As February ended, Congress faced yet another FY 2024 budget deadline. Five months into the fiscal year, Congress has yet to enact any of the 12 annual appropriations bills, with federal agencies operating under a Continuing Resolution (CR).

After President Biden convened congressional leaders early last for budget talks, the administration and the congressional leadership announced a plan to finalize work on the FY 2024 budget by packaging the 12 annual appropriations bills into two “minibus” measures. They also agreed to enactment of another CR to provide enough time to move that plan forward without a government shutdown.

The House passed the CR (HR 7463)by a vote of 320-99 under suspension of the rules, an expedited procedure that prohibits amendments, limits debate, and requires a two-third supermajority for passage. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) brought the bill to the floor under suspension of the rules because of timing but also because he was not assured of getting through the Rule Committee or to getting the House to approve a rule for the bill given his slim 219-213 majority and the opposition to CR from a large part of his Caucus. The Senate later cleared the CR for President Biden’s signature by a vote of 77-13. 

Under the CR, agencies and programs funded by four appropriations bills (Agriculture, Energy and Water Development, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Transportation/ Housing and Urban Development) and were set to expire on March 1 were extended through March 8. It would extend funding for agencies and programs funded under the other 8 appropriations bills, which were set to expire on March 8, through March 22.

Those extensions will theoretically provide enough time to enact two FY 2024 appropriations packages. The plan for finalizing FY 2024 appropriations calls for the enactment of two packages. The first will reportedly include the Agriculture, Commerce/Justice/Science, Energy and Water, Interior/Environment, Military Construction/VA, and Transportation/HUD measures. The second will reportedly include the Defense, Financial Services, Legislative Branch, Homeland Security, Labor/HHS/Education, and State/Foreign Operations. Given the slim margins in the House and expected opposition from a large part of the Republican Caucus, Johnson will likely have to bring both packages to the floor under suspension of the rules.

President Biden is scheduled to deliver his FY 2025 Budget proposal to Congress this month. The delivery of the President’s proposed budget traditionally kicks off the congressional budget process, which means that if Congress can finalize work on FY 2024 appropriations, they will have to quickly pivot to work on FY 2025 appropriations bills.

Other legislation of interest to local governments on the congressional to do list is outlined below.

FAA Reauthorization

The House approved its reauthorization bill (HR 3995) last year. After months of negotiations between Chair Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-TX), the Senate Commerce Committee approved its version of the bill ((S 1939) last month. Like the House version, the Senate bill would authorize $4 billion per year for the Airport Improvement Program (AIP), an increase from current annual funding of $3.35 billion and the first increase for the program in a generation. The bill also includes provisions to boost air traffic control staffing, provide additional consumer protections to travelers, and address the increasing incidence of near misses between aircraft.

Although the committee approved the bill with bipartisan support, the markup revealed that several differences could still stymie its progress. For example, the bill does not include a provision included in the House-passed bill that would increase the retirement age for pilots from 65 to 67 years old. The committee turned back, 13-14, an amendment offered by Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) to bring the Senate bill in line with the House bill on that issue, but Cruz called opposition to the increase ageist and said he would continue to work to include an increase in the final bill.

Similarly, the committee approved an amendment to add ten additional slots (5 round trips) for flights traveling more than 1,250 nautical miles to and from Washington Reagan National Airport. The House turned back a similar amendment in a floor vote and all four Washington area senators vowed to fight the provision, which is also opposed by many senators from states within the 1,250 nautical mile perimeter.

Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) has a detailed summary of all the amendments that the committee approved at this week’s markup, including:

• An amendment from Cruz that would require the Transportation Security Administration or airports to offer members of Congress, federal judges, and cabinet members and their families and staff a dedicated security escort at airports and expedites security screening outside of public view, which ACI-NA fears would impose an unfunded mandate on airports and draw airport law enforcement resources away from their core functions,
• An amendment from Senators Deb Fischer (R-NE) and Dan Sullivan (R-AK) that would add an AIP grant assurance to require airports to continue providing leaded fuel until an FAA-certified unleaded replacement is available and to remove new AIP grant assurances included in the original bill that would have required fixed-base operators to publicly disclose prices fees for the use of their services and facilities and would have prohibited airports from charging fees for transient aircraft that exceed the airport’s cost to operate the transient parking area, with Senator Ted Budd (R-NC) saying he would continue to push for those grant assurances, which are supported by private airplane owners and operators.
• An amendment from Senators Krysten Sinema (I-AZ) and Jon Tester (D-MT) regarding the Contract Tower Program that would establish a pilot program to convert high activity towers to FAA-staffed towers, mandate minimum staffing levels at small and medium hub airports, require FAA and the Department of Labor to review air traffic controller wages and benefits, and include military use as a factor for assessing future needs for the program.

The next step for the bill is the Senate floor and then, if the Senate passes it, to a House-Senate Conference Committee. It is unlikely those steps can be completed before March 8, which means Congress will have to pass another short-term extension.

The committee website on the bill, including links to statements and all amendments.

The summary of amendments approved by the committee.

Farm Bill

A one-year extension of rural development programs, subsidies for agricultural production, and nutrition programs expires on September 30. Progress on the bill remains slow, with disagreements over spending on nutrition programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as Food Stamps) presenting the primary obstacle to enactment.

Water Resources Development Act (WRDA)

The biannual Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) is slated for an update in 2024. This measure with jurisdiction over water resources policies at the Army Corps of Engineers often finds a bipartisan path to enactment, most recently in 2022. WRDA also authorizes funding for specific flood control, navigation, and other water resources projects, but those projects must seek funding from the Corps each year after the annual appropriations process. Look for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and the House Transportation Committee to begin moving WRDA bills this spring and summer. Recent reports from the Senate Committee indicate that their bill will focus on projects rather than policy changes to give the Corps time to implement the major policy changes included in WRDA-2020 and WRDA-2022.

Job Training

The Workforce Investment and Opportunity Act (WOIA) is up for reauthorization next year. The House Education and the Workforce Committee approved a bipartisan reauthorization bill (HR 6655) last year. The House bill tweaks federal job training programs, including requiring states and local workforce investment boards to conduct a collaborative, three-year review of geographic boundaries of local workforce development areas (a process that could pose a threat to local control of job training programs).

Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024

As reported previously, the respective chairs of the congressional tax writing committees announced a deal on a tax proposal (HR 7024) that addresses a major Republican priority (extension of the Research and Development tax credit) and a major Democratic priority (expansion of the Child Tax Credit). Tax bills are notoriously difficult to move through Congress, so the plan is not a done deal, but its bipartisan nature may yield results.

The House passed the bill by a vote of 357-70, but it remains unclear if the bill has a path forward in the Senate.

Even in the best of times, tax bills are difficult to enact, as they often become “Christmas Trees” for any number of tax-favored proposals, resulting in the package becoming so large it collapses under its own weight.

However, Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) and House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-MO) managed to stay focused on two tax credits: the-popular-with-Republicans research and development tax credit and the popular-with-Democrats child tax credit.

Also included in the bill is a minor expansion of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, elimination of provisions that create double taxation on cross-border investments between the United States and Taiwan, and provisions to provide tax relief to individuals receiving emergency disaster assistance. The $77 billion cost of the bill would be offset by the sunset of a pandemic era program, the Employee Retention Tax Credit, a year earlier than originally planned.

The bill will now be considered in the Senate, where some Republican Senators would like the chance to amend the measure and are insisting (for now) that it be considered formally in the Finance Committee rather than going straight to the Senate floor.

Given the delicate nature of the bipartisan crafting of the bill, any changes, even minor ones, could make it difficult to pass if it must return to the House.

The 86-page bill as passed by the House

The much shorter “section-by-section” from the House Ways and Means Committee: