Government Shutdown Averted Federal Government Funded Through March 11

As reported in the February 17 edition of NASBP’s ebulletin, Focal Point, the U.S. Senate was poised to pass a short-term spending bill, aka a continuing resolution, which cleared the U.S. House of Representatives a week prior. Nothing makes the Senate move faster than an impeding holiday recess. So in the late hours of February 17, the Senate voted to fund the government for 21 more days. Ranking Member on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Richard Shelby (R-AL), is sanguine about the ability to reach agreement on a massive 12-bill spending package by the new mid-March deadline. According to Senator Shelby, “We’re coming along. We’re coming along. I think there’s a good chance we’ll make it,” said Shelby. “If we keep working in a bipartisan way, which we’ve been doing the last week or two, maybe we’ll get there.”

COMPETES Act Passes House

Earlier this month, the House passed the America COMPETES Act, H.R. 4521, mostly on a straight party-line vote of 222-210. Last July the Senate passed its version, S. 1260, “The United States Innovation and Competition Act of 2021,” on a bipartisan vote of 68-32. House Small Business Committee Chair, Nydia Velázquez (D-NY-7^th), released the following statement: “COMPETES will provide them [small businesses] with increased support through programs that provide manufacturing, business, and technical assistance to help these enterprises grow. A modern economy requires a modern workforce. This bill would strengthen the Registered Apprenticeship Program, helping to develop the small business labor force and equip American workers with the skills they need to thrive in the 21^st century.”

Included in the House bill was a bipartisan amendment offered by Reps. Angie Craig (D-MN-2^nd) and Pete Stauber (R-MN-8^th), Co-Chairs of the Construction Procurement Caucus (see NASBP President Tracy Tucker’s column in this issue of Pipeline), which provides community grants for apprenticeship colleges to expand and support outreach to potential students and employers. The Craig/Stauber language seeks to promote careers in the trades, revitalize the American manufacturing industry, and connect working Americans with good-paying careers in their own communities.

Congressional leaders will be tasked with seeking to reconcile the competing bills, such that the final product can garner the support of 60 senators and a majority in the House. The bill may represent one of the last opportunities for significant bipartisan legislative achievement this Congress. The Administration has made this legislation a priority, along with investments in our country’s infrastructure and the Build Back Better Plan.

White House Unveils Infrastructure School Webinars

The White House Administration has launched what it is calling “Infrastructure School,” which consists of a series of webinars pertaining to the Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act (IIJA). The webinars address these topic: ports/waterways, airports, electric vehicles, public transportation, and rail roads. The webinar series began mid-February. The electric vehicles webinar was scheduled at 4pm on Tuesday, Feb. 22, followed by a public transportation webinar at 4pm on Feb. 24, with a rail roads webinar, the final one of the series, at 4pm on Feb. 28.