The Tap: Wednesday, June 8, 2016

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The Tap covered election news, public policy, and other noteworthy events from February 2016 to February 2022.

Review of the day

The excerpts below were compiled from issue #20 of The Tap, which was published on June 11, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.

Federal

• The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a proposed rule to curb the use of short-term health plans. Short-term health plans offer cheaper coverage for less than a year, do not cover the full range of benefits required for minimum coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and require enrollees to reapply for renewal at the end of each term. Enrollees in such plans are typically younger and healthier than in regular plans, and they must still pay the federal tax penalty because the plans are not considered comprehensive health coverage. HHS has proposed to limit the terms of such plans to less than three months and prohibit coverage renewals at the end of the term. HHS stated the purpose of the proposed rule is to reduce distortion in the ACA risk pool by encouraging young, healthy individuals to enroll in comprehensive coverage on the health insurance exchanges.

• U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the only sitting senator to endorse Bernie Sanders, said that it was time for Bernie Sanders to accept Clinton as the Democratic nominee. “Once a candidate has won a majority of the pledged delegates and a majority of the popular vote, which Secretary Clinton has now done, we have our nominee. This is the moment when we need to start bringing parts of the party together so they can go into the convention with locked arms and go out of the convention unified into the general election,” he said. Merkley added that he “would not support a battle that involves trying to flip superdelegates.”

• During his address to a joint session of Congress, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed the shared values of the U.S. and India and focused on defense and counterterrorism. Modi said, "The traits of freedom and liberty form a strong bond between our two democracies. Our nations may have been shaped by diverse histories, cultures and faiths, yet our belief in democracy for our nations and liberty for our countrymen is common." Modi was the fifth Indian prime minister to address a joint session of Congress.

• In an effort to streamline the appropriations process and pass spending bills, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) announced that all amendments for the remaining bills “will be approved by the House Rules Committee before the debate reaches the floor.” The move from an open-rule process to a structured rule process will limit the number of amendments attached to spending bills and is an “attempt to block Democrats' ‘poison pills,’ amendments … designed to derail the underlying spending legislation.” The House has only passed one of the 12 appropriations bills.

Bills and Amendments

• The House passed HR 4775 - the Ozone Standards Implementation Act of 2016 by a vote of 234-177. The bill proposes amending the Clean Air Act by revising the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) program. The legislation would delay for at least eight years the implementation of more restrictive federal ozone standards, which were published by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2015. The legislation would also change the EPA’s process for reviewing federal standards for a variety of air pollutants. The Clean Air Act currently requires that the EPA review federal air quality standards every five years. If enacted, HR 4775 would require that the EPA review these standards every 10 years. Supporters of the bill have argued that the bill would give state and local governments the time to adjust to more restrictive ozone standards, which they have argued could threaten jobs if implemented too quickly. Opponents of the bill have argued that the legislation would undermine the Clean Air Act and weaken necessary air quality standards. President Barack Obama threatened to veto the bill.
• Veto: President Barack Obama vetoed HJ Res 88. The resolution proposed preventing the U.S. Department of Labor from implementing a rule that requires retirement investment advisors to put their customer’s interests first when providing advice. In a statement Obama said, “This rule is critical to protecting Americans' hard-earned savings and preserving their retirement security. The outdated regulations in place before this rulemaking did not ensure that financial advisers act in their clients' best interests when giving retirement investment advice. … The Department of Labor's final rule will ensure that American workers and retirees receive retirement advice that is in their best interest, better enabling them to protect and grow their savings. The final rule reflects extensive feedback from industry, advocates, and Members of Congress, and has been streamlined to reduce the compliance burden and ensure continued access to advice, while maintaining an enforceable best interest standard that protects consumers. It is essential that these critical protections go into effect.” This is the 10th veto of Obama’s presidency.
  • See also: Barack Obama: Vetoed legislation
• Key vote: The Senate passed HR 2576 - the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act by voice vote. The bill is also known as the TSCA Modernization Act of 2015, which updated the 1976 Toxic Substance Control Act. The bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to use a new, risk-based standard to analyze thousands of new and existing chemicals to determine if those chemicals should be regulated. These chemicals are present in tens of thousands of items, including clothing, furniture, and cleaning products. Other provisions in the bill require special considerations for how chemicals could harm children and pregnant women and make it more difficult for industries to claim that their chemical information should be kept secret for proprietary reasons. This bill, which has been debated on and off for three years, is the first update to the original 1976 act.

State

• The Michigan Legislature gave final approval to a $54.9 billion state budget and sent the bill to Governor Rick Snyder for approval. Republican lawmakers approved the bill, but Democrats criticized it for not providing for working families. The bill was approved 71-37 in the House and 26-11 in the Senate, with division mostly along party lines. With this budget, lawmakers approved a $16.1 billion education budget, with the non-education portion totaling $38.8 billion. The state has requested $236 million to deal with the Flint water crisis, and the budget provides for $41.3 million of that total, bringing the total amount signed into law to deal with the crisis to $68 million. As of June 2016, Michigan was one of 23 Republican state government trifectas.

• Governor John Kasich signed into law a limited medical marijuana law, making Ohio the 25th state in the nation to allow the use and purchase of marijuana for medicinal purposes. The law goes into effect in 90 days and makes it legal for citizens to cross borders to buy cannabis in others states for treating various medical conditions. It also allows for infrastructure to be built for the cultivation and sale of medical marijuana in Ohio eventually. Of the 25 states permitting medical marijuana, 11 states achieved legalization via statewide ballot measure and 14 states passed laws in their state legislatures approving medical marijuana use.

• Last week, the Illinois General Assembly adjourned its spring session with Republican Governor Bruce Rauner and a majority Democratic legislature still undecided on a state budget. After the special session adjourned, House Speaker Michael Madigan (D) said that House lawmakers would meet every Wednesday in June to solve the budget crisis. Speaker Madigan canceled the first House session on June 8 because he didn’t want to interrupt the budget groups that were meeting behind closed doors. Gov. Rauner said on the canceled session, “They want a crisis in the schools. They want a crisis in the government to leverage a Chicago bailout and leverage a big tax hike without any reforms.” The governor wants to limit collective bargaining rights for public unions, and legislators want to increase taxes—a disagreement that sits in the midst of some other internal conflicts among House and Senate Democrats. The lack of a state budget puts schools in Illinois at risk; many are worried that they will not receive state funds this year unless the governor gets a budget from the legislature.

• The Vermont State Legislature held a one-day veto session to override Gov. Peter Shumlin's (D) veto on a renewable energy bill. Instead of overriding the veto on Senate Bill 230, the Senate and House suspended rules and passed Senate bill 260, which clarified the language that was in the original bill. The veto session cost taxpayers more than $40,000. Gov. Shumlin is expected to sign the new bill into law.

Preview of the day

There were no items for this day in issue #19 of The Tap, which was published on June 4, 2016. See the "Review of the day" tab for more information.