Capitol Hill This Week - What to Watch For (UPDATED)

This week, the House Budget Committee (on Wednesday) and Senate Budget Committee (on Wednesday and Thursday) are each poised to mark up their respective budget resolutions, which will effectively be a Republican response to the President’s proposed budget.  The full House and Senate would then be expected to debate their respective bills during the week of March 23.

Best indications are that the House and Senate resolutions will be significantly different relating to a variety of spending items, including agricultural-related matters.  To resolve the differences, Congressional leaders may choose to follow a legislative, cost-cutting path known as budget reconciliation, which would change the routine way that the budget resolution is agreed upon (see footnote [1], below, for more on the reconciliation process). Assuming the Senate and House eventually agree on and pass a common Budget Resolution, it will be used, in part, to set spending ceilings for bills developed by House and Senate appropriators to fund the government during the 2016 fiscal year.

Following approval of the Budget Resolution (assuming it is, in fact, approved), Appropriations Committees in both the Senate and House would develop legislation to allocate funds.  An informative, November 2014, Congressional Research Service introduction to the Congressional budget and appropriations process can be read online or downloaded here (PDF file).  Once appropriations activities start, the latest news on appropriations efforts in Congress can be tracked in this blog and on the respective House and Senate Appropriations Committee’s web pages, as well as on this Congress.gov web page.

The House has scheduled votes during the week on two contentious GOP bills designed to change the way the Environmental Protection Agency conducts its rulemaking: H.R. 1029 - the EPA Science Advisory Board Reform Act of 2015, and H.R. 1030, the Secret Science Reform Act of 2015.  Both will likely pass, as did similar measures in 2014.

Below are the House and Senate activities currently scheduled for this week that relate to Mississippi River Basin water resources. Links are provided to committee hearing web pages, and to any associated pieces of legislation.  All times are Eastern.  This page will be updated as needed throughout the week.

Tuesday -

• House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies budget hearing - United States Fish and Wildlife Service; 9:00 AM, room B-308 Rayburn House Office Building.
• House Committee on Natural Resources oversight hearing on "Examining the Spending Priorities and Missions of the National Park Service in the President's FY 2016 Budget Proposal;" 9:30 AM, room 1334 Longworth House Office Building.
• Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration hearing to examine proposed budget estimates and justification for fiscal year 2016 for the Department of Agriculture; 10:00 AM, room SD-192 Dirksen Senate Office Building.
• Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife hearing to examine S.659, a bill "to protect and enhance opportunities for recreational hunting, fishing, and shooting;" 10:00 AM, room SD-406 Dirksen Senate Office Building (no link to hearing yet).
• House Appropriations: Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies budget hearing - National Science Foundation; 10:30 AM, room H-309 Capitol Building.
• House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies budget hearing - National Park Service; 1:00 PM, room B-308 Rayburn House Office Building.
• House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry hearing "to review the definition of “waters of the United States” proposed rule and its impact on rural America;" 2:00 PM, room 1300 Longworth House Office Building.

Wednesday

• House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Public and Outside Witness Hearing; 9:00 AM, room B-308 Rayburn House Office Building.
• NEW - House Transportation and Infrastructure Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Subcommittee roundtable on the rising toll of disasters in the United States; 9:30 AM, room 2253 Rayburn House Office Building.
• House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy hearing on: "H.R.__ the Improving Coal Combustion Residuals Regulation Act of 2015," which would give states the enforcement authority to implement the EPA’s coal ash standards; 10:00 AM, room 2322 Rayburn House Office Building.
• Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies hearing to examine proposed budget estimates and justification for fiscal year 2016 for the Forest Service; 10:00 AM, room SD-124 Dirksen Senate Office Building.
• House Appropriations: Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies budget hearing - Department of Agriculture Rural Development; 10:00 AM, room 2362-A Rayburn House Office Building.
• House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies budget hearing - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; 10:30 AM, room H-309 Capitol Building.
• House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment hearing on the President's Fiscal Year 2016 Budget: Administration Priorities for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; 10:30 AM, room 2167 Rayburn House Office Building.
• House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Hearing: Public and Outside Witness Hearing; 1:00 PM, room B-308 Rayburn House Office Building.

Thursday

• NEW - House Agriculture Committee business meeting to consider H.R. 897, "Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2015" (regarding the regulation of the use of pesticides in or near navigable waters); 9:30 AM, room 1300 Longworth House Office Building.
• House Natural Resources Committee Joint Oversight Hearing on "Examining the Spending Priorities and Missions of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the President's FY 2016 Budget Proposal;" 9:30 AM, room 1334 Longworth House Office Building.
• House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies budget hearing - Bureau of Land Management; 9:30 AM, room B-308 Rayburn House Office Building.
• House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies budget hearing - Department of Agriculture Farm and Foreign Agriculture Services (including RMA and FSA); 10:00 AM, room 2362-A Rayburn House Office Building.

[1]   An overview of the reconciliation process:  Should Congressional leaders decide to invoke the reconciliation process, language known as a "reconciliation directive" or "instructions" are included in the budget resolution. The reconciliation directive instructs the authorizing committees (for example, the Committee on Agriculture) to produce legislation by a specific date that meets certain spending or tax targets, oftentimes involving prescribed program cuts. Should the authorizing committees fail to produce this legislation, the Budget Committee chair typically has the authority to offer floor amendments to meet the reconciliation targets, a threat that is designed to produce compliance with the reconciliation directive.  The Budget Committee then packages all of the spending bills into one package that goes to the House and Senate floors for an up-or-down, simple majority, vote, with limited opportunity for amendment. After the House and Senate resolve any differences between competing bills, a final conference report is considered on the floor of each chamber, and is to the President for approval or veto.