Bills Introduced – 9-22-20

 Yesterday, with both the House and Senate in session, there were 46 bills introduced. Of those, one will receive additional coverage in this blog:

HR 8337 Making continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2021, and for other purposes. Rep. Lowey, Nita M. [D-NY-17]

This bill effectively replaces HR 8319 that I described yesterday as the FY 2021 continuing resolution (CR). The bill was taken up by the House under the suspension of the rules process and passed by a strongly bipartisan vote of 359 to 57 with one Democrat voting present. It will extend federal government spending through December 11^th, 2020.

A quick look at the table of contents of the bill shows only one change; in Division D there was added a Title VI, Nutrition and Commodities Programs. Nothing that I can see in that title provides additional spending authority for the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) which was a White House priority. It does extend authorities for the SNAP program and COVID-19 modified school lunch programs. It also limits Commodity Credit Corporation payments to oil and gas providers.

A closer look at the document shows that the bill passed yesterday has an added §173 in Division A that provides authority for the Department of Agriculture to “reimburse the Commodity Credit Corporation for net realized losses sustained, but not previously reimbursed, as of September 17, 2020.”

These two changes should ensure that the bill will be taken up and passed by the Senate in abbreviated processes. There are no indications that the White House has any objections to this version of the Continuing Resolution.

Bills Introduced – 9-21-20

 Yesterday, with both the House and Senate in session, there were 29 bills introduced. One of those bills will receive additional attention in this blog:

HR 8319 Making continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2021, and for other purposes. Rep. Lowey, Nita M. [D-NY-17]

The House Rules Committee met yesterday to formulate the rule for the consideration of this bill (and 3 others). The rule provided for a closed debate on the bill with 1 hour of debate and no floor amendments. The bill will almost certainly pass in the House if it is actually brought to the floor.

Billed as a ‘clean CR’ this is a complex bill that includes language extending a number of programs that would expire on September 30^th. There are news reports that Sen. McConnel opposes the bill because it does not include continued funding for the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC), a White House priority. Rep. Conway (R,TX) attempted to add language for that funding in the Rules Committee hearing on the bill, but the amendment was defeated.

There is a remote possibility that additional negotiations could result in that language being added to the bill during the floor consideration via a motion to recommit.