LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FOR WEEK OF JUNE 7, 2021

President Biden’s First Overseas Trip

Plus, a look at global vaccine distribution & police reform

Beyond the rapidly changing infrastructure landscape (you can read WSW’s full report here), other sensitive and timely topics may have slipped under the radar. With the clock ticking until the July 4th recess, a sense of urgency has overtaken Washington.

Here’s What You Might Have Missed
Testy Debate over Defense Spending. Yesterday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin faced tough questions from Senate Republicans regarding the President’s flat defense budget request. They argued that it will make the U.S. less competitive globally, especially in efforts to combat China. Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Jack Reed (D-RI), described the President’s budget request as a starting point.

President Biden’s First Trip Overseas. This week, the President made his first overseas trip to the United Kingdom, where he and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson met on an array of issues, including signing an Atlantic Charter. Biden is overseas to meet with other world leaders at the G-7, where combating China and lessening income inequality worldwide will be top priorities. The President hopes to rekindle American relationships with Europe following President Trump’s often-tumultuous interactions with his European counterparts.

Gubernatorial Primaries in New Jersey & Virginia. Democrats in Virginia and Republicans in New Jersey went to the polls to select their candidates for governor (Virginia’s Republican nominee was selected by a unique convention process, and New Jersey’s Democratic incumbent ran unopposed for his reelection). By all accounts, the results were unremarkable – former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe won the nomination in a landslide, and the establishment candidate in New Jersey, Jack Ciattarelli, beat back two vocally pro-Trump challengers. Both general elections will likely demonstrate the staying power of President Trump in American political life.

Here’s What You Should Be Watching
Global Vaccine Distribution. The President announced that the U.S. government is going to purchase 500 million vaccine doses from Pfizer to distribute globally. Moderna is currently in talks with the U.S. government to do the same. As the virus, unfortunately, continues to run rampant around the world, keep an eye on if these vaccines help staunch the infection rate.

Police Negotiations at a Standstill. Yesterday, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), the main Republican negotiator on police reform legislation, shared with national press that Democrats and Republicans are far off from a deal. This conflicts with other leaks from earlier this week which indicated that the two sides were close to a deal on qualified immunity. Scott has taken the posture that a deal needs to be reached by June 28.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FOR WEEK OF JUNE 7, 2021

117th Congress Infrastructure & Climate Change Agenda

What You Need to Know Now about President Biden’s Infrastructure Package as Both the House & Senate Move Major Pieces of the Package Forward

This week, we want to provide an overview on current proposals and the potential paths forward for a federal infrastructure package, and to help you prepare for both the opportunities and risks that might impact your enterprise and constituency.

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LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FOR WEEK OF MAY 31, 2021

Infrastructure Slog Continues
Plus, the impact of a disappointing jobs report

Even though Congress was out-of-session this week, the “drip, drip, drip” of news in Washington continued. As you have heard from your WSW team, the FY22 President’s Budget Request was released last Friday. You can read the full budget fact sheet here.

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LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FOR WEEK OF MAY 24, 2021

A Congressional Timeline of What’s to Come

This week has been characterized by the slow grind of the Senate, with everything and not much happening at the same time. With the President’s budget release imminent, we wanted to give you a very brief update on what has happened in DC this week and what to see next. Under Biden’s budget proposal, federal spending would jump to $6 trillion in the coming fiscal year – with the deficit exploding by more than $1.3 trillion over the next decade. While aspirational, this budget reflects the Biden Administration’s efforts to “Build Back Better,” with domestic spending increases being most notable. Keep an eye on the debate in Congress over the proposal.

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LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FOR WEEK OF MAY 17, 2021

Infrastructure Negotiations Continue
Plus, an update on redistricting

Washington is still anticipating the release of the President’s first FY22 budget – and the Administration bumped it back a day, from May 27 to May 28. Regardless, our commentary from last week stands: unlike other budgets, the proposed significant increase in domestic spending (versus a more modest increase in defense spending) will strike a chord with Congressional Democrats, making this budget more consequential than previous ones.

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LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FOR WEEK OF MAY 10, 2021

First Biden Budget Request to be Released Soon
Plus, a transportation & vaccine distribution update

The date to keep your eye on is Thursday, May 27. The Biden Administration announced that is the date the President will release his FY2022 budget request. As we have noted, most Presidents’ budgets are dead on arrival, but with Democrats controlling the House, Senate, and White House, expect this budget to have more influence than budgets past.

In addition, this week the Senate Appropriations Committee set its submission deadlines as well as confirmed which “pots” of funding will be eligible for Community Project Funding requests (or
“Congressionally Directed Spending” as it is being called in the Senate). Here is what you need to know about the Appropriations process:

• Some Senators will not make any requests, some will consider on a case-by-case basis, and still others have already said they will make requests.
• Senators who will make requests have begun releasing their request forms and setting deadlines. Some deadlines are as soon as the week of May 24.
• The Senate’s available funding pots largely align with the House, with some notable exceptions, such as Defense, where only programmatic plus-up requests will be accepted.
• Members of the House were limited to just 10 Community Project requests; it is unclear whether Senators will face any such limit.
• While each Senator will handle the process a little differently, we understand that to cover as many priorities for their State as possible, at least some (and perhaps many) Senators will not request projects that made it on the “short list” in the House.

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A Review of the State of Play: Vaccines, Jobs, & More
Plus, upcoming political considerations
Nothing in Washington this week was especially flashy in the eyes of the national press, but several notable issues were front-and-center. A review of what happened (and what’s to come) can be found in the Full Summary.

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