Important Dates

May 17
The legislature must adjourn

Please note: Committee deadlines do not apply to the committees on Capital Investment, Ways and Means/Finance, Taxes, or Rules and Legislative Administration.

Federal Update

Congress returned yesterday, Monday, April 12, 2021, from its two-week break to tackle massive fights on guns, taxes, infrastructure and immigration.

On Thursday, March 8, 2021, Speaker Nancy Pelosi backed the White House’s pitch to split its infrastructure plans into two packages — one emphasizing tangible assets like roads, bridges and broadband and another focused on “human” infrastructure — despite progressives’ push for a bundled approach.

President Joe Biden last week unveiled his proposal for spending more than $2 trillion on physical infrastructure and workforce development over eight years, as well as a slate of corporate and international tax changes aimed at paying it off over 15 years.

In the coming weeks, Biden is planning to release a second plan for education, health, and child and elder care funding that is expected to cost more than $1 trillion.

Releasing the proposals in two parts suggests the White House believes breaking them up might make them easier to swallow politically. But the administration has ultimately deferred to congressional leaders to make decisions about legislative strategy.

Using the budget reconciliation process would allow Democrats to avoid the Senate filibuster and pass the bill with a simple-majority vote. But that would require total party unity and potentially force Democrats to drop some provisions that may not be allowed under the reconciliation rules that require every provision to have more than an incidental budget impact.

The reconciliation process also requires Democrats to adhere to a strict topline spending number, which would be provided in a budget resolution containing reconciliation instructions for specific committees.

Time-intensive Process

The budget reconciliation process is particularly time-intensive because of the need for both chambers to adopt a budget resolution providing for reconciliation instructions before bringing the actual legislation to the floor. Both steps require a lengthy “vote-a-rama” in which senators can offer amendments until they grow tired or run out of proposals.

The timing in the House is largely the same for either strategy, other than adopting the budget resolution for reconciliation. Key House committees are hoping to hold infrastructure markups before Memorial Day, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi has signaled that floor action could come before Independence Day.

Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Peter A. DeFazio (D-Oregon), “thinks we can do our part in the House probably in the month of May. At least his committee would be ready at that time.”

Please reach out to any of the Larkin Hoffman Government Relations team members with any questions.