Bills Introduced – 3-11-24

Yesterday, with both the House and Senate in session, there were 26 bills introduced. None of the bills introduced will receive additional coverage in this blog, but there are two bills that I would like to mention in passing:

HR 7610 To amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to clarify that utility line technicians qualify as emergency response providers. Higgins, Clay [Rep.-R-LA-3]

HR 7614 To prohibit the payment of the salaries of the President and members of the cabinet if the President fails to submit the annual budget to Congress before the first Monday in February of any year, and for other purposes. Mace, Nancy [Rep.-R-SC-1]

I am not sure what the practical effect of HR 7610 would be, it depends on what portion of the Homeland Security Act is being amended. In any event, any action that Congress would take to extend recognition for utility line technicians would not be enough. As extreme weather events and large grassland and forest fires become more prevalent, the more we become dependent upon the courageous actions of these unsung heroes of the energy grid.

While Congress officially requires the Administration to submit a budget request to start the process for developing spending bills, that budget has become an increasingly impotent part of the process. The deadline being proposed in this bill is obviously an impossible deadline for the first year of any administration, but even in follow on years it is becoming increasingly difficult for budgeteers in the Executive Branch to craft spending proposals when it takes Congress longer and longer to pass actual spending bills.

HR 7614 is a political messaging bill which no one, not even Mace, expects to receive any attention in committee and the bill will never make it to the floor of the House, much less make it to the desk of the President. I am pretty certain, however, that Mace plans on cashing in on the bill in her fundraising for November.