The Latest: A Weekly Federal Update
Upcoming Events & Activities
January 10th, 2021 - January 14th, 2021
All events in Eastern Standard Time
Monday, January 10th
No meetings to report.
Tuesday, January 11th
10:00 AM - House Oversight & Reform Committee, Hearing on "Cybersecurity for the New Frontier: Reforming the Federal Information Security Modernization Act"
10:00 AM - Senate Health, Education, Labour, & Pensions Committee, Hearing on "Addressing New Variants: A Federal Perspective on the COVID-19 Response"
Wednesday, January 12th
10:00 AM - House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, Hearing on “Proposals for a Water Resources Development Act of 2022: Administration Priorities"
10:00 AM - House Appropriations Committee, Hearing on “Impact of Continuing Resolutions on the Department of Defense and Services"
10:00 AM - House Small Business Committee, Hearing on “Review of SBA's Top Management & Performance Challenges in FY2022 and SBA OIG's Semiannual Report to Congress"
10:00 AM - House Agriculture Committee, Hearing on “Implications of Electric Vehicle Investments for Agriculture & Rural America"
3:00 PM - Senate Environment & Public Works Committee, Hearing on “Water Resources Development Act Oversight: USACE Implementation of Water Infrastructure Projects, Programs, and Priorities"
Thursday, January 13th
9:30 AM - Senate Special Committee on Aging, Hearing on “Financial Literacy: Addressing the Unique Just-in-Time Decisions Older Americans and People with Disabilities Face”
Friday, January 14th
No meetings to report.
Energy, Water & Environment
The latest from the House and Senate Committees on energy (infrastructure), water (infrastructure), environment, interior, or environmental justice.
Legislation
H.R. 6351 - Climate Solutions Act, To reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect the climate
Sponsor: Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA-33) referred to Energy & Commerce Committee
Date Introduced: December 30, 2021
News
Detroit News: State Lawmakers Look to Natural Bans to Curb Emissions
Lawmakers in New York are considering the nation's first statewide ban on natural gas connections in new buildings, following dozens of local governments that passed similar policies in the past years, most notably the City of New York. But as New York and other left-leaning states consider ways to limit natural gas and the greenhouse gas emissions it creates, 20 mostly Republican-dominated states have passed laws barring cities and counties from blocking gas hookups.
Transportation & Infrastructure
The latest from the House and Senate Committees on cybersecurity, national security, manufacturing, supply chains, port authority, metropolitan transit, or airport.
Legislation
H.R. 6330 - Nonmarket Economy Reform Act, To provide for consideration of the effect of excess production capacity in nonmarket countries to determine threat of material injury to U.S. industries in countervailing duty and antidumping investigations under title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930.
Sponsor: Rep. Brian Higgins (D-NY-26) referred to Ways & Means Committee
Date Introduced: December 20, 2021
News
DOT: U.S. Doubles Investment in Regional Infrastructure Accelerators Grant Program
On Monday, January 10, 2022, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced its Build America Bureau will add $5 million in grants to the Regional Infrastructure Accelerators Demonstration Program, bringing the total investment to $10 million to expedite delivery of transportation projects at the local and regional level. Executive Director Morteza Farajian underscored that the program "will identify and assist high priority projects that can take advantage of the billions of dollars available in the Bureau's flexible, low-interest loans, providing an innovative financing mechanism to jump start transformative projects and assure they are delivered expeditiously to serve the public."
Immigration & Detention
The latest from the House and Senate Committee on immigration, detention, homeland security, border security, asylum seekers, criminal justice reform, Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP), U.S. Marshal Service (USMS), alternatives to detention programming, reentry programming, or Bureau of Prisons.
Legislation
S. 3446, To provide increased oversight of certain pardons, to clarify the applicability of bribery prohibitions to pardons and commutations
Sponsor: Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) referred to Judiciary Committee
Date Introduced: January 6, 2021
News
NBC: 2021 Net Immigration Down to One-Quarter of 2016 Levels
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, net international migration has dropped sharply to about 247,000 in 2021 from about 1,049,000 in 2016. There are some concerns that the 2020 census might not be skewed slightly from the COVID-19 pandemic interfering with collecting data, but the trend of declining immigration numbers began long before the pandemic started.
Public Health & Safety
The latest from House and Senate committees on health insurance, COVID-19 and testing, gun safety, Medicare & Medicaid, telehealth, Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), CDC, FDA, or rural hospitals.
Legislation
S. 3440, To prohibit the Federal Government from limiting State access to key therapies, such as monoclonal antibodies, and from prioritizing Federal contracts over State contracts relating to purchasing supplies to combat the COVID-19 pandemic
Sponsor: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) referred to Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs Committee
Date Introduced: January 4, 2021
S. 3444 - Tribal Medical Supplies Stockpile Access Act, To ensure that facilities of the Indian Health Service, facilities operated by an Indian Tribe, Tribal organization, or inter-Tribal consortium, and facilities operated by urban Indian organization receive items from the strategic national stockpile and qualified pandemic or epidemic product directly from the Department of Health & Human Services
Sponsor: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) referred to Health, Education, Labour, & Pensions Committee
Date Introduced: January 5, 2021
News
The Guardian: WHO Expresses Optimism that 'End in Sight'
On January 10, 2022, Dr. David Nabarro, the World Health Organization's special envoy on Covid, said the virus is going to pose a very difficult situation for the next three months "at least" but "we can see the end in sight."
Sky News: T Cells from Common Colds Can Protect Against COVID-19 Infection, Study Finds
Imperial College London researchers found that high levels of pre-existing T cells, created by the body when infected with other human coronaviruses like the common cold, can protect against COVID-19 infection. The study said T cells target internal proteins within SARS-CoV-2, rather the spike protein on the surface of the virus.
Finance & Federal Partnerships
The latest from House and Senate committees on taxation, retirement, small business, federal contracting, or monetary policy.
Legislation
S. 3441 - CDFI Bond Guarantee Program Improvement Act, To amend the Community Development Banking & Financial Institutions Act of 1994 reauthorize and improve the community development financial institutions bond guarantee program
Sponsor: Sen. Tina Smith (R-MN) referred to Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs Committee
Date Introduced: January 5, 2021
News
Bloomberg Law: 'Ban the Box' Hiring Law Now Applies to U.S. Federal Contracts
Federal contractors no longer can inquire about an applicant’s criminal history before extending a conditional job offer to work on a government contract, a new prohibition that stems from a Trump-era defense policy law.
Special Reports
The latest from reports issued from the Office of Government Accountability, the Congressional Research Service, and others.
GAO: January 10, 2022 - Opioid Use Disorder: Opportunities to Improve Assessments of State Opioid Response Grant Program
CRS: January 7, 2022 - FY2022 NDAA: Budgetary Context