MORE POWER for Jan. 27th
1000 MORE's weekly nonpartisan roundup of the most important happenings in federal government, written in a way that doesn't require a law degree to understand, with tools to take action
January 27, 2023
This week in MORE POWER:
Crowdfund advocacy on energy policy
Small business legislation
Disaster relief accountability bills
Ticketmaster vs. Senate
The hold up in the Senate
Crowdfund Advocacy on Energy Policy
Congress has had a renewed focused on energy policy due to the price spikes after Russia invaded Ukraine. Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, (R-WA) introduced H.R.21, the Strategic Production Response Act this year. The bill would block the President from releasing gas from the country's Strategic Petroleum Reserves until the Department of Energy develops a plan to increase the percentage of federal lands leased for oil and gas production.
Last year, President Biden released 180 million barrels of oil from the reserves, the largest release in history. While this move immediately reduced gas prices for consumers, it also plummeted the reserves' levels to their lowest since 1984. While those in favor of this bill see it as an important step in protecting the nation's oil and gas reserves, the White House regularly points out that oil and gas companies already hold 9,000 unused permits to drill for oil and gas on federal lands.
The Strategic Production Response Act is on the House schedule. You can use 1000 MORE to crowdfund advocacy for or against this bill.
Bills on Small Business
In their first month of the new Congress, three separate bipartisan groups in the House introduced bills that would impact the federal government's work on small businesses:
H.R.400 - Investing in Main Street Act: this bill would amend the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to increase the amount that can be invested in small business investment companies.
H.R.399 - Small Business Advocacy Improvements Act: this bill would expand the Office of Advocacy of the Small Business Administration to look at the role of small businesses in the international economy and represent the views and interests of small businesses before foreign governments.
H.R. 449 Microloan Transparency and Accountability Act: This bill would change the Small Business Administration's financial assistance reporting requirements on loan defaults, rural lending, and other loan data points.
All three bills passed the House on Wednesday and are headed to the Senate. Have a view that you would like to share?
Streamlining Disaster Relief
Given the state of climate change and its impact on weather, the need for disaster relief has grown, and it is projected to further increase in the coming decades. The island territory of Puerto Rico has been particularly impacted in recent years.
Their delegate, formally titled as Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, Representative Jenniffer González -Colón (R-PR) introduced two bills to increase accountability and transparency for disaster relief funds:
H.R. 255 Federal Disaster Assistance Coordination Act: This bill would amend the Disaster Recovery Reform Act of 2018 to develop a study regarding streamlining and consolidating information collection and preliminary damage assessments.
H.R. 259 Post-Disaster Assistance Online Accountability Act: This bill would set up an online database with up to date information on disaster aid so that it is publicly available to recipients.
Both of these bills passed the House this week and are moving to the Senate. You can use 1000 MORE to share your views on them.
Ticketmaster vs. Senate
The Senate held an anti-trust hearing this week to look at Ticketmaster and its parent company, LiveNation, after last year's Taylor Swift concert tour ticket debacle. Senators asked experts to weigh in on whether Ticketmaster is a monopoly, which was a resounding "yes." Current antitrust laws exist to break up monopolies and encourage competition by limiting the market power of any single company. What the Senate does from here remains to be seen.
What's Happening in the Senate
The Senate continues to move at a glacial pace in 2023 as they wait on Republicans to align on committee members. Most legislation and nominees are in a holding pattern until that happens.
The Senate did vote to confirm one of the Biden administration's political appointees, Brendan Owens, of Virginia, for an Assistant Secretary of Defense position. Dozens of nominees are held up from receiving confirmation votes, from Carol Moseley Braun, of Illinois, to become a Member of the Board of Directors of the African Development Foundation to Patrice H. Kunesh, of Minnesota, nominated for Commissioner of the Administration for Native Americans, Department of Health and Human Services.
