More Stuff in the News: Iran, Flood Protection, Cadillac Tax, Veterans, Environmental Protection Agency

Senate Democrats blocked an amendment cosponsored by Enzi that would prohibit the president from waiving or limiting Iran sanctions unless Iran releases Americans currently held in Iran. The amendment would require formal recognition of Israel as a sovereign and independent state.

U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp reinforced the need for strong federal investments in permanent flood protection for North Dakota’s communities during a conversation with Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Shaun Donovan. During the discussion, Heitkamp who has been a vocal proponent of securing comprehensive flood mitigation efforts in both the Fargo-Moorhead region as well as the city of Minot and the Souris River Basin, stressed to Donovan the need for budgetary support for efforts to advance permanent flood protections in these regions. OMB has to sign off on any federal funding for these projects. Heitkamp worked to secure a meeting with Fargo city officials for later this month with OMB and the White House’s National Economic Council to further discuss the use of a public-private partnership to advance the diversion. Donovan also committed to working with Heitkamp to set up a meeting for Minot city officials with OMB about a new study start for flood protection.

U.S. Senators Dean Heller (R-NV) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) introduced bipartisan legislation to fully repeal a provision in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) known as the “Cadillac Tax” which taxes high-cost health insurance plans. The two Senators introduced a Senate companion to U.S. Congressman Joe Courtney’s (D-CT02) House legislation. Beginning in 2018, the “Cadillac Tax” would tax employers whose health insurance plans cost more than $10,200 a year for individuals and $27,450 a year for families at 40 percent of the cost above those limits.

Senators Mazie K. Hirono and John Boozman (R-AR), members of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, introduced legislation Thursday to authorize federal homeless veteran programs for the next fiscal year. The Keeping Our Commitment to Ending Veteran Homelessness Act would reauthorize seven Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Labor programs for the next fiscal year. Without Senators Hirono and Boozman’s action, authorization for critical programs that provide outreach and services to homeless veterans and their families would expire on September 30, 2015.

At a Senate committee hearing this week, Senator John Hoeven pressed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy to provide greater transparency and accountability in the EPA’s regulatory process. Hoeven called for the EPA to meet with North Dakota industry to explain the EPA’s carbon dioxide regulations and account for the agency’s greatly increased requirements for North Dakota. Under the agency’s proposed rule, North Dakota was set to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 11 percent. The reduction level for North Dakota was increased to 45 percent in the final rule, the biggest increase for any state. The change occurred without the agency issuing a new proposed rule, thereby avoiding the required public comment period. Hoeven said the EPA has not been forthcoming in explaining this drastic change, and he pressed Administrator McCarthy to explain the new, more costly rules.

Stuff in the News: Home Buyers, Veterans, Obamacare Alternatives, Cyber Threats

The House Financial Services Committee passed H.R. 3192, the Homebuyers Assistance Act, which would provide a temporary legal safe harbor for those making a good-faith effort to comply with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) new mortgage disclosure rule—the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule—which is set to take effect on October 3, 2015. On November 20, 2013, the CFPB finalized TRID, which combined certain disclosures that consumers receive in applying for and closing on a residential mortgage loan, including disclosures required under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). The effective date for the final rule was originally set for mortgage applications received on or after August 1, 2015, but due to “administrative errors,” the CFPB delayed the effective date until October 3, 2015. The settlement process is an integral piece of a real estate transition, so any glitch or delay in the process affects buyers and sellers and all parts of the real estate industry, including realtors, bankers, homebuilders, and title companies. Almost 300 Senators and House Members wrote the CFPB to request a formal hold-harmless period. H.R. 3192 does not delay implementation of the TRID rule, but rather, provides a temporary safe harbor to those who are making a good faith effort to comply until February 1, 2016.

Well over a year since the horrifying scandal at the VA, only 3 VA employees involved in the scandal have been fired or held accountable. On Wednesday, July 29, 2015, the House passed the VA Accountability Act (H.R. 1994) to streamline the process for removing VA employees for poor performance or misconduct and establish whistleblower protections. By a vote of 256 to 170, the VA Accountability Act moves to the Senate. This legislation gives the VA Secretary the responsibility and authority to fire any VA bureaucrat who is harming and failing our Veterans. Huelskamp’s whistleblower legislation protects brave VA employees who testify to Congress about the truth of the VA’s culture of corruption and non-accountability.

The Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015 (H.R. 3236), which was also passed in the House on Wednesday, consolidates all non-VA provider programs into a single, new program known as the Veterans Choice Program. More Veterans will be able to receive care by improvements to the Choice program, including eligibility for new enrollees (previously only those enrolled by August 1, 2014 were eligible for Choice), altering the 40-mile requirement to be defined as only facilities with a full-time doctor, adding more Choice providers, and eliminating the need for reauthorization approvals for Choice care.

U.S. Representative Randy Hultgren (IL-14) has introduced an Affordable Care Act (ACA) waiver bill that empowers states like Illinois to build their own ACA alternatives and offers Americans a parachute off an overregulated health insurance market characterized by rising premiums and limited plan options. H.R. 3352, the State Health Care Options Act of 2015, is a response to dramatically escalating health care costs, including an expected 30 percent increase for some plan participants in Illinois next year, which the ACA was intended to address. The waiver plan, which would allow states to opt out of certain provisions of the law pertaining to qualified health plans and insurance exchanges, gives states an opportunity to chart a course away from a law that has not lived up to its promises.

U.S. Representative Will Hurd (R-TX) has introduced the EINSTEIN Act of 2015, his fourth bill this Congress. The bill would authorize the Department of Homeland Security to deploy the EINSTEIN 3A program, which is an advanced tool that the U.S. government can use to respond to and mitigate cyber threats. EINSTEIN 3A (E3A) provides a perimeter defense snapshot and uses classified information to act as a first line of defense against cyber espionage. Hurd believes that a fully authorized Einstein program would be a helpful tool in preventing future data breaches. DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson has explicitly called for EINSTEIN’s authorization by Congress.