THE DAILY WHIP: WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2018

Daily Leader

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HOUSE MEETS AT:	FIRST VOTE PREDICTED:	LAST VOTE PREDICTED:
10:00 a.m.: Morning Hour 12:00 p.m.: Legislative Business Fifteen “One Minutes”	1:15 – 2:15 p.m.	4:45 – 5:45 p.m.

H.Res. 891– Rule providing for consideration of H.R. 5698– Protect and Serve Act of 2018 (Rep. Rutherford – Judiciary), S. 2372 – VA MISSION Act of 2018 (Rep. Roe – Veterans’ Affairs), and H.R. 2 – Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 (Rep. Conaway – Agriculture). The Rules Committee has recommended one Rule which would provide for consideration of three bills.

For H.R. 5698, 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 the Judiciary. The Rule allows for 1 amendment, 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 S. 2372, the Rules Committee has recommended a closed Rule that provides for one hour of general debate equally divided and controlled by the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. The Rule allows one motion to recommit, with or without instructions, and waives all points of order against the legislation.

ForH.R. 2, the Rule provides for one hour of general debate, equally divided between the Chair and Ranking Member of the Committee on Agriculture. The Rule provides for consideration of twenty amendments, each debatable for 10 minutes, equally controlled by the proponent and opponent of the amendment.

A second Rule providing for additional amendments to H.R. 2 is expected to be considered on the Floor tomorrow.

The Rules Committee rejected a motion by Mr. McGovern of Massachusetts to amend the rule to provide that, on adoption of the rule, H.R. 2 is recommitted to the Committee on Agriculture, with instructions to consider a Farm Bill that does not decrease access to SNAP benefits, will not lead to fewer people enrolled in SNAP, and will not cut SNAP benefits for enrollees. Members are urged to VOTE NO.

H.R. 5698– Protect and Serve Act of 2018 (Rep. Rutherford – Judiciary) (One hour of debate). This bill allows for the federal prosecution of defendants who knowingly cause or attempt to cause serious bodily harm to a law enforcement officer, or an individual with perceived status of a law enforcement officer. It allows for a penalty of up to ten years imprisonment for a single violation, or up to a life sentence in cases resulting in kidnapping or death.

The Rule makes in order 1 amendment, debatable for 10 minutes, equally divided between the offeror and an opponent. The amendment is:

Goodlatte Manager’s Amendment. Adds clarifying language so only those who cause injury to a law enforcement officer with intent, not by accident, can be charged under the statute. It also amends the definition of law enforcement officer to assure correctional officers are covered by the definition.

Bill Text for H.R. 5698:
PDF Version

Background for H.R. 5698:
House Report (HTML Version)
House Report (PDF Version)

S. 2372– VA MISSION Act of 2018 (Rep. Roe – Veterans’ Affairs) (One hour of debate). This bill provides $5.2 billion to the VA Choice program, consolidates all community care programs at the VA into one new program, extends benefits for caregiver benefits and would implement a BRAC style commission for the VA.

The bill provides $5.2 billion for the Choice program that is anticipated to fund the program through May 2019. The VA has said that it will run out of funding for the Choice program at the end of this month. After May 2019, the legislation would consolidate the Choice program and other existing community care programs that provide medical care to veterans outside of the VA’s medical network into one new program. Funding for the new community care would be provided through the appropriations process and would be discretionary funding as opposed to the mandatory funding that was provided to the Choice program. The legislation would also expand caregiver benefits given to post-9/11 veterans in 2010 to pre-9/11 veterans who at this time are not eligible for such benefits. Finally, the bill would create an Asset Infrastructure Review (AIR) board that would function like a BRAC style commission to determine how medical facilities at the VA could be modernized, realigned, or closed in order to ensure VA resources are being used most efficiently. AIR would review all 170 VA medical centers and 1,061 outpatient clinics and could lead to some of those facilities being closed especially those in rural or underserved communities.

This bill passed out of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee 20-2.

Bill Text for S. 2372:
PDF Version

Background for S. 2372:
House Report (HTML Version)
House Report (PDF Version)

Begin Consideration ofH.R. 2– Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 (Rep. Conaway – Agriculture) (One hour of debate). This bill provides for the reform and continuation of Department of Agriculture programs for five years, through FY 2023. H.R. 2 was reported out of Committee without a single Democratic vote.

The bill fails to improve the farm program safety net to address uncertainty and low prices caused by the Administration’s trade and Renewable Fuel Standard policies. It eliminates mandatory funding for rural development and bio-energy programs that have helped support economic growth in rural America. It undercuts bedrock environmental laws, such as protections for endangered species; eliminates the Conservation Stewardship Program - the Nation's biggest conservation program by acreage; and rolls back protections to allow more timber harvests on federal lands. And it cuts an estimated $23 billion in benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

SNAP is an essential program that offers nutrition assistance to forty-one million low-income individuals and families. Nearly two-thirds of SNAP recipients are children, elderly, or disabled. The $23 billion in cuts is achieved by:

Eliminating Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility (BBCE): BBCE is currently used by forty-two states in order to make eligibility thresholds for their social services programs uniform, which advantages both administrators and recipients who otherwise would waste time on duplicative paperwork and processing. BBCE also helps recipients who are returning to work or increasing their hours by helping ease a “benefit cliff” so that when wages rise, SNAP benefits fall more gradually. This is a $5 billion cut.
Removing the automatic link between SNAP and Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) for non-elderly households: This is a $5 billion cut.
Enforcing child support payments although the enforcement will cost more than the support received: This would require beneficiaries to cooperate with child support enforcement agencies, but it would result in SNAP beneficiaries losing $3.8 billion in benefits while costing the federal government $7.2 billion.
Replacing existing, effective work requirements with a new, untested, underfunded approach that experts say won’t work and will instead take away benefits from vulnerable families: The bill greatly expands state Employment and Training programs but fails to provide sufficient funding for the programs to be effective, and imposes onerous new paperwork requirements that will increase costs and confusion. The changes will result in low income families losing $9 billion in SNAP benefits.

H.R. 2 attempts to hide the true impacts of these cuts by spending the savings to make the title look cost neutral, mostly through wasteful new spending on program administration, such as spending $2 on child support enforcement for every dollar saved and $7.7 billion on the new state make-work programs, for a total of nearly $15 billion in new administrative costs that do nothing to provide benefits to families. However, the bill does reinvest a small portion of these savings in modestly increasing benefits in a variety of ways. Enactment of this bill will do nothing to benefit the rural economy. It is a missed opportunity to invest in rural broadband, water and wastewater and other infrastructure needs, and it does nothing to address the opioid crisis.

Speaker Ryan is forcing consideration of this bill as part of his “Better Way” agenda, which seeks to enact welfare reform. Speaker Ryan should abandon this dangerous, ideological crusade and work on a bipartisan bill that helps the rural economy, protects the environment, and provides an effective hand up for struggling American families. Members are urged to VOTE NO.

**Members are advised the House is expected to complete general debate today. The House is expected to begin consideration of amendments following last votes this evening. Any recorded votes requested will be postponed.

Postponed Suspension (1 bill)

S. 35 – Black Hills National Cemetery Boundary Expansion Act (Sen. Thune – Natural Resources)

TOMORROW’S OUTLOOK

The GOP Leadership has announced the following schedule for Thursday, May 17: The House will meet at 12:00 p.m. for legislative business. The House is expected to continue consideration of H.R. 2 – Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 (Rep. Conaway – Agriculture) (Subject to a Rule).

THE DAILY QUOTE
“Conservative opposition to the House farm bill is mounting, with more members of the House GOP's right flank suggesting they could oppose the measure in an expected Friday vote. House Freedom Caucus members in a Tuesday night meeting discussed withholding their votes... That comes just a few hours after the more than 150 member-strong Republican Study Committee circulated a memo spelling out their own criticism of the agriculture text. While neither group has come out against the bill, their demands signal a problem for GOP whips who’ve remained confident this week about prospects for passage.” - Politico, 5/15/2018

THE DAILY QUOTE

“Conservative opposition to the House farm bill is mounting, with more members of the House GOP's right flank suggesting they could oppose the measure in an expected Friday vote. House Freedom Caucus members in a Tuesday night meeting discussed withholding their votes... That comes just a few hours after the more than 150 member-strong Republican Study Committee circulated a memo spelling out their own criticism of the agriculture text. While neither group has come out against the bill, their demands signal a problem for GOP whips who’ve remained confident this week about prospects for passage.”

- Politico, 5/15/2018