HOW TEXANS VOTED
WASHINGTON – How the Texas congressional delegation voted on major issues last week:
Senate 1. Corps of Engineers water projects:
Passed, 95-3, a bill (S 2848) that would authorize $10.6 billion over 10 years for hundreds of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects for purposes such as flood control, shoreline protection, river navigation, harbor dredging, lock and dam maintenance and environmental restoration. The bill includes $100 million in emergency grants and loans to help communities such as Flint, Mich., deal with leadpoisoned drinking water and $700 million to help municipalities replace crumbling drinking-water infrastructure. A yes vote was to pass the bill.
House 1. Lower personal taxes, higher federal debt:
Passed, 261-147, a Republican-sponsored bill (HR 3590) that would increase the share of personal income that can be deducted for unreimbursed medical expenses. This tax cut for filers who itemize deductions would add a projected $32.7 billion to the national debt over 10 years because it is not offset by spending cuts or revenue increases. Specifically, the bill would lower from 10 percent to 7.5 percent (of adjusted gross income) the threshold above which taxpayers are allowed to deduct medical expenses not covered by insurance. At present, the 7.5 percent break point is available only to taxpayers 65 and older. Without this bill or a similar remedy, the threshold for seniors who itemize deductions will rise to 10 percent starting in 2017. Non-seniors who itemize deductions already are subject to the 10 percent threshold. A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate, where it was dead on arrival.
2. Ban on Guantanamo Bay transfers:
Passed, 244-174, a bill (HR 5351) that would prohibit the administration from transferring detainees at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, military prison to foreign countries or super-max incarceration in the United States. Guantanamo now has 61 prisoners, down from about 800 during the George W. Bush administration and 240 when President Barack Obama took office in 2009. The administration seeks to transfer 20 individuals who have never been charged with crimes and are considered acceptable security risks. Between 20 and 30 percent of Guantanamo detainees released by the Bush administration and 6 percent released by the Obama administration later joined hostile forces, it was stated in floor debate. A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate, where it appeared certain to fail.
3. Job security at Department of Veterans Affairs:
Passed, 310-116, a GOP-sponsored bill (HR 5620) that would reduce civil-service job protections at the Department of Veterans Affairs in order to make it easier for the agency to fire or discipline poorly performing employees. In part, the bill would require the Merit Systems Protection Board to adjudicate appeals from targeted employees within 60 days, restrict the ability of these employees to pursue appeals in federal court, limit the ability of senior executives to appeal disciplinary actions within the department and give more protection to whistleblowers who call out supervisors. A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate, where it was likely to fail.
4. GOP clampdown on regulations:
Passed, 250-171, a Republicansponsored bill (HR 5226) that would impose additional reporting and disclosure requirements on federal agencies when they seek public comments on proposed new regulations. In part, agencies would have to publish on their websites the contents of their substantive verbal, written and electronic communications with interested parties, including sensitive internal discussions not now shared with the public. The bill would affect the several thousand new regulations agencies put into effect each year to implement the broadly worded laws passed by Congress. A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate, where it faced oblivion.
5. Lead poisoning of drinking water:
Defeated, 185-238, a Democratic attempt to exclude from a GOP clampdown on federal regulations (HR 5226, above) “any public communication to combat a public health crisis including the Zika virus, opioid abuse and lead poisoning.’’ A yes vote was to adopt the motion.