Diving Deeper: One Step Closer to FY24 Funding
And an update on the Water Resources Development Act
Happy last week in action for 2023 John A. Knauss Sea Grant Fellows and welcome to the 2024 cohort!
What We’re Watching This Week: One Step Closer to FY24 Spending
Top appropriators reached a deal late Friday night on spending allocations for each of the 12 government funding bills. Though it might sound like a boring detail, this is important news: this step allows appropriations staff to start drafting FY24 appropriations bills that might have any real chance of becoming law.
The bill-by-bill allocations aren’t publicly available yet, but subcommittee chairs have shared some insights. So far we’re hearing that Ag-FDA could see a bump in funding, Energy and Water is likely to see similar numbers to last year, and the Interior-Environment bill—which funds the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of the Interior—may see around a three-percent cut from FY23 levels. The House plans to move their funding bills forward on “suspension,” a rule that requires a two-thirds majority to pass. This means Republicans will once again need to lean on Democrats to pass spending bills in the House.
You can bet appropriations committee offices will be busy this week as staff work to update draft bills with the new, agreed-to funding levels.
In other news: House Republicans are working to move a bipartisan tax bill and mark up articles of impeachment for Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The Senate’s border security package is also expected to be released. While these items won’t necessarily impact ocean and coastal issues directly, they’re important to watch. Border security in particular is the political football of the day. Tracking how House and Senate Republicans deal with disagreements on controversial issues will provide insight into the functionality of the remainder of this Congress and the upcoming election.
Water Resources Development Act in the Pipeline
Last week was the deadline for House members to submit requests for this year's Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) bill. WRDA, a large legislative package that provides for conservation and development of water and water-related resources, comes along every two years. The bill authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and its flood and coastal storm risk management and ecosystem restoration programs.
The House and Senate, both of which have held a number of hearings to get updates from stakeholders on priorities across the country, are now in the process of drafting the bill. Because WRDA is sometimes considered one of those “must pass” pieces of legislation (and one that has enough momentum to become law), many Members want to hitch their pet projects along for the ride—either by adding them in the bill itself or as amendments later on. Our team will keep an eye on WRDA as it moves along and report out any relevant provisions for this community.