This fall, Congress faces a laundry list of expiring authorizations and must-dos-a slew of which must be acted upon by September 30th. But with a Papal visit and few legislative days before September 30th, it remains unclear whether the two parties can negotiate internally and with one another for timely legislative action.

June 30 Export-Import BankFalling victim to conservatives who criticized government support for the bank as "corporate welfare," the Export-Import Bank retains support from Democrats, as well as business and manufacturing friendly Republicans. In fact, the Senate voted to reauthorize the charter for the Bank in July within that Chamber's long-term transportation authorization, and some House Republicans have been supportive of its inclusion in a surface transportation reauthorization bill. GE's announcement earlier this week that it will move 500 jobs out of the U.S. due to a lack of funding from Ex-Im is likely to revive pressure to reauthorize the bank. Senate Democrats have gone as far as to suggest that the Bank's reauthorization should be included in a government funding bill.September 30AppropriationsHouse Republicans have not yet agreed on a strategy for continued government funding beyond September 30th. A contingent of the Republican conference is pushing for a showdown with Democrats over federal funding for Planned Parenthood among other policy priorities. In meetings this week, Republicans leaders sought support for a clean CR with a separate strategy to defund Planned Parenthood in the reconciliation process. However, it now appears the House will send the Senate a CR with a Planned Parenthood rider, which the Senate will strip and send back clean. With the Papal visit next week, the House may vote on the first step next Friday, bringing the timing, particularly factoring for Senate procedure down the wire. At this point, a shutdown remains a real possibility.

Child Nutrition & WIC

The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act (HHKA) is set to expire on September 30. The law authorizes Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). The Senate Agriculture Committee had been scheduled to markup a reauthorization bill this week, but Committee Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) has indicated he needs more time to negotiate a final bill with the ranking Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). The House Education and Workforce Committee has yet to release its own bill. A lapse in the bill authorization won't cut off the WIC or NSLP programs, but it will end, at least temporarily, HHKA fruit and vegetable requirements for school lunches. This contentious issue promises to complicate the bill's reauthorization. A short-term extension is possible as a part of a broader deal to manage other issues.

FAA Authorization

The last FAA reauthorization required 23 extensions before its passage. The aviation community is hopeful that the next reauthorization can be accomplished in a more timely and efficient manner, but an extension certainly will be required to keep aviation programs operational past September 30. Congress will most likely include in the CR an FAA extension that runs into the spring. That will give Congress time to finalize the multi-year surface transportation bill before the move in earnest to the FAA reauthorization.

Internet Access Tax Ban

Efforts are underway to extend or make permanent the federal ban on taxation of internet access and email. The ban has lapsed in the past, and it may well lapse again given ongoing disagreement on attaching to it the Marketplace and Internet Fairness Act (MFA) or comparable legislation. The MFA, which has engendered strong opposition in the House, would allow state and local governments to collect online sales tax from companies with no physical presence within their borders. The fight over the MFA has held up consideration of a bill authored by Senator Thune (R-SD) to make permanent the ban on internet access taxes. The House passed a permanent extension earlier this year.

Higher Education

The current authorization for Higher Education Act programs is scheduled to expire at the end of September, and Congress is expected to pass short term extensions of the current policy until a full reauthorization is enacted into law. The tight legislative calendar and packed agenda, including efforts by the pending conference on the Elementary and Secondary Education Act reauthorization, likely will stymie congressional efforts to reauthorize HEA before the end of 2015. However, education committees in the House and Senate will continue efforts to craft proposals. Senate HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander has expressed his intent to release a HEA Reauthorization draft this fall, which he has been developing in a bipartisan fashion with Ranking Member Patty Murray. Presidential politics will play a role in the HEA debate, as numerous candidates have issued proposals on reforming higher education policy.

October 29Surface Transportation

While progress continues on enactment of a multi-year surface transportation bill, Congress will need to approve another extension of MAP-21. Sufficient funding is in place to sustain the federal surface transportation programs into the spring, making a short-term extension from October 29th into December a relatively easy but vitally important step. Congressional leaders have discussed the possibility of including the MAP-21 extension in the continuing resolution. Meanwhile, the House is finalizing its multi-year bill with the goal of passing it in October and going to conference with the Senate, which passed its bill in July. Prime Policy is optimistic that Congress can.

December 31

Tax Extenders

This month, over 2000 companies, associations, and nonprofits signed a letter to Congress requesting immediate extension of the broad tax extenders package. With action yesterday by the House Ways and Means committee to permanently extend several more traditional tax extenders, the stage is set for a negation between the House and Senate later this fall. The Senate will stand by its two-year extension package, while the House will likely insist on making one or several of those provisions permanent in any final deal. We believe, at this moment, that the Senate package is likely to prevail for either a one- or two-year extension. However, the House may extract from the Senate an agreement to permanently extend a few of those provisions. In any event, this negotiation and the final product are likely to take place later this year and be included in a final larger package.

Fall/Winter

Debt Limit

Raising the debt limit, which had until recent years become a rote and routine activity, will be necessary once again this fall. According to a letter addressed to House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said that his department would exhaust the extraordinary measures available to it sometime near the end of October; the Congressional Budget Office has said that an increase in revenue during the 4th quarter could push the deadline to mid-November or early December. Last week, the House Ways and Means Committee went so far as to pass a bill out of committee (H.R. 692, the Default Prevention Act), which would require the Treasury Department to continue to pay Treasury bonds and into the Social Security trust fund, while halting payments to federal workers, veterans, soldiers and retirees if the debt limit is reached without a debt ceiling increase. Although Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has been consistent in his statements that Republicans will not allow the country to default, conservatives will continue their efforts to enforce some fiscal discipline as the price for raising the debt limit.