House and Senate Cloakroom: September 27 – October 1, 2010

House Cloakroom: September 27 – October 1, 2010

Analysis:

The House will be in its final week of action before recessing until after the election. The target adjournment had been October 8^th, but with a tough election cycle ahead and holdups on legislation in the Senate, House leaders are pushing to get their members home to campaign. The main floor action that needs to be taken before they recess, though, is the Continuing Resolution (CR) to appropriate funds to keep the government running until sometime in November. This vote could happen either Wednesday or Thursday this week as the new fiscal year begins October 1^st and none of the regular appropriations bills have been cleared. The House may consider a child nutrition bill as well. Members will now leave town without a vote on stopping the largest tax hike in history. The Heritage Foundation recently released a report detailing the Obama tax hikes devastating impacts at the national, state, and congressional district level.

Major Floor Action

• Continuing Resolution (CR)
• HR 5409 – Residential Construction Lending Act
• HR 5504 – Improving Nutrition for America’s Children Act

Major Committee Action

• The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security will hold a hearing on “Reining in Overcriminalization”
• The House Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing on the Department of Defense’s efficiency initiative to find spending cuts to be applied to more deserving projects.

Senate Cloakroom: September 27 – October 1, 2010

After a slow week, the Senate will reconvene today with no clear agenda for what is presumed to be their last week in Washington before the November elections. After not accomplishing as much as was expected last week, this week’s agenda is still slightly unclear. There will be a procedural vote today on legislation sponsored by Senator Durbin (the Creating American Jobs and Ending Offshoring Act), but beyond that, the Floor schedule still seems to be in flux. The only remaining must-pass legislation before adjourning until November is a continuing resolution (CR). The new fiscal year begins on October 1, and as of now, no appropriations bills have been passed. It is still not clear if Senator Reid will pass a clean CR, or if some Members will try to pack the legislation with unrelated pork.

Senator Reid announced last Thursday that the Senate would not consider any legislation regarding the 2001/2003 tax provisions (scheduled to expire on January 1, 2011) before the midterm elections. Democrats are very split on this issue, with Senators Bayh, Conrad, and Nelson (NE) being the most outspoken Members of their caucus to support full extension for all income levels. Expect an interesting Floor debate during the lame duck session in November.

Major Floor Action:

• S. 3816: Creating American Jobs and Ending Offshoring Act

Major Committee Action:

• The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will hold a hearing entitled: NHTSA Oversight: An Examination of the Highway Safety Provisions of SAFETEA-LU.
• The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing to discuss long-term disability policies.