House Committee Approves FY2019 Interior Appropriations Bill

The House Appropriations Committee approved the FY2019 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act last Wednesday, June 6th  by a vote of 25-20.  The bill provides $35.3 billion overall for the Interior, Environmental Protection Agency, and related agencies, which is equal to the fiscal year 2018 enacted level.  While the EPA's budget was decreased by nearly $100 million, regional priorities that were fully funded in the bill include $300 million for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) and $2.6 billion for the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund.  A more detailed fact sheet prepared by the NEMWI can be viewed here.

The Senate Agriculture Committee released the draft text of their version of the Farm Bill on Friday. This version of the bill includes provisions that would increase authorized funding for dairy farmers and maintain overall conservation spending levels. The markup of the Senate's Farm Bill will take place on Wednesday Morning.

 

The sections on farm subsidies and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that have been such points of contention in the House are likely to be debated. SNAP is anticipated to be "the single biggest issue that [the] House and Senate would have to work out in conference," according to Politico.

 

The House is still set to hold its second vote on its version of the bill on June 22nd. Last time, House Republicans failed to pass their bill, falling short 198-213. Of the 213 representatives who voted against the proposed legislation, most were Democrats and Republican members of the Freedom Caucus. The latter rejected the Farm Bill in an effort to force other Republicans' hands and prioritize passing an immigration bill that still has not reached the House floor. In order for the House's Farm Bill to pass in two weeks, Republicans will either have to solve their party's in-fighting or reach across the aisle and create a more bipartisan bill.

 

As both versions of the Farm Bill proceed, NEMWI will continue to track any developments with the legislation and post an in-depth analysis of its relevant provisions in the coming weeks.

Solar Industry "Burned" as a Result of Trump's Tariffs

In an attempt to financially protect U.S. solar panel manufacturing, President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on imported solar panels. But, many anticipate that the tariffs will likely threaten more jobs than they will temporarily save. While it is true that the tariff helped 1,000 workers, the fact remains that more than 20,000 solar firm jobs are now "at risk," according to the Financial Times .

This protectionist intervention in one the fastest growing sectors of the U.S. economy has the potential to "significantly raise U.S. panel production and reduce prices" in the long-run - though it is unclear if these improvements will be enough to help the industry keep up with international competition. For the sake of fostering U.S. jobs, however, the tariffs will likely have a less than desired effect. As solar manufacturing is highly automated, the plants only employ  about 36,000 jobs  nationwide.  Solar installation, on the other hand, employs  close to 130,000 workers who will be adversely impacted by the tariffs. The higher cost of imported solar panels will likely result in less demand and less installation jobs.

This Week in Washington

 

The following are hearings and markups that are of interest to the region.