THE DAILY WHIP: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 2015

**Members are advised that the House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business and recess immediately.  The House will reconvene at approximately 10:45 a.m. for a Joint Meeting of Congress to receive His Excellency Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan.

**MEMBERS ARE ALSO ADVISED THAT CLOSE VOTES ARE POSSIBLE 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. ANY EXPECTED ABSENCES SHOULD BE REPORTED TO THE WHIP’S OFFICE AT x5-3130.

**Members are further 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. 223 – Rule providing for consideration of both H.R. 2029 – Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2016 (Rep. Dent – Appropriations) and H.R. 2028 – Energy and Water Appropriations Act, 2016 (Rep. Simpson – Appropriations) (One Hour of Debate). The Rules committee has recommended one Rule which provides for consideration of 2 bills.

For H.R. 2029, the Rules Committee has recommended a modified open Rule that allows any amendments that comply with House Rules to be considered. The Rule provides for one hour of general debate, equally divided between the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on Appropriations. The Rule allows any Member to submit an amendment that complies with the House Rules, but only provides for 10 minutes of debate per amendment equally divided and controlled between the proponent and an opponent, and does not permit unlimited pro forma amendments. Lastly, the Rule provides up to 10 pro forma amendments for the purpose of debate offered by the Chair and Ranking Member or their designee and one motion to recommit with or without instructions.

For H.R. 2028, the Rules Committee has recommended a modified open Rule that allows any amendments that comply with House Rules to be considered. The Rule provides for one hour of general debate, equally divided between the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on Appropriations. The Rule allows any Member to submit an amendment that complies with the House Rules, but only provides for 10 minutes of debate per amendment equally divided and controlled between the proponent and an opponent, and does not permit unlimited pro forma amendments. Lastly, the Rule provides up to 10 pro forma amendments for the purpose of debate offered by the Chair and Ranking Member or their designee and one motion to recommit with or without instructions.

The Rule also provides FY 2016 spending allocations for House Committees outlined in the FY 2016 Republican Budget and deems them to be considered to be the allocations under the Congressional Budget Act. By setting the Appropriations Committee's 302(a) discretionary allocation consistent with the discretionary spending caps of the Budget Control Act of 2011, Republicans are making it clear that they have no intention of working to find a common-sense solution to replace the draconian and harmful sequester. Members are urged to VOTE NO.

H.R. 2029 – Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act, 2016 (Rep. Dent – Appropriations) (One Hour of Debate). 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.

Bill Text for H.R. 2029:
PDF Version

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

Begin Consideration of H.R. 2028 – Energy and Water Appropriations Act, 2016 (Rep. Simpson – Appropriations) (One Hour of Debate). 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.

Bill Text for H.R. 2028:
PDF Version

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

Postponed Suspension (1 bill)

1. H.R. 651 – To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 820 Elmwood Avenue in Providence, Rhode Island, as the "Sister Ann Keefe Post Office" (Rep. Cicilline – Oversight and Government Reform)

TOMORROW’S OUTLOOK
The GOP Leadership has announced the following schedule for Thursday, April 30: The House will meet at 12:00 p.m. for legislative business.  The House is expected to continue consideration of H.R. 2028 – Energy and Water Appropriations Act, 2016 (Rep. Simpson – Appropriations).