The House Appropriations Committee marked up two of its 12 annual spending bills in subcommittee (Interior and Transportation-HUD) this week and three in full committee (Agriculture, CJS, and Energy & Water). The committee has now reported out five of their FY19 appropriations bills.
House
House FY19 Agriculture Appropriations Bill
The House Appropriations Committee marked up its $23.27B Agriculture spending bill this week and reported it out of full committee by a vote of 31 to 20. The bill is $14M above the FY18 enacted level, but when including both discretionary and mandatory funding it is $922M below FY18.
Before passage, the committee approved (29-20) a contentious amendment to ease the Food and Drug Administration’s regulation of e-cigarettes and premium cigars. The amendment requires the FDA to issue final tobacco product standards no later than 36 months from enactment. The panel rejected by voice vote an amendment to continue a ban on funding for the USDA to carry out inspections of horses to be slaughtered for meat. The committee also rejected an amendment from Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) to strike a provision in the bill that would give USDA regulatory oversight of the emerging technology of growing meat-like products from animal cells. DeLauro argued that they should wait for more information to determine whether USDA or FDA is the better agency to regulate it. And the committee rejected an amendment by Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-GA) to increase funding for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The Committee did adopt the following amendments:
- Aderholt –The amendment makes technical and noncontroversial changes to the bill and report. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.
- Lee – The amendment increases the Healthy Food Financing Initiative by $1 million. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.
- Cole/Rep. Bishop– The amendment adds bill language to modernize the February 2007 predicate date for certain tobacco products. The amendment was adopted on a vote of 29-20.
- Young– The amendment adds bill language to ensure that disclosure requirements related to genetically engineered salmon and finfish be made in accordance with the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.
- Simpson/Rep. Pingree– The amendment adds bill language preventing the USDA from disallowing potatoes as part of the school breakfast program. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.
- Newhouse/Rep. Bishop– The amendment adds bill language to protect SNAP retailers from certain invasive disclosure requirements. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.
- Harris– The amendment adds report language to require an FDA report on adverse health events linked to attorney or lead generators advertisements, and to collaborate with the FTC to address patient safety concerns. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.
- Newhouse– The amendment adds report language directing the Secretary of Agriculture to work with other federal agencies to establish a comprehensive online system for agriculture employers to complete the H-2A applications process. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.
It’s unclear when the bill will go to the House floor for consideration.
House FY19 Agriculture Appropriations Bill Text
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/AP/AP00/20180516/108312/BILLS-115HR-FC-AP-FY2019-AP00-Final.pdf
House FY19 Agriculture Appropriations Bill Summary
https://appropriations.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=395290
House FY19 Agriculture Appropriations Bill Report Language
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/AP/AP00/20180516/108312/HRPT-115-HR-FY2019-Agriculture.pdf
House FY19 Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations Bill
The House Appropriations Committee marked up its $62.5B CJS spending bill this week and reported it out of full committee by a vote of 32 to 19. The bill is $2.9B above the FY18 enacted level, and funds the Departments of Commerce and Justice, NASA, the National Science Foundation, the decennial census, and other related programs.
During debate, disagreements emerged over the Trump administration’s immigration policies, gun control provisions and the need to protect Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s probe into potential connections between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives during the 2016 presidential election.
The committee adopted the following amendments during the markup:
- Culberson – The manager’s amendment makes technical and noncontroversial changes to the bill and report. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.
- Valadao – The amendment prohibits funding for the Commerce Department to implement or administer new rules on certain California dam hydroelectric projects. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.
- Joyce – The amendment prohibits funding to prevent states from implementing their own medical marijuana laws. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.
- McCollum – The amendment changes Justice Department funding designations for Native Americans. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.
- Ruppersberger – The amendment prohibits funds to be used in contravention of the ZTE suspension order. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.
- Ruppersberger – The amendment targets $2 million to halt illegal cell phone use in prisons. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.
- Harris – The amendment urges the Drug Enforcement Administration to expeditiously process medical marijuana research applications. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.
House FY19 Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations Bill Text
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/AP/AP00/20180517/108330/BILLS-115HR-SC-AP-FY2019-AP00-CJSBILL.pdf
House FY19 Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations Bill Summary
https://appropriations.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=395291
House FY19 Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations Bill Report Language
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/AP/AP00/20180517/108330/HRPT-115-HR.pdf
House FY19 Energy & Water Appropriations Bill
The House Appropriations Committee marked up its FY19 spending bill this week and reported it out of full committee by a vote of 29 to 20 after adopting a managers amendment. The $44.7B bill is $1.5B above the FY18 enacted level and $8.17B above the President’s FY19 budget request. In addition to providing funding for various Department of Education programs, the bill provides $15.3B for national nuclear weapons activities and $7.28B for the Army Corps of Engineers.
House FY19 Energy & Water Appropriations Bill Text
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/AP/AP00/20180516/108312/BILLS-115HR-FC-AP-FY2019-AP00-FinalBill.pdf
House FY19 Energy & Water Appropriations Bill Summary
https://appropriations.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=395283
House FY19 Energy & Water Appropriations Bill Report Language
https://docs.house.gov/meetings/AP/AP00/20180516/108312/HRPT-115-HR-FY2019-EnergyandWater.pdf
House FY19 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill
The House Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee met and marked up its $35.252B FY19 spending bill this week and approved it by voice vote. The bill’s funding level is equal to its FY18 enacted level.
The bill includes $3.9B for wildland firefighting and prevention programs, $500M for Payments in Lieu of Taxes (funds for local governments to help offset losses in property taxes due to nontaxable federal lands within their counties), $7.958B for the EPA ($100M below FY18), $5.9B for the Indian Health Service ($370M above FY18), $3.1B for the Bureaus of Indian Affairs and Indian Education ($40M above FY18), $229M for the Office of Surface Mining, $1.4B for the Bureau of Land Management ($55M above FY18), $3.25B for the National Park Service ($53M above FY18), $6.1B for the U.S. Forest Service, $1.6B for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ($11M below FY18), $1.2B for the U.S. Geological Survey ($19M above FY18), $1B for the Smithsonian Institution ($12M above FY18), $155M for the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities ($2M above FY18), $1.8M for the Eisenhower Memorial Commission salaries, $360M for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and $12M for the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board ($1M above FY18).
The bill also includes several policy riders that repeal the Waters of the United States regulation, prohibits the regulation of lead content in ammunition and fishing tackle, relieves livestock operations from EPA permitting requirements, exempts livestock producers from EPA greenhouse gas regulations, directives to federal agencies to establish policies that reflect the carbon neutrality of biomass, prohibit the EPA from making changes to certain agriculture exemptions under the Clean Water Act,
House FY19 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill Text
House FY19 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill Summary
https://appropriations.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=395297
House FY19 Transportation, HUD, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill
The House Transportation-HUD Appropriations Subcommittee approved its $71.8B FY19 spending bill by voice vote on Wednesday. The bill is $1.5B over the FY18 enacted level and $23.8B above the President’s FY18 budget request. The bill includes $27.8B for the Department of Transportation ($542M above FY18) and $43.6B for the Department of Housing and Urban Development ($941M above FY18).
While there has been discussion of an infrastructure bill being considered this year, subcommittee chairman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) said that they don’t need to wait to do a separate infrastructure bill and that this funding bill is an infrastructure bill. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-PA) disagreed and said that he still plans to introduce an infrastructure bill this year, possibly before the August recess.
The full appropriations committee is likely to mark up the bill next week.
House FY19 Transportation, HUD, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill Text
House FY19 Transportation, HUD, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill Summary
https://appropriations.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=395298
Senate
The Senate Appropriations Committee is still holding hearings on the FY19 budgets submitted by the federal agencies, but they did announce their preliminary schedule for marking up their FY19 spending bills. The schedule is tentative and subject to change. The committee did not announce specific dates, but instead weeks during which each spending bill will be taken up. See chart below for the schedule. The committee is expected to adopt a full slate of 302(b) allocations at its first full committee markup. The allocations have been given to the subcommittee chairs so they can begin writing their FY19 spending bills.
While Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL) expects the first FY19 spending bills will be on the Senate floor during the second week of June, there are only 13 weeks left when the Senate will be in session before the new fiscal year begins on October 1. The Senate floor calendar is also crowded with judicial and executive branch nominations that are proceeding at a slow pace. Congress has to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program (July 31), the FAA and Airport and Airway Trust Fund (Sept 30), the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act (Sept 30), E-Verify (Sept 30), and the Farm Bill (Sept 30). Republican senators are concerned that there is not enough time to pass all 12 annual spending bills.
While Congress routinely misses the October 1 deadline and usually catches up with an omnibus spending package several months into the new fiscal year, President Trump has vowed that he will never sign another omnibus bill. Sixteen Republican senators sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) requesting that he start bundling the 12 spending bills into minibuses. The group also called for extending Senate work hours to Mondays and Fridays and forgoing the August recess. Senate Appropriations Committee ranking democrat Patrick Leahy (D-VT) responded that there is no need to cancel the August recess to finish spending work.
| Subcommittee | House Action | Senate Action |
| Agriculture | Subcommittee: May 9
Full Committee: May 16 |
Subcommittee: May 22
Full Committee: May 24 |
| Commerce Justice Science | Subcommittee: May 9
Full Committee: May 17 |
Week of June 11-15 |
| Defense | Week of June 25-29 | |
| Energy & Water | Subcommittee: May 7
Full Committee: May 16 |
Subcommittee: May 22
Full Committee: May 24 |
| Financial Services | Week of June 18-22 | |
| Homeland Security | Week of June 18-22 | |
| Interior Environment | Subcommittee: May 15
Full Committee: May 22 |
Week of June 11-15 |
| Labor HHS Education | Week of June 25-29 | |
| Legislative Branch | Subcommittee: April 26
Full Committee: May 8 |
Week of June 11-15 |
| Military Construction VA | Subcommittee: April 26
Full Committee: May 8 |
Week of June 4-8 |
| State Foreign Operations | Week of June 18-22 | |
| Transportation HUD | Subcommittee: May 16 | Week of June 4-8 |