As expected, both the House and Senate passed HR 1473 today. The votes on the main bill were mixed in both Houses with a large number of Democrats voting for the bill and a significant number of Republicans voting against.
The votes on the two modifying resolutions were much more along party lines with both resolutions passing in the House and failing in the Senate. The vote on the Obama healthcare defunding drew three Democrat ‘Yeas’ in the House and the Planned Parenthood defunding measure drew 5 Republican ‘Nays’ in the Senate.
So, with the government over half-way through the fiscal year we now finally have a funding bill in place. We also have a little more permanence in the CFATS authorization, at least for the remainder of the fiscal year; actually until October 4th, 2011.
Showing posts with label HR 1473. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HR 1473. Show all posts
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Senate to Consider HR 1473 Today
According to the Daily Digest for the Congressional Record (pg D 403) the Senate reached a unanimous consent agreement yesterday to consider HR 1473 today as soon as the House notifies them that they have completed action on the bill and its two associated resolutions.
The agreement requires that 60 votes will be necessary for passage. This may be a tough requirement for the bill, but it will be a certain death knell for the two amending resolutions.
The Senate will consider the three items in a different order than will be used in the House. The Senate will consider H. Con. Res 35, then H. Con. Res 36 and then, finally, HR 1473. The House rule called for a vote on HR 1473 with the other two votes to follow only if HR 1473 passes. Apparently there are those in the Senate leadership that were concerned that some members might not vote for HR 1473 if the possibility existed that either (or both) of the two resolutions could also be passed.
That the Senate was able to agree to this consideration format has ensured that a vote will take place if/when the House passes the bill. No one Senator from either extreme will be able to stop the consideration of the bill. It certainly isn’t a guarantee that the bill will pass (I’m betting that it will), but it does insure that a vote will take place.
The agreement requires that 60 votes will be necessary for passage. This may be a tough requirement for the bill, but it will be a certain death knell for the two amending resolutions.
The Senate will consider the three items in a different order than will be used in the House. The Senate will consider H. Con. Res 35, then H. Con. Res 36 and then, finally, HR 1473. The House rule called for a vote on HR 1473 with the other two votes to follow only if HR 1473 passes. Apparently there are those in the Senate leadership that were concerned that some members might not vote for HR 1473 if the possibility existed that either (or both) of the two resolutions could also be passed.
That the Senate was able to agree to this consideration format has ensured that a vote will take place if/when the House passes the bill. No one Senator from either extreme will be able to stop the consideration of the bill. It certainly isn’t a guarantee that the bill will pass (I’m betting that it will), but it does insure that a vote will take place.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Chemical Security Funding in HR 1473
I have finally had a chance to go back and look at the DHS spending in HR 1473 that might impact the chemical security community. I have discussed the general meaning of these in previous posts on HR 1 and HR 1363. So here are the numbers for HR 1473 with comparisons to HR 1 and the President’s FY 2011 Request.
SEC. 1617. Notwithstanding section 1101, the level for ‘‘Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Surface Transportation Security’’ shall be $105,961,000 [HR 1 - $105,961,000; FY 2011 Request - $137,558,000 (23% Reduction)].Since there have been no hearings on these figures we have no way of know why the funding for NPPD-IP/IS has increased over the HR 1 figures. One would like to think that it is due to increased focus on ICS-CERT and CFATS; but that probably better reflects my priorities than those of Congress.
SEC. 1626. Notwithstanding section 1101, the level for ‘‘Department of Homeland Security, National Protection and Programs Directorate, Management and Administration’’ shall be $43,577,000 [HR 1 - $43,577,000; FY 2011 Request - $46,137,000 (6.5% Reduction)].
SEC. 1627. Notwithstanding section 1101, the level for ‘‘Department of Homeland Security, National Protection and Programs Directorate, Infrastructure Protection and Information Security’’ shall be $840,444,000 [HR 1 - $805,965,000; FY 2011 Request - $865,965,000 (2.8% Reduction)].
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Rules Committee Hearing on HR 1473
This evening the House Rules Committee held a hearing to formulate the rule for the consideration of HR 1473, the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011. The same rule (H. Res. 218) also allows for automatic consideration of two House concurrent resolutions (H. Con. Res. 35 and 36) after HR 1473 passes.
Controversial Policy Provisions
As part of the deal that avoided a Federal government shut down last Friday night the House Republicans agreed not to include two controversial provisions in the final FY 2011 Continuing Resolution if they were guaranteed that the Senate would have a straight up-or-down vote on the provisions. Those two provisions are embodied in these two resolutions. H. Con. Res 35 would remove all funding from the Obama health care provisions passed last session. H. Con. Res. 36 would prohibit providing any Federal money to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
If/when HR 1473 passes in the House, the House will immediately take up these two resolutions. They are expected to pass in the House pretty much along party lines (there may be some defections of some pro-life Democrats on H. Con. Res. 36). Under the agreement reached last Friday night, the same thing would occur in the Senate. In the unlikely event that either of these resolutions passed in the Senate, the ‘engrossed’ (passed) version of HR 1473 would be changed to reflect the appropriate provision(s).
Republicans don’t hold out any great hope that either resolution will actually pass in the Senate. What they are counting on is a recorded vote on the two issues to use in the campaigns next year against a number of Democrats who are due to face voters in swing states.
The Rule
The rule produced in this evenings hearing is a closed rule for the consideration of HR 1473 and the two resolutions. There will be one hour of debate on HR 1473 and, if it passes, twenty minutes of debate on each resolution. No amendments are included in the rule and no amendments may be offered on the floor.
Under the new House rules for the 112th Congress, a bill cannot be considered under regular order until 72 hours has passed since the bill was posted on an official House web site. These three pieces of legislation were posted at 1:50 am of April 12th. They would not be eligible for regular order consideration until 1:50 am on April 15th (remember the current short term CR extension expires on midnight on the 15th). The leadership can bring the bill to the floor under a ‘unanimous consent’ agreement. This would allow a single Representative to oppose consideration and prevent it from happening until the bill could be considered under regular order.
It is expected that HR 1473 will be considered in the House under a unanimous consent motion some time tomorrow. It (and the two resolutions) will certainly pass in the House. The bill will probably pass in the Senate, but the two resolutions are unlikely to pass in that body.
Controversial Policy Provisions
As part of the deal that avoided a Federal government shut down last Friday night the House Republicans agreed not to include two controversial provisions in the final FY 2011 Continuing Resolution if they were guaranteed that the Senate would have a straight up-or-down vote on the provisions. Those two provisions are embodied in these two resolutions. H. Con. Res 35 would remove all funding from the Obama health care provisions passed last session. H. Con. Res. 36 would prohibit providing any Federal money to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
If/when HR 1473 passes in the House, the House will immediately take up these two resolutions. They are expected to pass in the House pretty much along party lines (there may be some defections of some pro-life Democrats on H. Con. Res. 36). Under the agreement reached last Friday night, the same thing would occur in the Senate. In the unlikely event that either of these resolutions passed in the Senate, the ‘engrossed’ (passed) version of HR 1473 would be changed to reflect the appropriate provision(s).
Republicans don’t hold out any great hope that either resolution will actually pass in the Senate. What they are counting on is a recorded vote on the two issues to use in the campaigns next year against a number of Democrats who are due to face voters in swing states.
The Rule
The rule produced in this evenings hearing is a closed rule for the consideration of HR 1473 and the two resolutions. There will be one hour of debate on HR 1473 and, if it passes, twenty minutes of debate on each resolution. No amendments are included in the rule and no amendments may be offered on the floor.
Under the new House rules for the 112th Congress, a bill cannot be considered under regular order until 72 hours has passed since the bill was posted on an official House web site. These three pieces of legislation were posted at 1:50 am of April 12th. They would not be eligible for regular order consideration until 1:50 am on April 15th (remember the current short term CR extension expires on midnight on the 15th). The leadership can bring the bill to the floor under a ‘unanimous consent’ agreement. This would allow a single Representative to oppose consideration and prevent it from happening until the bill could be considered under regular order.
It is expected that HR 1473 will be considered in the House under a unanimous consent motion some time tomorrow. It (and the two resolutions) will certainly pass in the House. The bill will probably pass in the Senate, but the two resolutions are unlikely to pass in that body.
HR 1473 Introduced – FY 2011 Continuing Resolution
I was wondering why the House held a pro-forma session last night at 11:00 pm. Well I found out this morning, it allowed Appropriations Committee Chair Rogers (R, KY) to introduce HR 1473, the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011, with a date of 4-11-11. The early date is important for complying with the new Republican House rules designed to give members timely access to pending legislation. Of course the bill is not available on the GPO web site yet, but it a Committee Draft is available on the House Rules Committee web site.
Title A of the bill is actually an appropriations bill for the Department of Defense. Title B is a new continuing resolution for the remainder of FY 2011. The base figures in the new CR come from the various appropriations bills for FY 2010, the last year when such bills were actually passed.
I haven’t had a chance to review all of the DHS provisions yet, but I can tell you that §1650 extends the §550 authority for CFATS until October 4th, 2011.
Title A of the bill is actually an appropriations bill for the Department of Defense. Title B is a new continuing resolution for the remainder of FY 2011. The base figures in the new CR come from the various appropriations bills for FY 2010, the last year when such bills were actually passed.
I haven’t had a chance to review all of the DHS provisions yet, but I can tell you that §1650 extends the §550 authority for CFATS until October 4th, 2011.
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