Washington has been holding its breath the last few weeks awaiting the Senate Republican coronavirus phase 4 bill. The bill, the Health, Economic Assistance, Liability, and Schools (HEALS) Act was released early this week and all signs point to much more work needing to be done before Congress recesses in August. The package, released in smaller tranches rather than in an omnibus, received tepid support from many Senate Republicans; White House officials themselves admitted they were “very far apart” with House Democrats. We expect HEALS to change significantly before passage.
That said, the package does contain two key APGA priorities. The bill allows the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) to be used for state and local pandemic-related revenue losses, as well as other guidelines that send money further downstream to local governments. However, the package does not include additional funds for the CRF – states, and localities would need to use existing unused CRF funds from CARES. Additionally, the bill appropriates an additional $1.5 billion in emergency LIHEAP funding, on top of the $900 million from CARES.
Outside of coronavirus aid, the Senate also hotlined (a way to expedite bill consideration in the Senate) the PIPES Act, the long-languishing PHMSA reauthorization bill. After nearly a year of negotiation, stakeholders and the Senate came to an agreement on how to proceed on addressing leak detection and repair criteria. APGA expects PIPES to be passed out of the Senate before Congress recesses.
APGA continues to monitor other Congressional action, such as consideration of spending bills and other authorizations. Last week, an amendment submitted to the House Energy and Water appropriations bill would bar funds from being used by the Army Corps to issue Clean Water Act section 404 permits – a key permit for oil and gas pipeline construction. APGA weighed in with staff and the amendment was not included to be considered on the floor. Similarly, APGA worked with House staff to fine-tune an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would have required a study on pipeline vulnerabilities. We explained the potential inadvertent downsides to the amendment – ultimately, it was not considered on the floor.
Finally, APGA is working hard to increase support for the American Infrastructure Bond (AIB) Act. The AIB Act would allow for localities to issue taxable municipal bonds which would then be offset by a Treasury payment. APGA strongly encourages members to engage on the AIB Act; please contact Doug MacGillivray directly at dmacgillivray@apga.org for further information on how to get involved.
If you have any questions on this article, please contact Doug MacGillivray of APGA’s staff by phone at (202) 464-2742 or by email at dmacgillivray@apga.org.