McDonald Hopkins Government Strategies Advisory: This Week in Washington -- January 23, 2015

Senate debates climate change

The question of climate change has been a contentious one - at least among politicians - which is why it is surprising whenever you can get a vote on the issue to garner the support of 98 of the Senate's 100 members. This week, however, during the debate on the Keystone XL pipeline, that's exactly what happened.
In the first floor vote on the facts of climate science in years, an amendment from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) that stated that climate change is real and not a hoax passed with an astounding 98-1 tally. Even more shocking was that Jim Inhofe (R-OK), the Environment and Public Works Committee chair who relishes challenging climate scientists at every turn, signed on as a cosponsor.

Democrats brought up a second amendment from Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI), which said that climate change was real and that humans were significantly contributing, taking language from the Environmental Impact Statement on the Keystone XL pipeline. Republicans turned against that one, defeating it by a 50-49 vote. Amendments were subject to a 60-vote threshold.

Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska urged her colleagues to vote down the amendment for one specific reason: the amendment says that human activity "significantly" contributes to climate change. That word was a matter of "degrees," she said on the floor.

"The inclusion of that word is sufficient to merit a no vote," she said.

Several Republicans did cross over to vote for the amendment: Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Mark Kirk of Illinois, Susan Collins of Maine and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

State of the Union Address

This week, President Barack Obama delivered his State of the Union address. Here is a quick look at what the key components of the speech were:

Tax Reform

The president is proposing tax code changes that would raise $320 billion in revenue from wealthy Americans and businesses, while cutting middle class taxes by $175 billion. The plan would eliminate the so-called “trust-fund loophole,” taxing inheritances of high-income Americans. President Obama is also proposing to raise capital-gains tax to 28 percent from 23.8 percent for those making over $500,000 and impose a new fee on big banks. For families, the changes would include a $500 credit for working parents, increased child and education tax credits, and new retirement savings incentives.

Community College Program

President Obama unveiled a $60 billion plan over 10 years to provide free community college tuition to students who attend at least half-time and maintain good grades. Schools would also have to meet certain requirements to qualify, and states would have to cover a quarter of the cost. The White House estimates up to 9 million students could save an average of $3,800 per year if every state participates.

Boosting the capital-gains tax and imposing the fee on financial firms would raise an estimated $320 billion over 10 years to cover the estimated $235 billion cost of the tax credits and the community-college plan.

Executive Action on Environment

By executive authority, President Obama imposed new regulations on the oil and gas industry’s emissions of methane. The administration says the goal will be a 45 percent cut in 2012 emission levels in 10 years.

Defending Executive Action on Immigration Reform

President Obama used this speech to defend his executive action on immigration reform, threatening to veto legislation that passed in the House that seeks to curtail his efforts and to urge Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform.

Infrastructure Investment

President Obama frequently mentions infrastructure investment as a potential area of common ground between Republicans and Democrats. Obama used the State of the Union to highlight initiatives at several federal agencies aimed at promoting greater private sector capital investment in infrastructure projects. The efforts will help expand access to existing federal grant and loan programs to speed application and approval, officials say.

Despite increasing talk about the possibility of a gas tax increase, President Obama did not push for such a move.

Cybersecurity

President Obama talked extensively about cybersecurity – particularly in light of several high profile cybersecurity breaches over the last few months.

Obama proposed a 30-day notification law mandating companies to inform consumers promptly after a data breach has been identified. President Obama also renewed his call for consumer privacy "bill of rights" legislation and voice support for proposed legislation of putting new nationwide limits on mining of student data from devices used in K-12 classroom settings.

Additionally, President Obama proposed legislation to promote greater information sharing between the government and private sector businesses, including liability protection for data they share. He proposed new tools for law enforcement to investigate and prosecute cybercrime.

Lower Mortgage Insurance Premiums

Obama highlighted the recent announcement that the Federal Housing Administration would cut insurance rates from 1.35 percent to 0.85 percent. The agency estimates that 2 million U.S. borrowers will save an average of $900 a year if they purchase or refinance homes.

Fast Track Authority on Trade

In what was the only drama of the night, President Obama surprised many by using his State of the Union address to call for fast-track trade negotiating authority – something that many Democrats oppose.

Family and Medical Leave

Obama called on Congress to pass a bill that would require all U.S. companies to give employees seven days of paid sick leave a year. He also asked for $2 billion to help states start their own paid family and medical leave programs. President Obama also highlighted a presidential memorandum that he signed last week to make it easier for federal employees to take up to six weeks of “maternity” leave by advancing paid sick leave.

Cheaper and Faster Access to the Internet

President Obama repeated his call that the Federal Communications Commission should fight state laws that limit broadband service competition. In essence, the president wants the Internet treated like a public utility. The President also highlighted $40 to $50 million in new loans and grants through the Agriculture Department aimed at encouraging rural Internet providers.

Click here to view the Washington Business Brief video, “State of the Union Wrap Up with Congressman LaTourette.”

Moderates force leadership to pull abortion bill

It has been a rocky start for House GOP leadership, and the rocky start got a little rockier this week over the contentious issue of abortion. Bowing to the wishes of several moderates and women members, House Republican leaders pulled a controversial antiabortion bill from consideration late Wednesday night, a move sure to enrage antiabortion activists, who descended on Capitol Hill Thursday for their annual March for Life.

House Republican women and moderates had battled against their leaders on the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, exhibiting the deepening rift between centrists and conservatives who are at cross-purposes on which issues the party should be highlighting.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Republican leaders were insistent they would move ahead with legislation banning abortions after 20 weeks, but the Rules Committee announced an emergency meeting Wednesday night and sources said the bill would be pulled in favor of the less controversial alternative.

Some Republicans worried that the 20-week abortion measure might alienate millennials and female voters. But many female lawmakers were also furious over its clause stating that women can be exempt from the ban in cases of rape only if they reported the rape to authorities.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) told his conference at a closed-door meeting Wednesday that the bill was controversial, but that the plan was to move it anyway. That drew dissent from rank-and-file women, who were concerned that the bill's rape clause would have a chilling effect on women reporting rapes and livid that they were not consulted before the objectionable clause concerning the rape exception was added into the base text of the bill.

Proponents of the bill argued that the same rape clause was included in the version that passed the House with just six GOP defections last Congress. Yet, women in the conference said privately that they felt blindsided then, because it was included in the text during a meeting of the Rules Committee mere hours before the bill came to the floor. They held their fire at the time, but warned leaders not to include it in the base text of the bill this year.

A broader cross-section of Republican members also questioned why the House was spending time on legislation that was unlikely to overcome the 60-vote threshold in the Senate, let alone be signed into law by the president.

Attorney General confirmation hearings a proxy fight over immigration

It is unlikely that President Obama's Attorney General nominee - Loretta Lynch - won't be confirmed by the Senate. That doesn't mean, however, that her nomination won't be without fireworks. Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has already made it clear that he intends to have exhaustive hearings with a special focus on President Obama's executive action on immigration reform.

Senate Republicans continue to grapple with a response to the executive actions on immigration taken by President Obama. When Obama's Justice Department pick gets her moment before the committee next Wednesday, members will get their first opportunity to go on record venting their frustrations and grill the administration.

Currently, Republican senators are mired in debate over how to stop the administration from moving forward on changes to the nation's immigration policy that the party has repeatedly called "illegal" and "unconstitutional"—all while preventing a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security at the end of February. The House sent over a bill last week that the Senate is expected to take up in the near future, but few believe it will pass the upper chamber.

This has conservatives concerned that their leadership will cave, sending a clean funding bill back to the House and allowing Obama to move forward on immigration with nothing but a rhetorical slap on the wrist from Republicans. So far, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been silent on the issue.

Grassley, whose committee will have a major influence on any immigration debate in Congress this year, said that if they cannot pass the House bill, Republicans in both chambers will need to use every weapon in their constitutional arsenal to respond to the president's immigration action.

For Grassley, the Lynch nomination will be the first of many tests of his chairmanship. The farmer from Iowa is the first nonlawyer to head the Judiciary Committee, an honor that he feels gives him a unique perspective on the panel's issues and makes him more relatable to the average American than some of the legal scholars of the past.

With no direction yet from Senate leadership and deep uncertainty about the House bill's prospects for passage, many members will be left with the Lynch hearing as their best opportunity to take the president to task on immigration.

Despite member concerns over immigration, Lynch is widely expected to be confirmed by both the Judiciary Committee and the full Senate as soon as next month. Lynch has already been approved by the Senate twice for her two stints as U.S. attorney and has been subject to previous congressional scrutiny, including by Grassley, who has served on the panel for more than three decades.

Transportation in focus

Bipartisan transportation bill in the works

The age old axiom "politics often makes strange bedfellows" seems so right after the announcement of an expected bipartisan transportation bill. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and Senator Barbara Boxers (D-CA) come from very different ends of the political spectrum, but they are expected to soon unveil a transportation bill that will use revenue from a tax on companies' overseas earnings to shore up the Highway Trust Fund.

Paul first proposed the idea last year when he introduced the Emergency Transportation Safety Fund Act.

Last year's bill funded the Highway Trust Fund by repatriating overseas capital back to the United States at a rate of 5 percent. Paul said by reducing the existing repatriation rate, which can be as high as 35 percent, U.S. companies would have a greater incentive to bring funds back to the United States.

 

 

 Steven C. LaTourette, President | 202.559.2600

McDonald Hopkins Government Strategies LLC
101 Constitution Avenue NW, Suite 600 East, Washington, D.C. 20001 

www.mcdonaldhopkinsgs.com

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

Although McDonald Hopkins Government Strategies LLC is owned by the law firm McDonald Hopkins LLC, McDonald Hopkins Government Strategies is not a law firm and does not provide legal services. Accordingly, the retention of McDonald Hopkins Government Strategies does not create a client-lawyer relationship and the protections of the client-lawyer relationship, such as attorney-client privilege and the ethics rules pertaining to conduct by lawyers, do not apply.