Floor Schedule

MONDAY, MAY 6TH
On Monday, no votes are expected in the House.

TUESDAY, MAY 7TH
On Tuesday, the House will meet at 12:00 p.m. for morning hour and 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. 2002 - Taiwan Assurance Act of 2019 (Sponsored by Rep. Michael McCaul / Foreign Affairs Committee)

2) H.Res. 273 - Reaffirming the United States commitment to Taiwan and to the implementation of the Taiwan Relations Act (Sponsored by Rep. Eliot Engel / Foreign Affairs Committee)

3) H.R. 1704 - Championing American Business Through Diplomacy Act of 2019 (Sponsored by Rep. Michael McCaul / Foreign Affairs Committee)

WEDNESDAY, MAY 8TH
On Wednesday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for morning hour and 12:00 p.m. for legislative business.

Legislation Considered Under Suspension of the Rules:

1) H.R. 1520 - Purple Book Continuity Act (Sponsored by Rep. Anna Eshoo / Energy and Commerce Committee)

2) H.R. 1503 - Orange Book Transparency Act of 2019 (Sponsored by Rep. Robin Kelly / Energy and Commerce Committee)

3) H.R. 1328 - ACCESS BROADBAND Act (Sponsored by Rep. Paul Tonko / Energy and Commerce Committee)

4) H.R. 312 - Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act (Sponsored by Rep. William Keating / Natural Resources Committee)

5) H.R. 375 - To amend the Act of June 18, 1934, to reaffirm the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to take land into trust for Indian Tribes, and for other purposes (Sponsored by Rep. Tom Cole / Natural Resources Committee)

THURSDAY, MAY 9TH AND THE BALANCE OF THE WEEK
On 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.

H.R. 986 - Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions Act of 2019 (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Ann Kuster / Energy and Commerce Committee)

H.R. 2157 - Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2019, Rules Committee Print (Subject to a Rule) (Sponsored by Rep. Nita Lowey / Appropriations Committee)

Committee Schedule

Wednesday

At 10:30 a.m., the House Appropriations Committee will mark up the Fiscal Year 2020 House Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill.   

Thursday

At 10:30 a.m., the House Appropriations Committee will mark up the Fiscal Year 2020 House Legislative Branch and Fiscal Year 2020 House Military Construction-Veterans Affairs Appropriations bills. 

In the News

Export-Import Bank helps Idaho companies, Simpson says

By: Sharon Fisher, Idaho Business Review, May 6, 2019

Funding for the federal Export-Import Bank is scheduled to come up in September and shouldn’t face some of the opposition it dealt with the last time, said Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho.

“I don’t think it’s going to be a heavy lift this year,” said Simpson, at an event sponsored by the Boise Metro Chamber.

Idaho senator Mike Crapo chairs the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, and earlier this year he cited reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank as one of the items that would be on his plate in 2019.

The purpose of the Export-Import bank is to provide working capital guarantees to companies that import and export goods with other countries, said Gary Degrange, vice president and business development officer of international banking for Zions Bank. These guarantees encourage banks to loan money to those companies in markets that would normally be too risky for them, he said.  The program pays its way and doesn’t cost taxpayers anything, he added.

But the program has been controversial. In 2015, the last time it came up for authorization, it was opposed by some conservative Republicans. However, 130 other countries have similar programs, and if the U.S. doesn’t have one, U.S. companies will be operating under a disadvantage, Simpson said.

In fact, Simpson said he signed a discharge petition to have the authorization bill brought before the House, an action he said he typically doesn’t do because it opposes leadership. Authorization of the organization then passed, 313-118.

President Donald Trump also supports the Export-Import Bank. However, since 2015, the organization’s board of directors hasn’t had a quorum, because the Senate hasn’t confirmed new members.  Without a quorum, the Export-Import Bank is limited to authorizing loans of $10 million or less. As of June 2018, that held up $43 billion in transactions nationwide, according to the Report to the U.S. Congress on Global Export Credit Competition, from the Export-Import Bank.

Four new board members are expected to come up for a confirmation vote in May, said Bob Sonnichsen, state director of business and economic development for Crapo’s office.

At this point, 36 Idaho companies are using the Export-Import Bank, for a total of 1,227 jobs and $192 million in export sales, according to the Ex-Im Coalition, an advocacy organization. For example, Boeing alone has about 26 Idaho suppliers using it, Degrange said.

However, Boeing itself is limited in its ability to use the program because of the $10 million limit, said Susan Champlain, director of government operations for commercial airplanes at the Seattle company. “Airplanes cost more than that,” she said. This could particularly be an issue if there’s an economic downturn, she added.

In addition, many more Idaho companies could be taking advantage of the program. For example, in 2017, Idaho exported $4 billion in goods and $1.6 billion in services, including cattle, dairy products, fruits and vegetables and travel services, according to Business Roundtable, a Washington, D.C.-based association of chief executive officers. Of Idaho’s 1,534 exporters, 85% are small businesses with fewer than 500 workers, though they account for only 19% of the value of Idaho goods exports, the organization noted.

International trade – including both exports and imports – supports 205,200 Idaho jobs, or more than 20%. Primarily, these jobs are in the trade and distribution, professional services and agriculture sectors. In addition, these jobs grew three times faster than total employment, with an increase of 85%, from 1992 to 2017, the company noted.

Idaho exports have grown at an annual rate of 1% since 2007, with goods exports declining by 14% but with services increasing by 63%, according to the organization.

In addition, jobs in export-dependent industries pay about 16 percent more than jobs in less export-intensive industries, and U.S. exporting plants increase employment 2 to 4 percent faster annually than plants that do not export. Exporting plants also are less likely to go out of business, the organization noted.

To share comments, opinions, or questions with Congressman Simpson, please visit http://www.house.gov/simpson/emailme.shtml.

If you would like to be removed from Congressman Simpson’s Weekly Washington Updates list, please reply to this email with the word “unsubscribe” in the subject.

.