September 7, 2017 Senate approves debt limit, CR, hurricane funding bill On September 7, 2017, the Senate approved (by a vote of 80-17) a bill (H.R. 601), that would extend both government funding and the federal debt limit through December 8, and provide $15.25 billion in hurricane relief funding. The hurricane relief funding would authorize $7.4 billion to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for necessary expenses related to disaster relief and restoration of infrastructure and housing, in addition to the $7.85 billion previously approved by the House — $7.4 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and $450 million for the Small Business Administration. The bill, which is attached, also extends through the duration of the continuing resolution (CR) the authorization date of the National Flood Insurance Program, which is set to expire on September 30, 2017. While the House previously voted to approve stand-alone hurricane relief funding legislation, the chamber will be required to vote again on the newly combined bill and conservative Republicans there have expressed opposition as they did in the Senate. The Senate defeated two amendments, by Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Ben Sasse (R-NE) respectively, to refer the bill to committee and to report the bill back containing only the House-passed hurricane relief funds. The bill reflects an agreement struck between President Trump, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to extend the debt limit into December, in a bill combined with a CR and hurricane relief funding. Republican leaders had argued for a longer-term solution to the debt limit, possibly to last beyond the 2018 midterm elections in order to spare members multiple votes on the issue. Conservatives continue to call for spending reforms to accompany a debt limit increase. The deal between the President and Democratic leaders, which GOP leaders acceded to, was said to be motivated by a desire to clear items requiring action by the end of September to allow a focus on tax reform, and to project unity among lawmakers amid the recovery from one hurricane and the threat of another. "The president made it really clear, and what he was aiming for in that meeting yesterday was a bipartisan moment, while the country is facing two horrible hurricanes," Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said during a news conference. The bill creates a new slate of deadlines in December, when Republicans hoped to be wrapping up tax legislation. However, December 8 may not be a hard and fast deadline for the debt limit as Treasury is expected to be able to use "extraordinary measures" to meet obligations beyond then. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) said Republicans need to make sure "not to overload the end of the year" with overlapping priorities in light of tax reform, Bloomberg BNA reported. Democratic leaders said they wanted to be working on addressing DREAMers and health care legislation as part of year-end "must do" legislation. Additionally, Congressional Republicans and Administration officials met again on tax reform and some of those involved reported progress in making decisions on key aspects of a plan and the potential for release of more details by the end of September or early October. President Trump said "we are going to get into great detail over the next two weeks" on tax reform plans. Speaker Ryan called the meeting productive, said tax-writing committees are working on details, and, "This is our number one priority this fall." ———————————————
——————————————— Hurricane Funding Bill
H.R. 601
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