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NCSL Updates
NCSL’s Urges Swift Bipartisan Passage of the Farm Bill
The 2024 Farm Bill touches on an incredible breadth of issues, including rural economic development, crop insurance, nutrition and SNAP benefits, conservation and forest management, and more. Read NCSL's latest letter to Capitol Hill here.
Congressional Update
Congressional leaders unveil six bipartisan spending bills for fiscal year 2024
Congressional leaders unveiled bipartisan appropriations text for six of the 12 annual appropriations bills over the weekend representing $467.5 billion in government spending for fiscal year 2024. The six bills are Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science, Energy-Water, Interior-Environment, Military Construction-VA and Transportation-HUD. This comes after President Biden signed into law last Friday another continuing resolution extending the deadline for the unveiled bills until March 8 and the remaining six bills until March 22.
Legislators have 72 hours to review the text prior to a vote, which sets up potential consideration as early as Wednesday, March 6.
Notable measures include:
- The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC): Leaders agreed to more than $7 billion in funding for food assistance for low-income women, infants and children under the WIC program, an increase of more than $1 billion. Leaders also agreed to provide full funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program with no new restrictions on eligibility, helping to solidify funding support for the traditionally bipartisan programs.
- Veteran Health Care: The bill fully funds veterans’ medical care including increases in mental health services as well as funding to address veteran homelessness.
- Rental Assistance: The bill provides increased funding for rental assistance for low-income individuals and families including the elderly and people with disabilities. Funding for tribal housing and community development would also be increased.
- Behavioral Health: The bill would permanently require state Medicaid programs to cover medication-assisted treatment of substance use disorders and would create a permanent state option to provide Medicaid coverage of substance use disorder for Medicaid-enrollees in certain inpatient facilities. Both of these provisions had been part of the SUPPORT Act of 2018, sweeping legislation addressing the opioid crisis which expired last September.
- Agency Cuts: The six bills represent an aggregate slight increase of .3%. The passage of The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 essentially set non-defense spending flat for fiscal year 2024 meaning increases to other agencies and programs create shortfalls for others. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Environmental Protection Agency all face cuts of 7%, 6% and 10% respectively as lawmakers prioritize funding under the law.
- Drug Enforcement Agency: Provides a direct appropriation of $2.57 billion to, in part, expand the agency’s efforts to combat fentanyl and tackle transnational criminal organizations.
The remaining six bills, Defense, Financial Services, Homeland Security, Labor and HHS, Legislative Branch, and State and Foreign Operations, include the some of the more often contentious bills with debate over border funding and assistance for Ukraine and Israel making paths for complete passage unclear.
NCSL will release a more comprehensive summary of fiscal year 2024 appropriations upon complete passage.
Read More:
Bill text
House Republican summary
House Democratic summary
FFIS: Jim Martin Table
Administration Updates
ACF Rulemaking on American Indian/Alaska Native Children
The federal Indian and Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA, pronounced “ick-wah”) established minimum standards for the removal and out-of-home placement of American Indian and Alaska Native children with the goal of keeping them connected to Indian families. Congressional concerns at the time about the “alarmingly high percentage of Indian families … broken up by the removal, often unwarranted, of their children from them by nontribal public and private agencies” are documented in the Congressional Record. As justification for new reporting requirements, the preamble to a proposed rule by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) points to studies concluding that states have inconsistently implemented ICWA to the detriment of American Indian and Alaska Native children, who are disproportionately represented in the child welfare system, at greater risk of out-of-home placements and subject to other negative outcomes as a result.
States are currently required to report the following:
- Whether the child, mother, father, foster parents, adoptive parents and legal guardians are tribal members.
- Whether the state made inquiries whether the child is an Indian child as defined in ICWA.
- The date that the state was notified by the Indian tribe or state or tribal court that ICWA applies.
- Whether the Indian child’s tribe(s) was sent legal notice.
The rule would require that the following data also be collected and reported:
- Whether the state inquired with certain individuals as to whether the child is an Indian child as defined in ICWA and when the agency first discovered information indicating that the child is or may be an Indian child as defined in ICWA.
- Information on whether a court determined that ICWA applies for the child, and whether the court testimony of one or more qualified expert witnesses was included for voluntary and involuntary terminations of parental rights and removals.
- Whether the child’s parent or Indian custodian was sent notice in accordance with ICWA.
- Information on requests to transfer cases to tribal court.
- Information on meeting the placement preferences under ICWA.
- Whether the court determined that the IV–E agency made active efforts to prevent the breakup of the Indian family.
The ACF is seeking input on how state adoption and foster care agencies receive information from the courts about children in their care and what measures states are taking to ensure reliability of the data. The ACF acknowledges that the new requirements will impose a burden on states, but no additional funding is being provided to assist with compliance.
States would likely have two years to implement the new requirements following publication of a final rule. Comments on the proposed rule are due by April 23, 2024.
The proposed rule comes on the heels of a final rule from ACF that eliminates the nonfederal cost-sharing requirement for tribal child support programs. As reported in the Federal Register, the impetus for the new rule was a determination “that the nonfederal share requirement limits growth, causes disruptions and creates instability.” The rule goes into effect on Oct. 1. Read more.
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Funding Allocations and Grant Opportunity Available
Three federal agencies released final allocations from the bipartisan infrastructure law for new transportation and infrastructure investments. Below are highlights.
Expending $1 Billion for Superfund Cleanup
The Environmental Protection Agency is spending the final $1 billion of $3.5 billion allocated by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for Superfund site cleanup. The funding will be used to start or further work at over 110 sites across the country. About 80% of the funding will be used in areas that meet the Biden administration’s environmental justice goals as prescribed in the Justic40 Initiative. Cleanup of Superfund sites, contaminated areas that were previously hazardous waste dumps or that contain mismanaged hazardous waste, is authorized under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980. Read more
Electrifying Rural America
The bipartisan infrastructure act allocated about $1 billion to the Department of Energy’s Energy Improvements in Rural or Remote Areas program to deploy clean energy in rural communities. The ERA program is now making $366 million available to help implement projects in communities with fewer than 10,000 residents. Project focuses include developing microgrids, increasing energy efficiency, upgrading transmission infrastructure and supporting renewable energy projects. Benefits from the 17 projects selected so far—including lowering utility bills and decreasing emissions—will positively impact 20 states and 30 tribal communities. Read more
Major Funding for Roadway Safety Improvements
The Department of Transportation is opening a competitive grant application for $1.25 billion to enable state, local and tribal governmental entities to improve roadway safety through local project implementation. The funding, which will be distributed though the Safe Streets and Roads for All grant program, is intended to help communities develop road safety action plans, test roadway safety features and improve unsafe roadway corridors. The program is part of the DOT’s National Road Safety Strategy and builds off the $1 billion issued in 2023. Applications are due May 16. Read more
HHS Releases Final Rule on Child Care Subsidies
The rule makes several changes to the Child Care and Development Fund, including capping family copayments at 7% of family income, requiring states to pay providers based on enrollment instead of attendance and encouraging states to make family applications available online. The rule also encourages states to waive copayments for families with income at or below 150% of the federal poverty line and to consider the siblings of CCDF-eligible children to be presumptively eligible, among other changes. The rule goes into effect April 30 and states can request waivers of up to two years. Read more
NIST Releases New Cybersecurity Framework
The NIST released its Cybersecurity Framework 2.0, which can be used by governments, businesses and other organizations to design sound cybersecurity practices. The framework covers the application of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, and includes a new section on governance and supply chains to assist government and business leaders make decisions on cybersecurity issues.
While the framework is voluntary, this updated version, like the first one, will likely be incorporated into government regulations to encourage both governments and private industry to remain vigilant about their cybersecurity work. Read more
Biden Issues Order to Protect Americans’ Personal Data
The executive order authorizes the attorney general to issue regulations preventing the large-scale transfer of Americans’ personal data—such as genomic, biometric, health, geolocation, financial and certain kinds of personally identifiable information—to countries with a record of collecting and misusing data on Americans. The order also provides safeguards around other activities, including data available through investment, vendor and employment, and grant relationships, that can give those countries access to Americans’ sensitive data. Read more.
FCC Survey Shows Loss of Affordable Connectivity Program Will Disrupt Recipients' Internet Service
The Federal Communications Commission surveyed Affordable Connectivity Program recipients to evaluate the program's impact and understand how its end, coming in April, might affect access to broadband services. More than three-quarters (77%) of the survey respondents said that losing their ACP benefit would disrupt their service by making them change their plan or drop internet service entirely. Over two-thirds of respondents (68%) reported they had inconsistent internet service or no service at all prior to the ACP. Most (80%) cited affordability as the reason for having inconsistent or no service. Many said they would “take money from other bills” or “cut other basic expenses,” like food or gas, if “their monthly internet bill were $30 higher.” Read more. NCSL sent a letter to congressional leadership urging support for additional funding for the ACP.