THE DAILY WHIP: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2015

***Members are advised that close votes are possible this week, including potential votes on amendments related to Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) and Davis-Bacon to H.R. 2577 – Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016.

**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. 288 – Rule providing for consideration of H.R. 2289 – Commodity End-User Relief Act (Rep. Conaway – Agriculture) (One Hour of Debate). 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 Agriculture. The Rule allows for 5 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.

The Rules Committee rejected a motion by Ms. Slaughter of New York to report an open Rule for H.R. 2289. The Committee also rejected a motion by Mr. Hastings of Florida to make in order an amendment offered by Ms. Waters of California that would have prevented the CFTC from waiving bad actor disqualifications arising under a law other than the Commodity Exchange Act. Members are urged to VOTE NO.

Complete Consideration of H.R. 2578 – Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016 (Rep. Culberson – Appropriations) (One Hour of Debate). H.R. 2578 provides approximately $51.4 billion in discretionary budget authority for FY 2016, which is $1.3 billion (2.5%) above FY 2015 levels but $600 million below the President’s request. 

The bill increases funding for the National Science Foundation (funded at $7.39 billion, $50 million above FY 2015) and NASA (funded at $18.53 billion, $519 million above FY 2015) but continues the Republican attacks on climate research and social sciences by cutting NSF’s Geosciences and Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences by $257M below the FY 2015 level. The bill continues gun-related riders from past bills, and includes a new rider related to the facilitation, permitting, licensing, or promotion of exports to the Cuban military or intelligence service.

The bill cuts funding for grants to state and local law enforcement agencies by $325 million, while these governments continue to experience budget problems, and provides increases for most federal law enforcement agencies. In addition, H.R. 2758 provides $237.5 million for the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program; however this figure is deceiving as the bill shifts more than $200 million in grants, previously funded elsewhere in the bill – thus maintaining the illusion of a high COPS number. 

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 Commerce, Justice, Scienceappropriations 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. Members are urged to VOTE NO.

The Rule makes in order no further general debate. The House will complete consideration of amendments at the end of the bill today. As of last night, the following amendments have recorded votes pending:

• Pittenger Amendment 
• Nadler Amendment
• Farr Amendment
• Blackburn Amendment
• Foster Amendment
• Bonamici Amendment
• Ellison Amendment
• Grayson Amendment #1
• Rohrabacher Amendment
• Grayson Amendment #2
• McClintock Amendment
• Perry Amendment
• Garrett Amendment

Bill Text for H.R. 2578:
PDF Version

Background for H.R. 2578:
House Report (HTML Version)
House Report (PDF Version)

Begin Consideration of H.R. 2577 – Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016 (Rep. Diaz-Balart – Appropriations) (One Hour of Debate). H.R. 2577 provides approximately $55.3 billion in discretionary budget authority for FY 2016, which is $1.5 billion (2.8%) above FY 2015 levels but $9.7 billion below the President’s request. 

Despite the increase in overall funding from FY 2015, the bill makes several severe cuts to critical transportation and infrastructure programs and investments.  It cuts Amtrak’s funding by $251 million and includes none of the $825 million requested by the President for Positive Train Control. It provides $1.9 billion in funding for the Federal Transit Administration’s Capital Investment Grant Program, a cut of $198.6 million and $1.32 billion below the President’s request.  It also cuts funding for the Federal Aviation Administration’s modernization program by $100 million.

The bill also makes several cuts to housing programs. It reduces the Public Housing Capital Fund by $194 million below the FY 2015 level, $289 million below the President’s request, bringing funding for the Capital Fund down to $1.68 billion, $96 million below the FY 2013 sequester level. It also cuts the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative by 67% and flat funds HOME grants at $900 million – maintaining a reduction in funding of nearly 30% from FY 2013 enacted levels – at the lowest level since the program began in 1992.

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 T-HUD 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 a number of policy riders related to truck safety and one related the Cuba travel, 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. 2577:
PDF Version

Background for H.R. 2577:
House Report (HTML Version)
House Report (PDF Version)

TOMORROW’S OUTLOOK
The GOP Leadership has announced the following schedule for Thursday, June 4: The House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business.  The House is expected to continue consideration of H.R. 2577 – Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016 (Rep. Diaz-Balart – Appropriations).