Situational Awareness
The Senate is not in session this week and will return to Washington on September. The House is not in session this week, but committees will begin work on the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package this week. The full House returns to Washington on September 20.
Reconciliation Moving Forward
Last week, the House of Representatives passed a rule for consideration of the bipartisan infrastructure bill and voting rights legislation. Contained within that procedural rule was language that deemed the $3.5 trillion budget passed, thereby clearing way for House committees to begin work on crafting the behemoth. The House Natural Resources Committee has announced that it will release its portion of the reconciliation package that authorizes up to an additional $26 billion in deficit spending. The committee holds jurisdiction over national parks, fish and wildlife, oceans and energy and mineral resources. The committee is also pursuing roughly $6 billion in revenue raisers that will largely come from offshore royalties and other payments. Other committees will begin the process of markups of their portions of the reconciliation package in the next few weeks. With jurisdiction over taxes, Medicare Part A and other health matters, the House Ways and Means Committee will have the heaviest lift in terms of revenue. The House Education and Labor Committee has the lead on many of the “human infrastructure” portions of the bill, such as parental leave and education.
NLRB Majority Changes Hands
On Friday, the term of National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Member William Emmanuel expired and Biden nominee, David Prouty was sworn in on Saturday. The much anticipated shift in NLRB membership will allow the Board to issue decisions and reconsider previous decisions in a more favorable way to organized labor.
California Recall September 14
On Friday, the California ballot initiative that exempted companies from a recently adopted state law requiring The recall election for California Governor Gavin Newsom concludes on September 14. While the state’s voters are split two to one in favor of Democrats, the party is concerned about an apparent lack of enthusiasm among party regulars. If the Democratic turnout is too low, Newsom faces the prospect of being the second Governor of California booted from office by the voters. Governor Gray Davis was the first and was replaced by actor Arnold Schwarzenegger. On the ballot are two questions: Should Newsom be recalled and who should replace him. If Newsom is recalled his replacement only need to reach a plurality of the vote to be elected. Heading into the final two weeks of the campaign, syndicated columnist Larry Elder currently holds an edge, though he has faced accusations of a domestic altercation involving a firearm and questions about his attitudes toward voters of color—Elder himself is African American.
Next WWU September 20
With Congress out, the next WWU will be sent on September 20 unless news necessitates an update