Recapping Last Week in Congress
There was a decent amount of activity last week. For this Congress, anyway. The House passed yet another attempt to repeal part of the Affordable Care Act, some budget gimmickry ("Pig-Bah" and the "Baseline Reform Act"), and the FAA conference report.
The Senate pretty much confined itself to work on the STOCK Act, but they did succeed in wrapping that up and sending it to the House.
This Week in Congress
The House brings an interesting mix to the floor this week, starting with the "Civilian Property Realignment Act." Huh? Well, this one's about setting up a commission to oversee the sale of surplus government real estate. But it's a Republican bill, so they have to kick someone who's down. And in this bill, it's homeless people and advocates for the homeless. You see, when disposing of surplus properties, the government currently has to give providers of services to the homeless the right of first refusal to obtain the property at no cost. This bill would severely curtail that right. Hurrah!
Also on tap for the week are the "Budget and Accounting Transparency Act," and the "Expedited Legislative Line-Item Veto and Rescissions Act of 2011," which should either be renamed to reflect the fact that it's currently 2012, or should itself have been expedited last year. Hey, what do you think of ELLVRA, or "Elvira" as an acronym for that, by the way?
Lastly, there's also the STOCK Act, which has made it's way over from the Senate.
Speaking of the Senate, they'll kick the week off with the FAA conference report passed by the House last week. After that, who knows? It's just harder to schedule the Senate than it is the House, because of all the additional procedural hurdles for bringing measures to the floor. We'll just have to wait and see what the leadership thinks it can get to the floor (or win points trying) once the FAA bill is dispensed with.
Full floor and committee schedules are below the fold.
In the House, courtesy of the Office of the Democratic Whip:
THE WEEKLY WHIP: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2012
First Vote Of The Week: Monday 6:30 p.m.
Last Vote Predicted: Thursday 3:00 p.m.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2012
On Monday, the House will meet at 12:00 p.m. for Morning Hour debate and 2:00 p.m. for legislative business with votes postponed until 6:30 p.m.
Suspensions (3 Bills)
- H.R. 306 - Corolla Wild Horses Protection Act (Rep. Jones - Natural Resources)
- H.R. 1162 - To provide the Quileute Indian Tribe Tsunami and Flood Protection, and for other purposes (Rep. Dicks - Natural Resources)
- H.R. 2606 - New York City Natural Gas Supply Enhancement Act, as amended (Rep. Grimm - Natural Resources)
Begin Consideration of H.R. 1734 - Civilian Property Realignment Act (Rep. Denham - Transportation and Infrastructure/Oversight and Government Reform/Rules) (Subject to a Rule)
The Rule provides for one hour of general debate and makes in order the following amendments:
Rep. Norton Amendment #8 (10 minutes of debate)
Rep. Denham Amendment (10 minutes of debate)
Rep. Connolly Amendment (10 minutes of debate)
Rep. Jackson-Lee Amendment (10 minutes of debate)
Rep. Norton Amendment #7 (10 minutes of debate)
Rep. Carnahan Amendment (10 minutes of debate)
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2012 AND THE BALANCE OF THE WEEK
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the House will meet at 10:00 a.m. for Morning Hour debate and 12:00 p.m. for legislative business. On Thursday, the House will meet at 9:00 a.m. for legislative business with last votes expected no later than 3:00 p.m. On Friday, the House is not in session.
Complete Consideration of H.R. 1734 - Civilian Property Realignment Act (Rep. Denham - Transportation and Infrastructure/Oversight and Government Reform/Rules) (Subject to a Rule)
H.R. 3521 - Expedited Legislative Line-Item Veto and Rescissions Act of 2011 (Rep. Ryan (WI) - Budget/Rules) (Subject to a Rule)
H.R. 3581 - Budget and Accounting Transparency Act of 2011 (Rep. Garrett - Budget/Oversight and Government Reform/Ways and Means) (Subject to a Rule)
Consideration of S. 2038 - STOCK Act (Sen. Lieberman - Judiciary/House Administration/ Oversight and Government Reform/Financial Services/Agriculture/Rules) (Subject to a Rule)
Possible Motions to Instruct Conferees on H.R. 3630 - Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011
Members are advised that Conference Reports may be brought up at any time
In the Senate, courtesy of the Office of the Majority Leader:
Senate Floor Schedule for Monday, February 6, 2012
Convenes: 2:00pm
Following any Leader remarks, the Senate will be in morning business until 3:00pm with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.
Following morning business, the Senate will begin consideration of the conference report to accompany H.R.658, the FAA Reauthorization and Reform Act. There will be 2 hours and 30 minutes of debate on the conference report equally divided and controlled between the two Leaders or their designees.
Upon the use or yielding back of time (at approximately 5:30pm), the Senate will conduct a roll call vote on adoption of the conference report to accompany H.R.658 with a 60 affirmative vote threshold.
Today's House committee schedule:
ARMED SERVICES-------------------------------------------------------------------3:00-Open
Business Challenges within the Defense Industry Panel. On contracting and regulatory business issues with the Department of Defense. 2212 RHOB.
RULES--------------------------------------------------------------------------------5:00-Open
Full Committee. On H.R. 3521 – Expedited Line-Item Veto and Rescissions Act of 2011, and H.R. 3581 – Budget and Accounting Transparency Act of 2011. H-313 Capitol.
No Senate committee hearings are scheduled for today.