GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS FEATURE inside the behtway continued
We continue to track Congress’ actions on COVID- related small business relief efforts and while there was some optimism that a package would ultimately become law, we believe that any legislative options for a positive outcome have been exhausted. As you may recall, earlier in the Spring, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3807, the Relief for Restaurants and Other Hard Hit Small Businesses with a bipartisan vote. Provisions in H.R. 3807 made grants available for any small business meeting the bill’s eligibility requirements and we strongly supported that language on behalf of the Outdoor Amusement Business Association. H.R. 3807 put the hardest hit small busi- nesses at the front of the line and no business that has not sustained at least a 40 percent loss would have been eligible for an award. Despite
Legislative Issue
FY23 Annual Appropriations
Current Situation
Underway now, most likely will be considered in some fashion before the end of the scal year.
The Abortion Decision in the Supreme Court
There is a good deal of conversation about passing laws to codify Roe v. Wade, but the Senate has not been able to muster enough votes to pass a proposal.
One of the few bipartisan efforts underway in Congress. The Senate recently passed instructions to Conferees and leadership seems to think this will move forward. Congress passed the America Creating
COMPETES Act
Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science Act (COMPETES Act) of 2007 with the overall goal of increasing federal investment in scientic research to improve U.S. economic competitiveness.
Build Back Better
The signature Biden legislative agenda item hit too many bumps in the road to passage. Democrats were not united on passage or content of the massive proposal. However, a new version continues to gain some momentum that represents a drastically scaled back version of the proposal.
this favorable movement in the House, the measure did not survive a procedural vote in the Senate, leaving many small businesses in the U.S. to continue to struggle as they recover from the pandemic.
Uvalde Sparks Gun Reform Conversation in Congress The end of May was marred by the horrific act of senseless
violence in Uvalde, Texas. After the President and first lady Jill Biden paid their respects at a Robb Elementary School memori- al of 21 white crosses honoring the 19 students and two adults murdered, he returned to Washington reaffirming "To everyone impacted by the horrific elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas: We grieve with you. We pray with you. We stand with you. And we’re committed to turning this pain into action.” Everyone in Washington is asking whether or not Uvalde was the event that breaks down boundaries and allows law- makers to find common ground on the gun debate. We believe the answer to that question is uncertain.
While we are seeing and hearing continued stories of meet- ings, uncomfortable negotiations and compromise, as of the time this article was written, we have not seen a roadmap or some framework for moving forward. Nevertheless, House Democrats did not let the Memorial Day recess get in the way of sending gun control legislation to the floor as soon as possible. For instance, in early June, the House Judiciary
20 OABA ShowTime Magazine | JULY 2022 Likely Outcome
Congress will address and pass a Continuing Resolution before September 30, 2022 that will fund the government at least through the elections.
There has been talk about attempting to pass this again, but it would require a rule change on the libuster, and not all Democrats in the Senate agree on that tactic. Therefore, it remains doubtful that any further action will take place.
With a 107 Member Conference Committee, there is a chance that this legislation will pass Congress, most likely before the August break.
We think a newly proposed energy and climate package that could undercut the broader Democratic climate agenda but give President Joe Biden an election-year win on a major policy issue, will pass before the election.
Committee met for an emer- gency meeting to markup an omnibus bill including proposals to curb gun traf- ficking, promote the safe storage of firearms and raise the purchase age for certain semi-automatic rifles. But House leaders know the odds that Democrats are up against in the Senate, which has not passed any of the House-cleared bills on gun control since the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting due to Republican opposition. However, in the Senate, a bipartisan group of sena- tors met on multiple occa- sions to discuss possible bills. Despite the attention and momentum that drove Congress to move the gun debate to the top of the leg- islative agenda, significant hurdles remain that would attract ten Republicans on any proposal, including background checks. We believe that if
Congress fails to pass something in the coming weeks, the im- mense pressure on the White House will force the President to take some form of executive action on some gun restrictions.
Looking Ahead – What Legislative Priorities Remain? House and Senate leaders, forced to address one crisis after
another, have numerous legislative priorities left unaddressed with a smaller legislative window to get their agenda back on track. With only a few weeks left before the traditional sum- mer break – and the launch of the last phase of the midterm election push – there are a few must-address legislative initia- tives that will be considered and a few agenda items that they hope to put on the floor for consideration.
In addition to a potential COVID Supplemental and some ac- tion on gun restrictions, here is what we see coming up in the next few weeks – including the FY23 Annual Appropriations process where we continue to work to attempt to secure H-2B Cap Relief measures.
John Ariale is a Principal and the Director of the Federal Appropriations Practice at Husch Blackwell Strategies where he works with Gregg Hartley, William Fox, and Russ Orban as part of OABA’s Government Relations Team in Washington, DC. Husch Blackwell Strategies represents OABA before Congress and the Administration.
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