Your Congress in Action: Vol. 11

08/21/2020 12:35 PM | Anonymous


Your Congress in Action is a series that highlights the Capitol Hill news that affects CRM firms the most. This information is sourced from the Coalition for American Heritage, news articles, and more. Be sure to subscribe to the ACRAsphere to ensure you don't miss an update.

  • Negotiations over additional pandemic relief legislation are deadlocked. Republicans may put forward a smaller bill that will also address the current issues with the Postal Service. 
    • In addition to the provisions for individual businesses, ACRA has been monitoring state funding in the relief packages. Securing funding for states is a priority to ensure that SHPOs can continue to operate and vital infrastructure projects continue. We are working on resources for you to take action on this and expect to have them available in the coming days. How you can help immediately: please contact your Senators and encourage them to pass relief legislation that includes funding for state budgets/historic preservation.
  • Congress is expected to pass an omnibus bill to fund federal agencies through mid- November, when the results of the election will hopefully be known. A continuing resolution is also on the table for accomplishing this if a bill does not get passed.
  • National Park Service Director David Vela abruptly chose to retire after 30 years with the NPS. He had served as Acting Director through a series of temporary orders, but was never confirmed. He is being replaced by Margaret Everson, who has previous experience at the Department of the Interior under the George W. Bush administration. More information on Vela's departure is available in The Hill.
  • President Trump withdrew the nomination of William Perry Pendley to head the Bureau of Land Management after strong opposition to the appointment. Pendley has been acting as BLM's director since July 2019. The President withdrew the nomination "amid signs that the choice would hurt the reelection prospects of Republican Sens. Cory Gardner (Colo.) and Steve Daines (Mont.)." Read more on the withdrawal in the Washington Post.
  • Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden announced his opposition to mining around the Grand Canyon, citing its importance to area tribes.
  • The Badger-Two Medicine Protection Act was introduced by Senator John Tester (MT). The bill would permanently protect 130,000 acres of the Badger-Two Medicine as a “cultural heritage area”, a first-of-its- kind designation that could potentially usher in a new national system for protecting public lands in Indian Country.
  • President Trump announced that he is donating $100,000 of his salary to the National Park Service for the repair of monuments.
  • The task force on the National Monument Garden created by President Trump’s July Executive Order must submit site recommendations by August 31. 
  • The Senate passed legislation commemorating the centennial of Route 66. The bill establishes a commission to study and provide recommendations on "activities that are fitting and proper to celebrate that anniversary in a manner that appropriately honors the Mother Road of the United States."
  • The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved two bills on regulations by a vote of 8 to 5:
    • S. 92, the "Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act," which would require Congress to approve economically significant regulations, or rules that are projected to cost $100 million or more. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who introduced the bill, said the measure would rein in the whims of "unelected bureaucrats."
    • Sen. Rob Portman’s bill (R-OH), S. 4077, the "Unfunded Mandates Accountability and Transparency Act," would provide more information about the impact of regulations on the private sector and make "the agencies much more accountable."

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