This Week on the Hill: House Returns to Trio of Business Bills; Senate to Finish FAA Work

Both chambers are back in session this week for what is essentially the start of a four-month period of intense work on a “three weeks in, one week out” schedule until the party conventions in late July. This week, the House looks to tackle a series of financial and broadband regulatory bills, while the Senate aims to finish legislation that would reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) through September 2017.

Legislative business is expected to resume in the House tomorrow, with three business-related measures set to be considered. The first bill would bar the federal government from regulating consumer broadband Internet rates (H.R. 2666); another would bring the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) and Treasury Department’s Office of Financial Research under the congressional appropriations process (H.R. 3390); and a third would allow banks and thrifts with assets of less than $5 billion to incur higher amounts of debt when acquiring another firm (H.R. 3791). All three bills are largely opposed by Democrats.
 
Off the floor, House appropriators are set to meet on Wednesday to consider allocations for the dozen spending bills required to fully fund federal government programs. House leaders are searching for a way to placate the concerns of the fiscal conservatives in their caucus and support the topline discretionary spending figure agreed to in last year’s bipartisan budget deal. The House Financial Services Committee will evaluate one solution to the divide in marking up a "sidecar" bill this week that would cut $30 billion in mandatory spending over two years, while the House Rules Committee will examine the feasibility of House Freedom Caucus demands to stop unauthorized spending. A budget resolution is due from the lower chamber by April 15, but House appropriators are more likely to wait until May 15, when they can move spending bills directly to the floor without a budget resolution.
 
The Senate is set to continue its work on reauthorizing the FAA, with senators reportedly close to a deal that would include renewable energy tax credits in the must-pass legislation. After approving two airport security amendments last week – and rejecting one related to the size of airport seating – Senate leaders are hoping to complete work on the bill this week. However, the upper chamber elected to use a legislative vehicle (H.R. 636) to ease the inclusion of an extension of excise taxes, and as a result, additional amendments may be introduced in an attempt to be included in what could be among the last pieces of legislation with a tax title considered this year.

‘This Week on the Hill’ includes updates provided by the House and Senate majority leaders, as well information derived from publications including Bloomberg Government, The Hill, Politico, Roll Call, The New York Times, and Morning Consult