The Hardwood Federation produces a “D.C. Cheat Sheet” newsletter to keep the industry up-to-date on the latest news from Washington D.C. Check out the September 3rd edition below and sign up to receive your copy.
Federal Funding Secured Through December 11: Last Tuesday, the House approved the Senate-cleared Continuing Resolution (CR) to keep the government funded past the end of the fiscal year (September 30) until December 11. The vote was 370-48. As the measure also extends funding for surface transportation or “highway bill” programs that were also set to expire September 30, this action represents the last “must pass” item before the November midterm elections. Technically, the Farm Bill also expires September 30, but leaders in both chambers have acknowledged that the real deadline for action on a Farm Bill is the end of the calendar year.
Passage of the CR punts several policy items into the Lame Duck session of Congress following the election. Federal funding will again be on the docket as lawmakers need to come together to forge a spending deal for Fiscal Year 2027. The Hardwood Federation is working to include our supplemental appropriations language ($200 million for U.S. hardwood producers) into any longer term spending package that emerges. The National Defense Authorization Act or NDAA needs to be reauthorized, and the aforementioned highway bill programs also need to be extended.
Entering the year, we were hopeful that a comprehensive surface transportation reauthorization bill would pass with beneficial truck weight reform provisions, but with a highway bill having cleared only one House committee and zero Senate committees, it is starting to feel like an extension of existing law for some duration into 2027 is inevitable. Also on the table is the expanded surveillance authorities under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that expired in June and a third budget reconciliation package to address defense spending on the war in Iraq and farmer financial assistance.
All of the above items will get packed into the Lame Duck which will begin the week of November 9. The duration of this session will depend heavily on the election outcome, but members at this point are expecting to be in town for six or seven weeks running up until Christmas, with a week of recess planned for Thanksgiving, which is on November 26. As always, the Hardwood Federation will keep you apprised of the action and progress on our deliverables
Source: Hardwood Federation