds unnecessary requirements to the program while adding no additional funding.

The Rule makes in order 4 amendments, debatable for 10 minutes, equally divided between the offeror and an opponent.  The amendments are:

Smith (NE) Amendment. Allows states to take into account staffing, community resource, and other requirements when determining how to operate at least one home visiting model in communities in need of services.
Pascrell Amendment. Maintains MIECHV's current focus of funding evidence based home visiting programs that strengthen families to make kids healthier, safer, and more ready to learn when they start school by striking the provision in the bill that would add "increasing employment and earnings" to the program's measured outcomes.
DelBene Amendment. Eliminates the bill’s matching requirement for tribal home visiting programs.
Murphy (FL) Amendment. Requires the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), to the extent it continues to allocate Home Visiting funding to states and territories based in whole or in part on the relative share of families with young children living at or below the federal poverty line in each state and territory, to utilize the most accurate federal data available for each jurisdiction.

Bill Text for H.R. 2824:
PDF Version

Background for H.R. 2824:
House Report (HTML Version)
House Report (PDF Version)

Postponed Suspension (1 bill)

1. H.Res. 311 – Recognizing that for 50 years the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has worked toward stability, prosperity, and peace in Southeast Asia, as amended (Rep. Castro – Foreign Affairs)