Recently in Washington

During the week of June 22^nd, the House passed H.R. 1190, the Protecting Seniors' Access to Medicare Act, by a vote of 244-154.  H.R. 1190 repeals sections of Obamacare that established the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB).  The House also passed H.R. 2042, the Ratepayer Protection Act of 2015, by a vote of 247-180.  H.R. 2042 postpones the dates by which states and operators of existing fossil-fuel fired power plants must comply with any final rule addressing emissions of carbon dioxide proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) until after completion of judicial review.  Finally, the House passed H.R. 1295, the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015, by a vote of 286-138.  H.R. 1295 reauthorizes and revises the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), extends the preferential duty treatment program for products from Haiti, reauthorizes Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), and strengthens the enforcement of anti-dumping and countervailing duty laws.  Congressman Simpson supported all three bills.

Simpson Votes to Roll Back Flawed Obamacare Provisions

Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson recently supported final passage of two bills that would repeal two of the most unpopular and onerous provisions in Obamacare. H.R. 160, the Protect Medical Innovation Act of 2015 and H.R. 1190, the Protecting Seniors’ Access to Medicare Act of 2015, both passed the House of Representatives with bipartisan support.

The Protect Medical Innovation Act passed June 18^th, by a vote of 280-140. It repeals the harmful 2.3% excise tax on medical devices like pacemakers, CT scan machines and defibrillators.

 “The medical device tax has already driven up costs for medical device manufacturers, many of whom have told me they must pass on those costs to the customer in order to stay in business,” said Congressman Simpson. “It is essentially a tax on medical care in this country. That is why I am pleased the House acted in a bipartisan manner to repeal this tax.  We should encourage innovation, not tax it.” 

H.R. 1190, the Protecting Seniors’ Access to Medicare Act eliminates the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), which is a board of unelected bureaucrats tasked with deciding payment rates for Medicare.  Included in Obamacare is authority for IPAB to operate without public meetings or hearings, consider public input on proposals, or make its deliberations open to the public.

“The IPAB is a provision of Obamacare that has concerned me since day one,” said Simpson.  “We all know that without effective reform, Medicare as we know it will not be there for our children and grandchildren.  Any changes to Medicare must happen in public, with broad input, and with the best interests of the American people in mind.  Unfortunately, the IPAB is authorized to act in the completely opposite manner—with the power to impact American’s Medicare benefits behind closed doors and with little public or congressional oversight.”

H.R. 1190 passed the House June 23^rd by a vote of 244-154 and along with H.R. 160 will be considered in the U.S. Senate.

Simpson Applauds Supreme Court’s Ruling Against EPA for Ignoring Onerous Costs

Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson issued the following statement after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for straying well be­yond the bounds of reasonable interpretation of the Clean Air Act.

Congressman Simpson has long voiced opposition to the EPA’s aggressive rules and regulatory agenda. He believes the agency too often fails to consider the full impact and costs of its actions to the American people.

“I am very pleased with the Court’s ruling today that the EPA must consider cost of compliance before issuing new regulations. I have been deeply concerned at how this Administration’s EPA has drastically expanded its regulatory authority over the last six years,” said Simpson. “Time and again the EPA issues new regulations, without Congress’s consent, that impact nearly every facet of Americans’ lives—from whom you can hire to remodel your house to what kind of car you can drive. Today’s ruling sends a much needed message to the EPA that it cannot continue to regulate in a vacuum.”

To read the decision visit the Supreme Court Website.

Committee Schedule

Wednesday

At 10:15 a.m., the House Appropriations Committee marked up and approved the Agriculture bill for Fiscal Year 2016.

Floor Schedule

MONDAY, JULY 6TH
On Monday, the House is not in session.

TUESDAY, JULY 7TH
On Tuesday, the House will meet at 2:00 p.m. for legislative business. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 p.m.

Legislation Considered Under Suspension of the Rules:

1) H.R. 907 - United States-Jordan Defense Cooperation Act of 2015, as amended (Sponsored by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen / Foreign Affairs Committee)

2) Concur in the Senate Amendment to H.R. 91 - Veteran's I.D. Card Act (Sponsored by Rep. Vern Buchanan / Veterans’ Affairs Committee) 

3) H.R. 1531 - Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act (Sponsored by Rep. Gerry Connolly / Oversight and Government Reform Committee)

Continue Consideration of H.R. 2822 - Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016 (Modified Open Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Ken Calvert / Appropriations Committee)

WEDNESDAY, JULY 8TH AND THE BALANCE OF THE WEEK
On Wednesday and Thursday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for morning hour and 12:00 p.m. for legislative business.

On Friday, the House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business. Last votes expected no later than 3:00 p.m.

Complete Consideration of H.R. 2822 - Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016 (Modified Open Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Ken Calvert / Appropriations Committee)

Complete Consideration of H.R. 5 - Student Success Act, Rules Committee Print (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. John Kline / Education and the Workforce Committee)

H.R. 2647 - Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2015, Rules Committee Print (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Bruce Westerman / Agriculture Committee / Natural Resources Committee)

H.R. 6 - 21st Century Cures Act, Rules Committee Print (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Fred Upton / Energy and Commerce Committee)

Possible Consideration of a Motion to Go to Conference on H.R. 644 - Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act

In the News

Western Lawmakers Seek Wildfire Funding as Blaze Season Draws Near

by Will Dobbs-Allsopp   |   June 26, 2015

A coalition of largely Western lawmakers is pushing to change how the federal government funds efforts to combat wildfires. But an ongoing appropriations battle in the Senate and procedural disagreements in the House may push the proposal beyond this year’s fire season.

Wildfires have become more intense over the last 15 years as higher temperatures and the rapid spread of highly flammable weeds like cheatgrass create favorable fire conditions throughout the Western states. That combination has sent costs skyrocketing for federal agencies tasked with fighting wildfire outbreaks.

Cost of Wildfire Suppression for Federal Agencies

Wildfire-fighting funding is determined, by law, based on the average of annual spending from the past several years. But because costs are rising, that equation has routinely yielded inadequate funds. According to a Congressional Research Service report this month, “the budget formulation process…has underestimated suppression spending 8 out of the last 10 years by nearly 50% annually on average.”

These funding woes have a group of Western lawmakers advocating for a change to wildfire budgeting practices.

Supporters of H.R. 167 and S. 235, similar bills introduced by Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), want to enable wildfire-fighting to qualify for disaster-relief funding. The White House included similar language in its fiscal year 2016 budget request for the Interior Department.

Due to stringent spending caps instituted by the Budget Control Act, simply diverting more money to fire suppression accounts would come at the expense of other programs, such as forest management and other fire prevention initiatives. Critics of the current system have pointed out that boosting fire suppression accounts is only half the battle.

“Congress must also ensure that enough funds are available to get out ahead of the problem and prevent wildfires from raging out of control in the first place,” Wyden said in an emailed statement Wednesday.

Both proposals would instead permit lawmakers to appropriate funds to combat the most serious wildfires outside of existing caps, thus preserving funding for things like fire prevention.

Advocates like Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), one of 111 cosponsors of Simpson’s bill, say it’s not right that disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes can qualify for this type of spending while wildfires do not.

“Frankly it’s a big discrimination issue and everyone West of the Mississippi is pretty irritated about that,” Schrader said in an interview Thursday.

However, there’s no clear sign that either of these efforts will bear fruit in time for this year’s fire season, already underway in Alaska and drawing near in drought-stricken California.

In the Senate, a provision similar to Wyden’s bill, which has 15 cosponsors, was included in the Interior appropriations bill last week. But with the appropriations process stalled in the chamber over disagreements about sequester-level spending limits, the budget process is unlikely to yield more money for wildfire fighting anytime soon.

On the other side of the Capitol, intra-coalition disputes over procedural issues kept a similar provision from being attached to the House version of the Interior spending bill.

Democrats on the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee wanted to add an amendment to the spending bill that would have included Simpson’s legislation in the funding measure.

However, subcommittee Republicans, including Simpson himself, voted the amendment down over concerns that the proposal hadn’t received the blessing of another powerful House panel.

“I couldn’t go along with the amendment that they offered…because we didn’t have it OK’d with the Budget Committee,” Simpson told reporters Thursday.

Instead, House Republicans are aiming to pass Simpson’s bill as a stand-alone measure.

“We’re trying to get through regular order the Simpson bill and deal with it that way,” Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), who chairs the Interior Appropriations subcommittee, said in an interview Wednesday.

Simpson said the next best chance for his legislation to make it into law is when the House Committee on Natural Resources marks up a forestry bill, which he said could include wildfire language.

With no immediate path foreseeable, it’s unlikely that wildfire legislation will get to the president’s desk in time to address U.S. officials’ concerns about the fire season that’s already underway.

Jessica Gardetto, a public affairs official at the National Interagency Fire Center, said those concerns weren’t limited to California and Alaska.

“We are also expecting triple digit temperatures throughout much of the Great Basin, which is most of Nevada, parts of eastern California, southeastern Oregon, south Idaho, and western Utah,” she wrote in an email Tuesday. “Because we are concerned about a storm that has potential to bring a lot of lighting through these states this weekend, fire season could pick up throughout the West.”

Still, even if his bill doesn’t advance quickly, Simpson said he’s optimistic about the prospects of Congress passing something along the lines of his proposal.

“We’ll get it done, I’m pretty sure,” he said. “John [boehner] knows it’s important to get it done.”