Policy Corner: September 2, 2022
Categories: Policy Corner Archives
House Democratic Leaders Plan for Temporary Spending Bill to Fund Federal Government
This week, Roll Call reported that the U.S. House of Representatives Democratic leaders are working on a tentative plan during the week of Sept. 12 for a temporary spending bill that would extend federal government spending at current funding levels through Dec. 1. The federal fiscal year ends Sept. 30, so Congress needs to either pass spending bills to fund federal government programs beginning October 1 or a continuing resolution to authorize continued funding beyond Sept. 30. The article also said that the Senate is planning to be in session through Dec. 21. Both chambers are scheduled to be in session for most of the last three weeks of September, with a brief break for the Rosh Hashana holiday.
Both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees have recommended additional funding for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Administration for Community Living (ACL) Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) programs (state grant and protection & advocacy grant programs); ACL’s National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) research program; and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Concussion Surveillance System to gather additional information on the incidence of TBI. The House Appropriations Committee, however, did recommend more funding for each of these programs than the Senate Appropriations Committee did.
Lawmakers Consider Other Bills Supported by BIAA
Although the 117th Congress is winding down, there is still legislation being considered that is supported by the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA). This includes:
- The ABLE Age Adjustment Act (H.R.1219/S. 331), introduced by Rep. Tony Cardenas (D-Calif.) and Senator Robert P. Casey, Jr. (D-Pa), to increase from 26 to 46 the age threshold for tax-favored ABLE (Achieving a Better Life Experience) accounts. ABLE accounts are designed to enable individuals with disabilities to save for and pay for disability-related expenses. To establish an account, an individual must have a qualifying impairment that began before the individual attained the age threshold. In June, the Senate Finance Committee marked up the “Enhancing American Retirement Now Act (EARN Act),” and included provisions of the ABLE Age Adjustment Act. The Senate Finance Committee advanced the bill.
- S.3963, the Protecting Survivors from TBI Act, sponsored by Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and H.R. 7301, introduced by Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-N.J.) to require the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to collect and analyze data about brain injuries resulting from domestic and sexual violence and publish its findings.
- H.R. 8746, the “Access to Inpatient Rehabilitation Therapy Act of 2022,” referred to as “the three-hour rule,” sponsored by Reps. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) and Glenn “G.T.” Thompson (R-Pa.) to preserve expanded access to skilled rehabilitation therapies for Medicare patients, even after the existing Public Health Emergency (PHE) is lifted. The “Access to Inpatient Rehabilitation Therapy Act” would ensure that all inpatient rehabilitation hospital patients can continue to benefit from a patient-centered, interdisciplinary care plan even after the end of the PHE.
Congressional Members Will Return After Labor Day
Both the Senate and the House of Representatives will return to Washington, D.C. after Labor Day. Lawmakers have been in their home districts for the August recess.