releases: https://sablan.house.gov/week-congress-december-20-2019
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
This data as json
| url | title | date | year | month | party | chamber | state | member_name | bioguide_id | domain | scraper | source | date_source | text | has_text | collected_at | updated_at |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| https://sablan.house.gov/week-congress-december-20-2019 | THIS WEEK IN CONGRESS - December 20, 2019 | 2019-12-23 | 2019 | 2019-12 | Democrat | House | MP | Gregorio Sablan | S001177 | sablan.house.gov | legacy | In this issue: $120m for Marianas Medicaid 3,000 CWs for recovery work FEMA reports on Yutu recovery $31m to rebuild PSS, NMC $1.2m: Legal Services recovery aid Keeping tabs on $244M CDBG-DR $2m to track disaster funding NMC funding made permanent Climate crisis bill cuts pollution Cutting electricity costs More funding for the Marianas $327k for JSA students More money for vets cemeteries Ensuring ballot access for all Kilili Time Capsule Opportunities ___________________________________ $120 million for Marianas Medicaid Marianas Medicaid funding increases from $7 million to $60 million both this year and next. The House passed the necessary legislation Tuesday. The Senate followed Thursday. In addition, the local match the Commonwealth will pay is reduced from 45 to 17 percent, a better local rate than any U.S. state. This congressional action avoids a funding cliff, as special Obamacare grants to the insular areas ended this year. To keep the Marianas program solvent I lobbied the Department of Health and Human Services for an $8.2 million supplemental award in May and added $36 million to the disaster spending bill in June. And I spoke personally to Speaker Nancy Pelosi to get us into this week's bill. All of the U.S. insular areas received new funding. But the Marianas got the largest percentage increase. The $120 million is good news for the 15,000 plus people in the Marianas who have Medicaid. Their health insurance will continue; and the services they receive can now be more like other Americans'. This is also good news for everyone who uses the Commonwealth Healthcare Center, which could close without the 44 percent of its revenue that comes from Medicaid. And it's good news for private health care providers in the Marianas, who in June were barred from serving Medicaid patients. With $60 million now available, I urge the Governor to allow our Medicaid patients to use private practice clinics and pharmacies again. That will make those businesses more economically viable and strengthen the entire health care system in our islands. 3,000 CWs for recovery work Three thousand more CW permits will be available for typhoon recovery work this year and in 2021 and 2022. My bill, the Disaster Recovery Workforce Act, was accepted as a rider to the fiscal 2020 appropriations bill that Congress passed this week and the President has said he will sign into law. With $244 million in Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery monies now allocated for the Marianas, as well as the $56 million for solid waste, $10.2 million for sewer and water infrastructure, and Economic Development Administration grants to rebuild schools, homes, and our economy that I made available for the Marianas in this June's disaster relief law, the last thing we want is any delay caused by a lack of workers. Enactment of the Disaster Recovery Workforce Act ensures that will not be a problem. And all the protections for U.S. workers that we wrote into the U.S. Workforce Act last yearfrom being passed over for jobs to having their wages reduced by competition from foreign workerswill apply to the new disaster recovery workers. $31m to rebuild PSS, NMC The U.S. Department of Education announced on Thursday the CNMI Public School System and Northern Marianas College are receiving $9.3 million and $21.9 million respectively from funds appropriated by Congress in Public Law 116-20. The PSS grant helps cover the costs of restarting school operations and provide monetary incentives to recruit and retain teachers impacted by Super Typhoon Yutu. The Emergency Assistance to Institutions of Higher Education grant will help NMC reconstruct damaged facilities. It is critical that schools receive disaster recovery assistance without delay which is why I held a hearing as Chair of the K-12 Education Subcommittee in June just days after Congress approved Marianas disaster funds so Department officials could hear directly from then-PSS Commissioner Glenn Muna on our students' needs. On August 29, 2019, the Department awarded PSS $4 million of the $9.3 million grant to address immediate recovery. $1.2M: Legal Services recovery aid Micronesian Legal Services is key to the recovery effort. So, making sure their work was eligible for federal assistance was one of my specific goals in June's Disaster Relief Act. This week the national Legal Services Corporation announced a grant of $1.2 million to its Micronesian affiliate from the money Congress appropriated. MLS will use the funds to provide direct legal services, guiding clients through the intricacies of federal aid programs, helping landowners with title issues necessary to claim assistance, and working to make sure that contractors perform repair and rebuilding services as agreed. We are grateful to Congress for providing funds to ensure that low-income disaster survivors get the help they need in the aftermath of a disaster, Legal Services President James J. Sandman said in announcing the award to MLS and 11 other recipients nationwide. I will add that we are all grateful to the people of MLS. As was the case for so many recovery workers, they were helping others after the typhoons, while repairing their own homes and lives and recovering from the damage to their offices. Congratulations, Micronesian Legal Services. And thank you for the work youdo. $2m to track disaster funding The Commonwealth government is receiving $2 million to better account for and report on the hundreds of millions in federal disaster funding assistance received as a result of Super Typhoon Yutu, the Office of Insular Affairs announced Thursday. I included the $2 million, specifically for Yutu recovery, in the Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Act, Public Law 116-20 enacted in June. The funds could be particularly helpful in meeting the financial management certification requirements of the Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery program. A website will also be created so the public can see exactly how the recovery funds are being used. Climate crisis bill cuts pollution Together with Chair Ral Grijalva and other leaders of the House Natural Resources Committee I have introduced a bill to halt federal activities that fuel the climate crisis. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, climate-harming pollution from fossil fuel development on public lands and waters account for nearly a quarter of the U.S. total. The goal of our American Public Lands and Waters Climate Solution Act is to get to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from public lands and waters by 2040. One way to do that is to charge for fossil fuels from public lands and to use the money to help workers and communities transition away from polluting energy sources. As Chair Grijalva said, Our public lands and waters should be managed for the public's benefit, not for the benefit of oil, gas and coal corporations. I thank the Chair for his leadership. Island communities, like the Marianas, are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and are often the first to face its damaging consequences. I look forward to the day our federal public lands are no longer a major source of harmful carbon gas pollution. Cutting electricity costs Lowering the cost of electricity is a long-standing goal of your congressional officeespecially if we can, at the same time, lower greenhouse gas emissions that are heating up the earth and the oceans. So, I have led an effort by insular representatives to get more money for the energy action plans mandated in Section 9 of Public Law 113-235and we were successful. The largest single increase in the Interior Department's Office of Insular Affairs appropriation this year is for implementation of the law. $6.25 million must be used to create a team of technical, policy, and financial experts to write an energy plan for each insular area and to help put the plans in action. The goal is to reduce reliance on expensive imported fuel, replacing it with local energy sources, and to improve the efficiency of island power systems. The plans are to include a specific timetable and lay out how the changes can be financed. And every year Interior is supposed to report to Congress on whether progress is occurring. None of this has ever happened. Now is the time. More funding for the Marianas This week's FY20 appropriation contains funding for many programs the people of the Marianas rely on. H.R. 1865 includes: $2.77 billion for Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, equal to the 2019 level $7.3 million for the Northern Marianas $75 million for the Air Force divert field project in Tinian $25 million airfield development phase 1 $25 million fuel tanks with pipeline and hydrant system $25 million parking apron $100 million increase in both the Community Development Block Grant funding and the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, providing an additional $63,517 for the Marianas $1.5 million for Territorial Highway projects administered by the Federal Highway Administration $2.5 billion for Community Health Centers through May 22, 2020 $200 million for the National Health Service Corps and $81 million for Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education through May 22, 2020, two programs that train clinicians to serve in medically-underserved areas. $12.1 million for the Marianas Nutrition Assistance Program $450 million increase in Title I-A Grant funding for schools, providing an additional $333K for the Marianas. $400 million increase for IDEA Special Education Grants, providing an additional $161K for the Marianas. $150 increase in the maximum Pell Grant award, to a record level of $6,345 per student. $550 million increase for Head Start, which provides early learning, health, nutrition, and family support services to children nationwide including Saipan, Tinian and Rota. Legislation I cosponsored providing a seven-year extension of funding for Brand USA which promotes the United States including the Marianas to visitor markets around the world. Earlier this month, I worked with Brand USA to update its Japanese, Korean, Chinese and other foreign language websites, to include information on the Marianas Visa Waiver Program. $327k for JSA students The Junior State of America Foundation has been awarded $327,022.50 in FY 2020 Technical Assistance Program funding, the Office of Insular Affairs announced Thursday. The grant funds will be used to help island students attend three-week summer school leadership programs at Stanford or Georgetown Universities or the Diplomat Program in Shanghai. Funding will also go to JSA's one-week Academic Preparation & Community Project Boot Camp in the insular areas. Congress appropriated $20.8 million for OIA's Technical Assistance Program this year, holding funding steady to provide grants for short-term, non-capital projects that foster development in the insular areas. The administration recommended cutting the program by $6.185 million. More money for vets cemeteries Locally-run veterans cemeteries will be eligible for up to $10 million per year to cover operations and maintenance under terms of the Veterans Cemetery Grants Improvement Act, which I introduced on Wednesday. With more veterans choosing burial near home, more state, territorial, and tribal governments in charge of cemeteries are faced with increased costs. H.R. 5487 doubles the current grant limit of $5 million. Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wisconsin) joined me as an original cosponsor. The sacrifices our veterans and service members make can never be taken for granted, Steil said. Federal grants under this bill can be used to expand operations and restore infrastructure at veteran cemeteries, like the Southern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Union Grove. Our bill increases access to grant dollars at veteran cemeteries to honor American heroes for generations to come. The Veterans Cemetery Grants Improvement Act will help Steil's veterans cemetery, as well as ours in Marpi. Both the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion support H.R. 5487. Ensuring ballot access for all Voters with poor eyesight, limited mobility, or other barriers to casting their ballot will be helped by the PAVA Inclusion Act. I joined Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona) this week introducing the bill, which adds the Marianas and the American Indian Consortium to entities eligible for grants under the Protection and Advocacy for Voting Access program. PAVA supports training for poll workers, distributing resources on how to conduct an accessible campaign, maintaining voting hotlines, and examining polling places for accessibility. The right to vote is one of the most important rights we have as American citizens. Everyone should be able to cast their ballot. Thank you, Rep. Gallego. OPPORTUNITIES Scholarships/Fellowships President Harry S. Truman Scholarship (Due 2/24/20) Senator Barry Goldwater Scholarship (Due 1/31/20) President James Madison Fellowship (Due 3/1/20) Pacific Territory Fishery Capacity-Building APAICS Congressional Fellowship Grants Conservation Collaboration grants ReConnect Pilot Program Jobs Supervisory Transportation Security Officer CBP Technician Mission Support Specialist Public Comments Survival of Endangered Species Tax Form 5074 Environmental Quality Incentives Program SSA/DHS Matching Program Water Carrier Tariffs Fishery for Bigeye Tuna LEGISLATIVE HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK H.R. 4183 - Identifying Barriers and Best Practices Study Act (passed 408-1) H.R. 2548 - Hazard Eligibility and Local Projects Act (passed, 409-7) H.R. 4229 - Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability Act (passed by voice vote) H. Res. 755 - Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors (passed, 229-198, 1 present) H.R. 5430 - United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation Act (passed, 385-41) NEXT WEEK The House is in recess for the District Work Period. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |