Chuck Darwin on Nostr: GOP House committee chairs are working on coming up with menus of options for what ...
GOP House committee chairs are working on coming up with menus of options for what they want to see included in President-elect Donald Trump’s“one big, beautiful bill.”
Now comes the hard part.
Anything they’re pitching for #reconciliation has to follow the budgetary restraints of the filibuster-proof process,
meaning not every panel’s top priority can make it in the package.
Several who we’ve talked to said they’ve met with House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas)
and have either planned meetings or had them with their committee members.
Here’s what some are considering.
🔸House Natural Resources:
Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) has a long list going.
He told us the committee’s whole agenda for the immediate future is “reconciliation, reconciliation and more reconciliation.”
Westerman has met with Arrington, talks often with him on the phone and texts him frequently.
It’s all hands on deck to get the bill done, Westerman said.
The committee already has text prepared. Now it’s a matter of getting accurate scores on that text.
With wildfires ripping through Los Angeles, Westerman, a forester, said reconciliation can be used to prevent future devastation.
There’s forest management and water storage issues related to the budget that he’s looking into, he said.
The Palisades and Eaton fires are set to be the most expensive fires ever.
Managing areas that burn and preventing future fires has several budget implications, Westerman said.
“Everything that has a revenue increase or expense decrease,
the primary purpose is on the table for reconciliation,” Westerman said.
Mandating oil and gas leases would also raise revenue,
and Westerman also believes there’s large revenue potential from mining leases.
🔸Permitting Conundrum:
The big ticket item from the committee, though, will be any changes to the laws and procedures on how the government approves new infrastructure projects,
often called "permitting reform".
Lawmakers have been trying for years to get something going in this area.
Last year, there was a big push from Sen. John Barrasso(R-Wyo.) and former Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) to enact their deal that would accelerate the permitting process for energy and mineral projects all over the country.
Don’t expect any permitting legislation that ends up in reconciliation to look like that package, Westerman said.
There are ways to streamline the process that saves the government money and can go through reconciliation,
but it won’t be a broad overhaul, he said.
🔸Energy and Commerce: Westerman’s partner on the permitting piece of reconciliation will be Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.),
whose panel shares some of that jurisdiction.
Guthrie said part of the process now is figuring out what exactly can or can’t be done in terms of changes to permitting.
Republicans are likely to borrow revenue items from last Congress’ big energy bill that passed the House, the “Lower Energy Costs Act.”
Anything from that legislation, which included more sweeping permitting changes than is likely possible under reconciliation,
that has a revenue impact is on the table.
In the health space, Guthrie is looking to enact changes to Medicaid through reconciliation.
Guthrie told us he’s discussed per capita allotments, which could lower Medicaid spending by allocating money based on population rather than cost of care.
We’ve also reported that pharmacy benefit manager legislation could be used in reconciliation to help with offsetting the bill’s cost.
🔸Agriculture:
Some chairs demurred on what exactly they’ll propose,
saying they’re not as far along in terms of specifics.
House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) said he’s been having discussions with committee members and Arrington about what’s possible.
One policy Thompson is sure about, though,
is he wants to protect some conservation spending from the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act.
He told reporters recently that he doesn’t want to see cuts to the $14.5 billion in Agriculture Department conservation spending.
Other Republicans are eyeing the money leftover from the IRA to use for other priorities and to offset the reconciliation package.
We’ll see who wins out in that battle.
🔸House Ed:
House Education and Workforce Committee Chair Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) said he’s already identified some cuts
that he believes would pass the Senate Parliamentarian’s test
but wants to hear from his committee members as well.
👉Part of Walberg’s pitch to the Steering Committee was that he wants to use reconciliation to cut the Education Department’s funding and reduce its power.
Walberg is meeting with his committee members this week.
– Samantha Handler
https://punchbowl.news/archive/11325-the-portal/
Now comes the hard part.
Anything they’re pitching for #reconciliation has to follow the budgetary restraints of the filibuster-proof process,
meaning not every panel’s top priority can make it in the package.
Several who we’ve talked to said they’ve met with House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas)
and have either planned meetings or had them with their committee members.
Here’s what some are considering.
🔸House Natural Resources:
Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) has a long list going.
He told us the committee’s whole agenda for the immediate future is “reconciliation, reconciliation and more reconciliation.”
Westerman has met with Arrington, talks often with him on the phone and texts him frequently.
It’s all hands on deck to get the bill done, Westerman said.
The committee already has text prepared. Now it’s a matter of getting accurate scores on that text.
With wildfires ripping through Los Angeles, Westerman, a forester, said reconciliation can be used to prevent future devastation.
There’s forest management and water storage issues related to the budget that he’s looking into, he said.
The Palisades and Eaton fires are set to be the most expensive fires ever.
Managing areas that burn and preventing future fires has several budget implications, Westerman said.
“Everything that has a revenue increase or expense decrease,
the primary purpose is on the table for reconciliation,” Westerman said.
Mandating oil and gas leases would also raise revenue,
and Westerman also believes there’s large revenue potential from mining leases.
🔸Permitting Conundrum:
The big ticket item from the committee, though, will be any changes to the laws and procedures on how the government approves new infrastructure projects,
often called "permitting reform".
Lawmakers have been trying for years to get something going in this area.
Last year, there was a big push from Sen. John Barrasso(R-Wyo.) and former Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) to enact their deal that would accelerate the permitting process for energy and mineral projects all over the country.
Don’t expect any permitting legislation that ends up in reconciliation to look like that package, Westerman said.
There are ways to streamline the process that saves the government money and can go through reconciliation,
but it won’t be a broad overhaul, he said.
🔸Energy and Commerce: Westerman’s partner on the permitting piece of reconciliation will be Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.),
whose panel shares some of that jurisdiction.
Guthrie said part of the process now is figuring out what exactly can or can’t be done in terms of changes to permitting.
Republicans are likely to borrow revenue items from last Congress’ big energy bill that passed the House, the “Lower Energy Costs Act.”
Anything from that legislation, which included more sweeping permitting changes than is likely possible under reconciliation,
that has a revenue impact is on the table.
In the health space, Guthrie is looking to enact changes to Medicaid through reconciliation.
Guthrie told us he’s discussed per capita allotments, which could lower Medicaid spending by allocating money based on population rather than cost of care.
We’ve also reported that pharmacy benefit manager legislation could be used in reconciliation to help with offsetting the bill’s cost.
🔸Agriculture:
Some chairs demurred on what exactly they’ll propose,
saying they’re not as far along in terms of specifics.
House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) said he’s been having discussions with committee members and Arrington about what’s possible.
One policy Thompson is sure about, though,
is he wants to protect some conservation spending from the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act.
He told reporters recently that he doesn’t want to see cuts to the $14.5 billion in Agriculture Department conservation spending.
Other Republicans are eyeing the money leftover from the IRA to use for other priorities and to offset the reconciliation package.
We’ll see who wins out in that battle.
🔸House Ed:
House Education and Workforce Committee Chair Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) said he’s already identified some cuts
that he believes would pass the Senate Parliamentarian’s test
but wants to hear from his committee members as well.
👉Part of Walberg’s pitch to the Steering Committee was that he wants to use reconciliation to cut the Education Department’s funding and reduce its power.
Walberg is meeting with his committee members this week.
– Samantha Handler
https://punchbowl.news/archive/11325-the-portal/