By: National Special Districts Coalition
In a major milestone for the nation's special districts, last week, the U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Committee approved the Special District Grant Accessibility Act. The bill (H.R. 7525), which is sponsored by Representatives Pat Fallon (R-TX) and Brittany Pettersen (D-CO), cleared the committee on an overwhelming 38-2 vote. To view the committee's action on H.R. 7525, please click here.
The Special District Grant Accessibility Act embodies the National Special District Coalition’s longstanding legislative objective of codifying in federal law a first-ever, formal definition of “special district”. In addition to establishing such a definition, H.R. 7525 would direct federal agencies to recognize special districts as local governments for the purpose of ensuring that districts are eligible to receive appropriate forms of federal assistance, including funding and resources through key grant programs.
Looking ahead, the legislation is expected to be considered by the full House. As of this writing, it remains unclear when House leadership will schedule the bill for a floor vote.
In preparation for successful action on the floor, CSDA is calling upon special districts to reach out to their Representatives in Congress to urge them to cosponsor H.R. 7525.
Please use this Template Co-Sponsor Request Letter and this NSDC H.R. 7525 Fact Sheet to support your outreach and please CC advocacy@csda.net.
If you need help identifying your Congressional Representative, visit: Find Your Representative | house.gov.
CSDA is a founding member of NSDC. Special districts receive full benefit from NSDC’s advocacy and services through membership in CSDA.
Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations Update
Ahead of a March 8 deadline, Congress approved and President Biden signed into law a six-bill, $460 billion spending package that includes funding for the following fiscal year 2024 appropriations measures: Agriculture; Commerce-Justice-Science; Energy-Water; Interior-Environment; Military Construction-Veterans Affairs; and, Transportation-HUD. The legislation adheres to the debt limit deal negotiated by President Joe Biden and then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). Overall, the agencies and programs funded under the spending measure would generally remain flat, though there are small increases for programs within the Energy-Water and Transportation-HUD bills. The Interior-Environment measure would see the largest percentage cut (over three percent), which is mainly due to reductions to the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget.
While House GOP leaders claimed a number of key wins in the package, including cuts to nondefense discretionary spending, conservatives were generally critical of the final package. Some members were unhappy with the overall level of spending, while others believed that Republicans should have been able to extract more policy concessions. For their part, Democrats touted their efforts to reject the steep funding cuts initially sought by the House Freedom Caucus. Congressional Democrats also successfully turned away a number of controversial policy riders. In the end, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) had to rely largely on Democratic support to advance the bill.
Looking ahead, the deadline for passing the remaining six bills – Homeland Security, Labor-Health and Human Services-Education, Defense, Financial Services, Legislative Branch and State-Foreign Operations – is March 22. Several of these measures are considered more controversial and thus will prove more difficult to get over the finish line.
President Biden Unveils FY 2025 Budget Proposal
Monday, March 11, President Joe Biden unveiled his fiscal year 2025 budget request to Congress, which covers broad spending categories and includes projections for major entitlement programs, such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. All told, the administration is proposing $7.3 trillion in mandatory and discretionary spending for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins on October 1, 2024. The proposed funding level represents a 4.7 percent increase over the current budget. Among other things, the Biden administration is calling on Congress to restore the popular expanded Child Tax Credit that expired in 2021. The framework also includes funding for a federal-state partnership aimed at expanding free pre-school education and revives legislative proposals aimed at providing national paid leave and free community college.
The new spending would be offset by new taxes on the wealthy and major corporations. Among other proposals, the budget would introduce a 25 percent minimum tax on those earning more than $100 million. With regard to businesses, the proposal calls for increasing the corporate tax rate to 28 percent (up from 21 percent). It also proposes to increase the minimum tax on billion-dollar corporations to 21 percent (up from 15 percent). According to the administration, these reforms would reduce the deficit by nearly $3 trillion over the next decade.
Looking ahead, a number of cabinet officials and other agency heads will appear before various Congressional committees in the coming weeks to defend the administration’s spending priorities. However, given the divided Congress and highly-charged political climate ahead of the November elections, the administration’s budget plan will serve as more of a symbolic representation of the president’s policy priorities than the actual starting place for upcoming spending decisions.
Senate Panel to Consider Bipartisan Legislation to Reauthorize the Economic Development Administration
This week, the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee will consider bipartisan legislation that would reauthorize the Economic Development Administration (EDA) for the first time in 20 years. The EDA is an agency within the Commerce Department that invests in the economic development of distressed communities. The bill proposes key reforms to modernize EDA’s core programs and authorizes activities such as workforce development and disaster assistance. This bill would also authorize and update the laws pertaining to certain federal regional commissions. A summary of the bill is available here, and the full text can be accessed here.
Relevant Hearings and Markups
House Transportation – On March 12, the panel will hold a hearing entitled, “Disaster Readiness: Examining the Propriety of the Expanded Use of FEMA Resources.” FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell is among those slated to testify. More information on the hearing can be found here.
Senate Energy and Natural Resources – On March 12, the full committee will meet to examine the findings and recommendations of the Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission. Additional detail on the hearing, including a full witness list, can be accessed here.
Senate Finance – On March 14, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra will appear before the committee to discuss the president’s fiscal year 2025 budget request for the department. More information on the hearing can be found here.
Senate Homeland Security – On March 14, the full committee will meet for a hearing, entitled “A Nation on Fire: Responding to the Increasing Wildfire Threat.” Additional hearing details, including a full witness list, can be accessed here.
Senate Budget – On March 12, the panel will hear from Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young on the president’s fiscal year 2025 budget proposal. A live webcast of the meeting will be available here, beginning at 10:15am ET.
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