Weekly Update 2/20/24

Appropriations

The top Democrat on the House Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee said there are a handful of sticking points holding up the Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration spending bill, which will likely need to be moved up to leadership-level negotiations…

The four appropriators in charge of the Transportation-HUD funding bill are done negotiating…

Congress-White House Border Discussions

A bipartisan group of lawmakers rolled out their alternative proposal to send military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan and secure the border on Friday, 2/16…

The Senate approved $95 billion in aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan aid by a 70-29 vote early on Tuesday morning (2/13), sending the bill to an uncertain fate in the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson is giving the legislation a frosty reception…

California

Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff, Katie Porter, Barbara Lee and Republican former baseball star Steve Garvey will take the stage again tonight, this time for a debate co-moderated by NBC4 and Telemundo 52…

Sen. Bill Dodd, a Democrat from fire-ravaged Napa County, proposed legislation on Wednesday, 2/14, to streamline brush clearing in the name of wildfire prevention…

Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-CA) told MSNBC's Jen Psaki over the weekend that she's keeping an open mind about running for political office after her Senate appointment ends…

California's projected budget deficit has ballooned to $73 billion as tax revenue has fallen since November, the non-partisan Legislative Analyst's Office said today…

On Thursday, 2/15, the California Legislative Analyst’s Office advised legislators to reject a Newsom administration plan to shield schools from near-term funding cuts through a novel budget maneuver, calling it “bad fiscal policy”…

The American Civil Liberties Union will oppose a sweeping mental health ballot measure backed by Gov. Newsom, which would restructure mental health care funding in the state and authorize a $6.4 billion bond…

Tenant advocates in several Bay Area cities are calling for new rent control measures, potentially reining in housing costs for tens of thousands of renters in one of California’s most expensive rental markets…

President and Administration

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had awarded about $23.4 billion in Public Assistance to Puerto Rico's permanent recovery work related to hurricanes Irma and Maria and the 2019 and 2020 earthquakes, as of June 2023…

School buses on rural roads can soon be outfitted with internet access using E-Rate dollars…

On Tuesday, 2/13, the Labor Department said the Consumer Price Index in January was up by 3.1 percent from a year earlier…

On Thursday, 2/15, the White House unveiled a significant expansion of its plans to cancel student debt as President Biden looks to run on the issue during this year’s election…

Congress

House Republicans impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday, 2/13, making him the first Cabinet secretary since 1876 to be impeached by the House…

If Congress lets a key Federal Communications Commission broadband aid program lapse this spring, consumers may have a hard time trusting and signing up for any successor effort later on, Commissioner Anna Gomez said on Monday, 2/12…