No images? Click here Welcome back to this week's edition of the Washington Weekly newsletter - bringing you the latest and greatest policy updates from Washington, D.C.Congress Kicks Off Conference on America COMPETES Act House and Senate members started to hash out their differences on Thursday, May 12, 2022, on a multibillion-dollar manufacturing and innovation bill that could be one of the last major legislative accomplishments before the midterm elections. More than 100 members of Congress gave brief opening statements at an hours-long meeting of the conference committee tasked with coming up with an agreement on a bill (H.R. 4521) known in the House as the America COMPETES Act. The negotiations over the final shape of the package intended to enhance US competitiveness with China are likely to touch on a wide range of subjects including computer chips, trade, immigration, and even Wisconsin mink farming. The opening public session kicks off what’s become an increasingly rare bicameral conference committee process. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss), the Senate Commerce Committee’s ranking member, said the first meeting gives lawmakers a chance to “touch gloves” before squaring off over the bill’s contents. Negotiators will then be able to debate individual provisions privately in the coming weeks or months. While there’s widespread support for the bill’s $52 billion for computer chip development, there’s billions of dollars worth of authorizations that lawmakers will need to agree on before a final package wins the approval of both chambers of Congress and President Joe Biden. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Questions Rail Board Over Delays Lawmakers are set to delve into service complaints that have plagued freight railroads in recent weeks. Stakeholders have turned to the Surface Transportation Board, the independent federal regulator that oversees rail, for solutions. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s railroads subcommittee will dive into those issues today at a hearing to weigh whether STB’s authority should be strengthened. The committee is planning to advance an STB reauthorization bill this year. All five of STB board members will attend. Freight rail snarls have become top of mind for lawmakers and the administration as shippers and labor unions complain that US railroad business decisions have led to rail delays, worker shortages, and strained supply chains, while rail executives fault the pandemic. Amtrak has also pushed lawmakers for more regulation of freight railroads, arguing their actions have delayed passenger trains. “Congress cannot sit idle and ignore the current problems with the freight railroads,” Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), chair of the panel, said in his prepared statement for the hearing. “The rail system is broken, and it needs fixing. We need you to fix it, or we will.” Lawmakers are set to grill board members on whether they have done enough or need additional authority. The STB held its own hearings last month to get input from major railroads, shippers and Biden officials about congestion and service issues. STB Chairman Martin Oberman, who testified on Thursday, May 12, 2022, said last week that the panel is mandating that some railroads submit service plans and regular progress reports after hearing about how cutting rail workers and resources has led to the service problems. “These failures are harming the nation’s economy and, in my view, are contributing to the inflationary forces affecting food and fuel in particular,” Oberman said last week. “Requiring additional reporting from railroads may not be the final result of our hearing on service issues.” The Rail Customer Coalition said inflation and supply chain struggles will continue to worsen if rail service issues aren’t fixed, according to a letter the coalition is submitting to committee record. House Passes $40 Billion for Ukraine The House on Tuesday, May 10, 2022, approved a more than $40 billion emergency Ukraine spending bill that pays for new weapons and provides economic and humanitarian relief. The 368 to 57 vote underscores bipartisan support for Ukraine in a Congress deeply divided on other issues. The legislation, which is significantly larger than the $33 billion aid package President Joe Biden requested last month, now heads to the Senate where approval is likely to occur this week. The bill includes $19.7 billion for the Defense Department, over $3 billion above the level asked for by the Biden administration. This includes the $6 billion in direct security assistance to Ukraine that Biden sought last month and $9 billion to replenish arms stocks sent from the Pentagon to Ukraine. The bill also includes $8.8 billion in direct economic support for Ukraine along with funds to repair the US Embassy in Kyiv, document war crimes and protect against nuclear fuel leaks. In addition, the measure would provide $4.35 billion for global food and humanitarian aid to be administered by the US Agency for International Development and another $700 million in global food funding at the State Department. The inclusion of the funds was made despite some concerns from Republicans that the global food crisis should not be addressed in the bill. Treasury to Provide States, Cities with Next Round of COVID Aid The US Treasury Department is set to begin infusing states and local governments with about $105 billion of aid, the second installment of pandemic relief payments. The American Rescue Plan, a $1.9 trillion stimulus package signed into law by President Joe Biden in March 2021, included $350 billion of aid for states, cities, counties, local and tribal governments, and territories. The package was designed so most recipients received their money in two tranches, with the first installment starting to come in last May. The Treasury Department has already released most of the money, with about $105 billion now available for government recipients that they can receive in the second round of funding. The program had set aside about $200 billion specifically for states. While some states and Washington, D.C. were eligible to get the money in one full payment, 30 states were set receive their aid in two tranches. These states started receiving their second portion of the aid last week. Meanwhile, local governments saw their payments split into two tranches. They can receive the second installment one year after they got their first payment. If you have not yet participated in our grassroots campaigns, but would like to take action to oppose the PRO Act or oppose the harmful tax hikes in the American Job’s Plan, click the Take Action tab above now.
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