Washington Update (by Carol Holladay)

Transcription

1 Washington Update (by Carol Holladay) Congress ended its business for the year last Friday (December 19 th ) with Democrats and Republicans battling over procedural rules for confirming President Obama s nominees. In a series of largely partyline votes, the Senate approved the confirmations of a deputy to the Department of Homeland Security, a federal district judge and a commissioner to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The Senate also moved Janet Yellen to the brink of becoming chairwoman of the Federal Reserve, voting to end debate on her nomination. The chamber plans to confirm her to the post when it returns Jan. 6 from its holiday break. On Thursday, Senators voted to approve the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 3304). Late last week, the Senate passed a two-year budget blueprint to diffuse the threat of another government shutdown and alleviate the sharp spending cuts embedded in sequestration. Lawmakers approved the legislation (H.J.Res. 59) last Wednesday in a vote, six days after it cleared the House by a margin of President Obama plans to sign the measure into law. Negotiated by Senate Budget Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-WA) and House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), the bill sets government spending levels through October 2015, while reducing sequestration cuts by $63 billion over the next two years. Passage of the measure will permit House and Senate appropriators to draft an omnibus measure to fund the government through the end of fiscal The deal is expected to go some distance to alleviate cuts to campus-based financial aid programs and federal research agencies such as the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation. In other activity, Senators voted late Thursday to approve a defense bill (H.R. 3304) and reached a deal to allow for the confirmation of three Presidential nominees. The Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 3304) 84 to 15. It then voted 55 to 45 to break a filibuster on the nomination of Alejandro Mayorkas to be the deputy secretary of Homeland Security. On Friday, Senators held a series of votes on the nominations of Mayorkas; John Koskinen to be commissioner of the IRS; and Brian Davis to be a federal district judge for Florida. A confirmation vote on Janet Yellen to be chairwoman of the Federal Reserve was pushed to January 6. The postponement came as Democratic leaders faced delaying tactics from Senate Republicans, who oppose new rules that limit the use of filibusters. In notable health reform implementation news, the White House unveiled another significant rule change to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) last week. On Thursday, HHS said it would temporarily waive the individual mandate for people who had their policies canceled, allowing them to buy less comprehensive catastrophic coverage next year if new plans are more expensive. The change was outlined in a letter to Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Angus King (I-ME) and Tim Kaine (D-VA). Off the Hill, President Obama held a news conference Friday, during which he acknowledged the health law rollout was likely his biggest mistake of the year. But he defended the ACA overall, pointing to a big increase in exchange enrollment this month as evidence that it will ultimately benefit millions of Americans. The 7 Most Important Things Congress Did: Erase $45 billion in across-the-board cuts to domestic and military programs that were set to take effect in January, plus another $19 billion due a year later. (About $140 billion of the sequester that had been dictated in 2011 for both this fiscal year and the next one was left intact.) The additional discretionary spending is to be more than offset by projected savings and non-tax revenue increases worth $85 billion in the next decade, allowing the difference to be counted toward deficit reduction.

2 Eliminate the filibuster as a tool for blocking almost all nominees. The Senate changed its rules to lower the threshold for invoking cloture, or limiting debate, on executive and judicial nominations except to the Supreme Court from three-fifths of all senators to a simple majority of those present. It s the biggest limitation on the powers of the minority party, and the most fundamental alteration to the way the Senate functions, since Shift the ideological balance on the nation s second-most influential federal bench, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The Senate confirmed three of President Barack Obama s choices for longstanding vacancies. When the year began, four active judges on the court were nominees of Republican presidents and three had been picked by Democrats. Revamp the system for setting interest rates on federal college and graduate school loans. Before the start of every school year, the rate will be tied to the government s own cost of borrowing, but also subject to new caps. The compromise did away with a fixed interest rate that Congress had been under pressure to reduce indefinitely. Expand the reach of the Violence Against Women Act, which directs federal efforts to combat and prosecute domestic abuse. Gay and lesbian victims may now benefit from the law s legal assistance, transitional housing, law enforcement training and hotline programs, and the rules were eased for using tribal courts to prosecute non-native Americans accused of sex crimes on reservations. Provide $50.5 billion to help local governments and individuals with Superstorm Sandy recovery and reconstruction. After one of the most damaging storms ever in the nation s largest metropolitan area, the emergency aid was delayed 13 weeks because of disputes over whether the package was too generous or should be matched with offsetting cuts elsewhere in the budget. Enact a defense authorization bill for a 53rd consecutive year, a record of consistency unmatched by any other measure that s supposed to be updated annually. The bill s most notable feature is a package of provisions designed to stanch an epidemic of sexual assault in the armed forces. The 25 Most Important Things Congress Talked About, but Did Not Do: Appropriate money for any programs or agencies by the start of the new budget year, leading to a suspension of non-essential federal services for the first 16 days of October. It was the first such partial government shutdown since early Repeal or make any substantive changes to the Affordable Care Act, the 2010 law also known as Obamacare that overhauled the nation s medical insurance system. Expand the national background check system for prospective gun buyers, restrict the size of ammunition magazines or otherwise tighten federal gun control laws in response to a series of high-profile mass shootings. Change immigration law, either by expanding border security or by creating a path to legal residency or citizenship for an estimated 11 million people living in the United States without documentation. Confirm Janet L. Yellen as the first Democrat since 1987 to head the Federal Reserve, the government s single-most influential economic policymaking position. The Fed vice chairwoman since 2009, she would be the first woman and only the 15th person to wield the gavel in the central bank s hundred-year history. Limit benefits provided by Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security, the biggest federal entitlement programs. Their projected annual growth rates pose the most substantial challenge to controlling annual federal deficits and the accumulated debt in the next two decades. Extend a collection of routine and relatively non-controversial tax provisions or begin an overhaul of the federal tax code to reduce the number of exemptions, exclusions and expenditures while expanding the ranks of people and businesses required to pay some taxes. Advance any proposals for combating climate change by reducing the nation s carbon footprint, even as the scientific consensus solidified that human activity has been responsible for most of the global warming in recent decades. Revise conditions for providing aid to public elementary and secondary schools. The No Child Left Behind law, seen by both parties as in need of a rewrite, has been due for an update since 2007.

3 Reduce crop subsidies for farmers and food stamp benefits for poor people as part of a rewrite of the multi-year farm bill, which lapsed in Limit the roles of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the national housing market, either by ending or curtailing the government s role as a guarantor of mortgages. Tighten rules for the National Security Agency s collection of civilians telephone calling or other electronic communication records, in response to the furor over the breadth of NSA spying programs. Proscribe any alterations to foreign policy, despite intense debate over intensifying sanctions on Iran and launching a military strike on Syria to punish its use of chemical weapons. Prohibit businesses with more than 15 employees from discrimination in hiring and employment based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Overhaul and curtail the operations of the Postal Service so it can become financially viable in the era of declining mail volume. Raise the federally guaranteed minimum wage above $7.25 an hour, where it has been fixed since July Allow states to require that online retailers outside their borders collect sales taxes on goods purchased by their residents. Streamline the 35 sometimes duplicative programs providing employment and job training aid to the states. Replace the formula for limiting Medicare payments to physicians, which has been routinely ignored since its 1997 creation with a series of annual doc fix bills. Update the Voting Rights Act in reaction to a Supreme Court decision overturning a central component while inviting a congressional rewrite. Outlaw almost all abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy, the new top legislative cause of the National Right to Life Committee. Expedite regulatory and environmental reviews of federal water projects and revamp the funding system for dredging and harbor maintenance. Speed construction across the Great Plains of the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline, a focal point in the national debate about balancing economic development and environmental stewardship. Continue a policy, started during the height of the 2008 recession, of extending jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed for 28 weeks beyond the usual expiration after six months. Ratify the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The treaty, negotiated during the George W. Bush administration and ratified by 138 other nations, is designed to extend globally a system of accommodations for the disabled enshrined in federal law since In the News: Education Dept. to recognize same-sex marriages for federal financial aid purposes By Valerie Strauss, Updated: December 13 at 5:03 pm The U.S. Education Department announced Friday that the federal government will now recognize all legal same-sex marriages for the purposes of applying for and receiving federal financial aid. Here s the statement from the department:

4 As part of the U.S. Department of Education s ongoing efforts to implement inclusive policies that reflect the diversity of American families, and consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court s ruling on Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in United States v. Windsor, the Department announced today new guidance on the use of marriage and spouse in the federal student aid programs, including on the completion of the FAFSA, the federal student aid form. The new guidance is based on the U.S. Supreme Court s decision in Windsor, which struck down a key part of DOMA. Under today s guidance, the Department will recognize a student or a parent as legally married if the couple was legally married in any jurisdiction that recognizes the marriage, regardless of whether the marriage is between a couple of the same sex or opposite sex, and regardless of where the student or couple lives or the student is attending school. This guidance impacts all questions concerning marriage and marital status on the FAFSA. Before the U.S. Supreme Court s ruling in Windsor, the Department had interpreted all provisions of Title IV of the Higher Education Act which authorizes the federal student aid programs consistent with Section 3 of DOMA, which prohibited all federal agencies from recognizing same-sex marriages. Specifically, Section 3 provides that the word marriage means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word spouse refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife. This meant that while a student under 24 who was married to an opposite sex spouse was considered independent for financial aid purposes, that same student would have been considered dependent if he or she was married to a same sex spouse because the marriage was not previously recognized. In Windsor, the Supreme Court held that Section 3 of DOMA is unconstitutional because it violates the principles of due process and equal protection. We must continue to ensure that every single American is treated equally in the eyes of the law, and this important guidance for students is another step forward in that effort, said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. As students fill out their FAFSA this coming year, I m thrilled they ll be able to do so in a way that is more fair and just. In April 2013, the Department began efforts to make the FAFSA more inclusive of all students, regardless of their parents marital status. In order to more accurately and fairly assess a student s need for aid, the Department announced that beginning with the FAFSA, it will collect income and other information from both of a dependent student s legal parents regardless of the parents marital status or gender, if those parents live together. To do so, the FAFSA will provide a new option for dependent applicants to describe their parents marital status as unmarried and both parents living together. Additionally, where appropriate, the new FAFSA form will also use terms like Parent 1 (father/mother/stepparent) and Parent 2 (father/mother/stepparent) instead of gender-specific terms like mother and father. A copy of the new FAFSA form, which will be released on Jan. 1, is attached. The vast majority of FAFSA forms are filed electronically using FAFSA on the Web. The information provided by students and parents on the FAFSA is used to calculate the student s expected family contribution (EFC), which determines the student s eligibility for federal need-based student aid as well as for many state, institutional and private aid programs. It is critical that both of a dependent student s parents help pay, to the extent they are able, for the

5 educational expenses of their child. Collecting parental information from both of a dependent student s legal parents will result in fair treatment of all families by eliminating longstanding inequities based on parents relationship with each other rather than on their relationship with their child. Today s guidance furthers those efforts by providing guidance on how students should apply for federal student aid, since now legally married same-sex couples will be treated as married for all FAFSA and EFC calculation purposes. For the FAFSA and subsequent years, responses to questions about marital status must be in accordance with the guidance the Department laid out today in a Dear Colleague Letter that was posted to the Department s Information for Financial Aid Professionals website (ifap.ed.gov). The impact on the FAFSA which students used and can continue to use to apply for aid for this school year depends on whether the student has already submitted a FAFSA. Students who have not yet submitted a FAFSA are expected to respond to all questions related to marital status in accordance with the updated guidance. A student who previously submitted a FAFSA, but who was unable to respond to marital status questions as married due to Section 3 of DOMA, may choose to submit a correction. These optional corrections will be permitted since they do not represent a change in marital status, but rather an acknowledgment of the marital status at the time of the initial FAFSA submission. This choice only applies if the impacted student and/or parent were legally married at the time the FAFSA was initially completed. For more information about federal student aid, visit the Department s website: studentaid.ed.gov. Dubious of Obama Plan - Inside Higher Ed URL: