Washington Update: House Democrats Punt on Infrastructure Vote, Again
October 29, 2021
As you head into what we hope is a relaxing weekend free from thought of Washington, we wanted to highlight where things stand in the nation's capital as the week draws to a close.
Yesterday, Congress passed yet another short-term extension of key highway programs to early December after a failed attempt by both the White House and Congressional Democratic leadership to drum up consensus from both moderates and progressives for a revised, $1.75 trillion reconciliation package, and thereby unlock a vote on in the House on the Senate-passed bipartisan infrastructure bill (BIB).
The scene was nearly identical to the one that occurred a month ago when House Democrats held a "fire drill" to move forward on the BIB, but ultimately, had to table the vote. Similarly, Congress was approaching a deadline to extend surface transportation programs soon set to expire; this time, though, there were increased incentives to pass the BIB due to President Biden's high stakes visit to the UN Climate Change Conference and next week's Virginia gubernatorial election. However, throughout months of negotiations, House progressives have maintained that they would only move forward on the BIB if the reconciliation package moved at the same time. Simply put, there is still not full-on agreement among Democrats on the reconciliation package, meaning progressives continued to block the BIB.
While this most recent punt from Democrats on the BIB vote is frustrating, some progress was made. To try and win the trust of progressives, the House Rules Committee held a hearing on the new reconciliation package, and even released legislative text, which was a prerequisite for many progressive lawmakers to move forward in the process. While this was unsuccessful in getting progressives to support the BIB, the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) did formally endorse the new reconciliation framework, which is a significant win for the White House. CPC Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) has even said that progressives will be ready to deliver both bills as early as next week.
The revised, reconciliation text represents efforts by the White House and Congressional Democrats over the last month to significantly pare down or outright eliminate programs from the original, $3.5 trillion reconciliation package. Importantly, the legislation still includes key provisions on sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). For instance, the reconciliation text would enact a SAF blender's tax credit from January 2023 through December 2026, with a transition to a Clean Fuel Production Credit beginning in 2027. The text also includes around $300 million for the Low Emission Aviation Technology grant program for projects that produce, transport, blend, or store SAF. Disappointingly, though, it appears that various bond initiatives that could help airports finance infrastructure projects have been axed from the revised package.
That all said, this legislative text is not finalized, and negotiations continue behind the scenes on a plethora of outstanding issues, including Medicare expansion, immigration, paid family leave, drug pricing and revenues. Critically, Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), who were positive about the new framework, still have not officially signed off on it. With December 3 as the new deadline for Congress to act before highway programs are set to expire, Democrats have bought yet another month to finalize the reconciliation bill and vote on the BIB. However, patience is wearing thin within the Democratic caucus, and another legislative stumble could have real political consequences. Notably, December 3 also happens to be the date that current funding for the federal government is set to expire, and around the time the U.S. is projected to reach its debt limit. With Congress' track record of delaying and procrastinating until the very last minute, December 3 could very well turn into the perfect storm on Capitol Hill.
