House to Vote Thursday on Infrastructure Package; Passes Stopgap Measure
Washington Update
Budget/Appropriations
On Tuesday, September 21, the House voted on a party-line vote of 220-211 to pass legislation to prevent a government shutdown and suspend the nation’s borrowing limit. The stopgap bill would extend funding and keep the government open through December 3 and includes a debt limit suspension through December 16, 2022. It would also provide $28.6 billion in disaster relief funding and $6.3 billion to assist Afghanistan evacuees. Funding is set to run out on Thursday, September 30, at midnight and the Senate will convene today to vote on a procedural move to move the stopgap measure forward.
Senate Republicans are expected to block the bill tonight. They feel Democrats should lift the cap on government borrowing on their own as part of their reconciliation package.
Click here to access a section-by-section summary of the bill.
Click here to access the full text of the legislation.
Infrastructure Package/Budget Reconciliation
On Sunday, September 26, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said the House will vote on the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill this Thursday instead of the deadline Democrats had set for today as they work to reach agreement on President Biden's social spending package. Pelosi further indicated she would not bring a bill to the floor that didn’t have enough votes to pass.
Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA), head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, had warned that progressives were willing to tank the infrastructure plan until the House AND the Senate also pass a $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill that’s still far from finished.
On Sunday Jayapal said that the number of Democrats willing to kill the infrastructure bill is growing. The CPC chair estimated last week that more than half of the 95 House Democrats in the Caucus were prepared to vote “no,” and said the number was now probably closer to 60.
On Saturday, September 25, the House Budget Committee advanced the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion social spending bill on a vote of 20-17. The package now heads to the House Rules Committee and leadership is expected to make additional changes to the legislation before it’s brought to a vote in the House. On Thursday, September 23, leading Democrats announced they reached an agreement with the White House on a ‘framework’ of options to pay for the $3.5 trillion social spending package but did not provide further details on what was agreed to.
Click here to access the full plan.
Subcommittee Hearing
On Wednesday, September 22, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety held the hearing Getting America Ready to Work – Successful on the Job, Apprenticeship Training Programs to Help Workers and Business Get Ready to Work. Witnesses for the hearing included CareerWise Founder and CEO Noel Ginsburg; Pinnacol Insurance Business Development Representative Naarai Navarro; and Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Indiana, Inc. President Leah Curry.
Click here to watch a video of the hearing. Initial Jobless Claims
In the week ending September 18, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 351,000, an increase of 16,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 3,000 from 332,000 to 335,000. The 4-week moving average was 335,750, a decrease of 750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 750 from 335,750 to 336,500. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.1 percent for the week ending September 11, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week's revised rate.
Click here to access the full report.
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