Daily Archives: August 20, 2017

SPRINGDALE -- The U.S. House has until the end of September to pass a budget, a debt ceiling increase and a bevy of bills important to Arkansas, said Rep. Steve Womack of Rogers.

Disputes within the Republican majority in the House are still a major obstacle, Womack said. The strongly conservative Freedom Caucus wants deep spending cuts, while the so-called Tuesday Group of moderates is more moderate than the bulk of Republicans, he said.

These factors have plagued congressional budgeting for the past six years, Womack and others said, often leading to "continuing resolutions" of whatever an appropriation was the previous fiscal year rather than new appropriations that meet changing needs.

"Go ask Kelly Johnson how important FAA reauthorization is," Womack said, referring to the Northwest Regional Airport director and reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration. "Go ask J.B. Hunt Inc. about the same thing, because that reauthorization includes meal and rest requirements for our trucking industry."

Womack made his remarks in an interview at the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette offices in Springdale on Thursday, during Congress' August recess. Congress will resume session Sept. 5 and has until Sept. 30, the end of the current federal fiscal year, to appropriate money for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

A budget tells each department of the federal government how much it can spend, but appropriation bills such as the FAA bill gives those agencies the money and authorizes them to spend it.

Working out a deal with Democrats and bypassing both groups might gain some support from the Tuesday Group, but at a cost of mainstream Republican member votes. Then there is the matter of getting anything the House passes through a divided Senate.

The FAA appropriation, Johnson said in an interview Friday, has had 23 continuing resolutions in a row. Johnson affirmed the importance of reauthorization for the FAA. The resolutions mean airports are never on completely solid ground in long-term planning for construction projects, she said.

"So you complete part of a project at a time because you can only count on the money six months at a time," she said. "Well, when you have to rebid a project under competitive bids, everybody knows what your last bid was." The chances of getting a lower-than-normal bid for work disappears, she said.

Two other bills Womack mentioned as particularly important to Arkansas are authorizations for flood insurance and for the State Children's Health Insurance Program. The program spent $178 million in Arkansas in this federal fiscal year to provide assistance to parents who are low income but make too much money for their families to be eligible for Medicaid, federal figures show.

"Over half of the kids in the state receive benefits" from the program, said Marquita Little, health programs director for the nonprofit Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families.

Another piece of congressional business to settle is whether Womack will enter the race to become House Budget Committee chairman, he confirmed.

Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn., the House Budget chairwoman, announced her bid Aug. 2 to become her home state's governor. Black and Womack entered Congress in 2011 and have been close political allies throughout their terms. House tradition and rules dictate that a candidate who intends to leave the House has to leave committee chairmanships.

"Leading contenders to replace Black include GOP Reps. Steve Womack of Arkansas and Bill Johnson of Ohio," the newspaper Roll Call, which tracks Congress, said on Aug. 14. "Meanwhile, Reps. Rob Woodall of Georgia and Tom McClintock of California could also make the list if they decide to seek the post."

Womack confirmed Thursday he has an appointment to talk with House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., on Aug. 24. He expects the chairmanship of budget will be the topic of that call. He said there are factors he would have to consider before seeking the chairman's slot.

For example, he does not want to lose his position on the Appropriations Committee.

"Appropriations is where you write the bills" authorizing specific spending. He also wants the budget Black hammered out with her committee to get a vote on the House floor.

Congress will raise the debt ceiling, Womack said, allowing further federal spending. Whether it passes a budget, though, depends largely on the Senate. The debt ceiling, the amount set by Congress as the maximum amount the government can have in its total debt, is currently $19.81 trillion. How much it should be raised or whether the limit should be suspended for a time is in dispute. Womack also warned interest payments on the debt have reached $250 billion a year during a time of historically low interest rates. Historically normal interest rates could double that, he said.

Recent events make passing a budget uncertain, Womack said. The failure to repeal and replace Obamacare adds to the urgency for Republicans to pass a budget with serious tax reform, he said.

"We really can't take any more heavy defeats on the agenda," Womack said of his party, which holds the majority in both chambers of Congress. "I don't think we can afford to have another big ticket item fail," he said.

Despite the looming deadlines, "budget and authorizations are not what people are calling my office about," Womack said. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump gave a news conference where he was asked about a rally in Charlottesville, Va. last weekend organized by white supremacists. A counter-protester, Heather Heyer, was killed. The president condemned violence and bigotry, but went on to say: "You also had some very fine people on both sides."

The backlash to the president's remark is severe, said Womack, who represents one of the safest Republican districts in the country. Arkansas' 3rd Congressional District has sent Republicans to Congress in every election since 1966, usually by large margins.

"Ninety percent of the calls to my office are about his remarks about Charlottesville," Womack said. By far most of those calls strongly disagree with what the president said and want much clearer condemnation of white supremacy than he gave, Womack said.

"A clear and overwhelming majority of the people I represent are not conflicted on the subject," Womack said, and neither is he. "We as Americans reject racism and anti-Semitism. That is not who we are," he said.

NW News on 08/20/2017

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Congressional plate full, Womack says - Arkansas Online

To the editor: Grover Norquist and Patrick M. Gleason seem to suffer from the delusion that taxes are evil both in form and function. (Angry taxpayers, leave Mitch McConnell alone and turn your attention to California's Republicans, Opinion, Aug. 17.)

They decry the fact that we have a rational government here in California (unlike in Kansas and Oklahoma), which understands that some revenue raising is needed to keep us a first-class state. Thus, raising the gas tax a few cents per gallon to maintain roads, bridges and related infrastructure is, to these people, an unacceptably onerous burden.

As the adage goes, when looking for the motivation, follow the money. I sense a whiff of the extraction businesses behind these men and their sycophants.

Jan Rainbird, Irvine

..

To the editor: Norquist and Gleason attack our state GOP legislators who courageously supported extending Californias cap-and-trade program. I am proud of Assembly Republican leader Chad Mayes, who understands that climate change is real and must be addressed.

By raising the cost of fossil fuels, cap-and-trade and the gas tax encourage the transition to clean energy. To reduce our fossil fuel use and to slow global warming, we need to pass a carbon fee and dividend nationally, which would return all revenue to American families; until that happens, California must lead the way.

Norquist calls cap and trade an economically disastrous policy, but Californias economy has surged under its system. The effects of ignoring global warming will make the costs of cap and trade seem like chump change, as coastal regions and major cities will have to fight rising seas and extreme weather.

Please fill in your full name, mailing address, city of residence, phone number and e-mail address below. Submissions that do not include this information cannot be published. This information is seen only by the letters editors and is not used for any commercial purpose. We generally do not publish...

Please fill in your full name, mailing address, city of residence, phone number and e-mail address below. Submissions that do not include this information cannot be published. This information is seen only by the letters editors and is not used for any commercial purpose. We generally do not publish...

If you want to talk about economically disastrous policies, President Trumps denial of global warming and withdrawal from the Paris accord are excellent examples.

Anita Rivero, Downey

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To the editor: There appears to be a growing disconnect between the ideological principles of conservatives and liberals, and how the two political parties address these values.

On the conservative side, Norquist and Gleason depict all taxation as bad. However, a fiscal conservative might respond that taxation can be worthwhile, depending on the purpose, and that Californias cap-and-trade program provides useful economic incentives to reduce pollution.

On the liberal side, identity groups are becoming increasingly assertive in advance of overall cultural acceptance. However, a social liberal might question where the trend leads; for instance, might people one day be forced to accept anyones behavior in public?

Political behavior by the two parties is increasingly responsive to the passionate fringes, which results in divisiveness at the expense of our common goals: freedom, justice, peace, prosperity and a clean world.

Ed Salisbury, Santa Monica

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California Republicans face reality on climate change and the ire of their party - Los Angeles Times