Month: December 2021

NWF Legislative Update: December 13 – 17, 2021

Check here for the 2021 Senate Calendar
Check here for the 2021 House Calendar

Upcoming Congressional Hearings  

  • Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee
    • Wednesday, December 15, 2021 at 10am EST: Executive Session to consider a series of measures and nominations, including S. 46, the Restoring Resilient Reefs Act, and S. 3309, to Secure Semiconductor Supply Full list of items for consideration here.
    • Thursday, December 16, 2021 at 10am EST: Hearing to consider the following nominations: Ann Claire Phillips to be Administrator of the Maritime Administration; Steven Scott Cliff to be Administration of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and John Edward Putnam to be General Counsel of the Department of Transportation.
  • Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
  • Committee on House Administration

Congressional News 

  • Last week, the House passed two NWF-supported bills: R. 5608, the Indian Buffalo Management Act and H.R. 2074, the Chronic Wasting Disease Research and Management Act. Both bills will require further action in the Senate, where the Chronic Wasting Disease Research and Management Act has not yet been introduced. Click here for NWF’s press release on the Chronic Wasting Disease Research and Management Act, and here for the press release on the Indian Buffalo Management Act.
  • Last week, Congress passed and the President signed legislation creating a single-use, fast-track procedure for raising the Debt Ceiling, a major item on Congress’ end-of-year to-do list. The measure allows the Senate to pass a debt ceiling bill on a simple majority, without the two-thirds vote threshold typically required to end debate on legislation and move to a final vote. Legislation to actually raise the debt ceiling is expected in the House this
  • Last week, NWF CEO Collin O’Mara testified in support of the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act during a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on the bill. Collin and the other witnesses fielded questions on the bill from the Senators in attendance, who demonstrated broad support for this NWF Click here for the NWF press release on the hearing, and here for the Committee’s website, where you can access a recording of the hearing, and copies of the written testimony from each witness.

Administrative News  

  • Last week, the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) released its Fall 2021 Unified Action Plan for upcoming regulatory In the plan, the administration outlines its intent to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas industry, improve safety and emissions standards for pipelines, restrict the use of Hydrofluorocarbons, encourage automakers to reduce emissions from vehicles and transition fleets to zero-emissions technologies, and more. You can read the White House statement on the plan here and view OIRA’s materials related to the plan here.
  • See here for additional White House resources, including a comprehensive list of Executive orders to address COVID, the climate crisis, and environmental justice, among other topics.

What’s Happening This Week 

  • The House and Senate are both in session this week.
  • The House has a short agenda, and is expected to introduce and quickly pass legislation to raise the Debt Ceiling. The debt ceiling legislation is expected to put off additional action on the federal government’s debt obligation until after the 2022 elections in
  • The Senate will work on confirming judiciary nominees, and will also take up consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act compromise, which passed the House last week.
    • Senate committees will continue meetings with the Senate Parliamentarian to review provisions of the Build Back Better Act and ensure that the legislation abides by the rules of the Budget Reconciliation process. This week’s meetings will likely include challenges from the minority to certain provisions in the bill. The majority may defend provisions’ inclusion, and the parliamentarian will begin issuing rulings for items that cannot proceed under the reconciliation
  • NWF continues to work to advance our priorities on Capitol Hill, so please feel free to share NWF’s 117th Congress National Policy Agenda.

National Wildlife Federation Logo

D.C. Legislative Update: December 6 – 10, 2021

Check here for the 2021 Senate Calendar
Check here for the 2021 House Calendar

Upcoming Congressional Hearings

Congressional News

  • Recovering America’s Wildlife Act – Collin O’Mara to Testify: On Wednesday, December 8 at 10am EST, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a hearing on S. 2372, the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act. NWF CEO Collin O’Mara will testify in support of the bill. He will be joined on the witness panel by Dan Ashe of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Sara Parker Pauley of the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies, and Jonathan Wood of the Property and Environment Research Center. Recovering America’s Wildlife Act has gained 32 Senate cosponsors – including 9 of the 20 members of the Environment and Public Works Committee – and 137 in the House. This hearing is a major step towards passing this key NWF priority, and it reflects the enthusiastic support of this bipartisan group of legislators, our partners, and the entire Federation Family.
    • More details on the hearing, including a livestream link are available at the Committee website here, and livestreams are also available on Twitter, and YouTube.
  • Last week, Congress passed and the president signed a stopgap government funding bill, preventing a government shutdown. The law funds the government at existing levels through February 18, 2022, with the addition of $7 billion to support Afghan evacuees. Congressional leaders are continuing to negotiate on a full-year spending package for Fiscal Year (FY) 2022. The House and Senate appropriations committees have each posted their proposed funding bills for FY22, available here: Senate Committee; and House Committee.

Administrative News 

  • See here for White House resources, including a comprehensive list of Executive orders to address COVID, the climate crisis, and environmental justice, among other topics. 

What’s Happening This Week

  • The House and Senate are both in session this week.
  • The Senate is expected to consider nominees, and will be engaged with the House on efforts to pass a deadlocked National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022.
    • Senate committees will be meeting with the Senate Parliamentarian to review provisions of the Build Back Better Act and ensure that the legislation abides by the rules of the Budget Reconciliation process.
  • The House is expected to consider R. 5314, the Protecting Our Democracy Act. a possible Continuing Resolution for FY2022 appropriations given the current CR expires this week. In addition, the House is expected to work on a number of suspension bills, including H.R.2074, the Indian Buffalo Management Act, and H.R. 5608, the Chronic Wasting Disease Research and Management Act.
  • NWF continues to work to advance our priorities on Capitol Hill, so please feel free to share NWF’s 117th Congress National Policy Agenda.

    National Wildlife Federation Logo

Endangered Whooping Crane flying low over water.

MI Governor Whitmer leads Bipartisan Coalition of Great Lakes Governors to Protect America’s Wildlife 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 3, 2021
Contact: press@michigan.gov

Governor Whitmer leads Bipartisan Coalition of Great Lakes Governors to Protect America’s Wildlife

LANSING, Mich. — Governor Gretchen Whitmer led a bipartisan group of governors, including governors DeWine (R-OH), Evers (D-WI), Wolf (D-PA), Holcomb (R-IN), Walz (D-MN), and Pritzker (D-IL), in sending a letter to leaders of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources voicing their support for the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act.

“Our fish and wildlife and their natural habitats are one of our greatest assets, and any threats to them impact not only our environment but also our economy,” said Governor Whitmer. “The future of Michigan’s economy rests on our ability to come together and protect our wildlife and natural resources. That’s why I am proud to come together with a bipartisan coalition of governors to support the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act. I want to thank Congresswoman Dingell for her leadership on this issue and I look forward to working with anyone to put Michiganders first and working hard to protect our natural resources and environment for future generations.”

“The passage of RAWA would mark a big step forward for states like Michigan that continually struggle to secure long term support for species without dedicated sources of funding, including those that are threatened or endangered,” said Michigan Department of Natural Resources Director Dan Eichinger. “RAWA will allow Michigan to annually invest as much as $30 million more in managing and protecting species that are important to our ecosystems and Michiganders. The result will be even more conservation success stories for our state and the nation.”

Passage of the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act will help promote and enhance our nation’s conservation efforts and ensure the long-term health of fish and wildlife throughout the country.

The Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, sponsored by Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (D-MI-12), would:

  • Fund conservation efforts for more than 12,000 species of wildlife and plants in need of assistance by providing $1.3 billion in dedicated annual funding for proactive, on-the-ground efforts in every state and territory.
  • Accelerate the recovery of 1,600 U.S. species already listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
  • Ensure wildlife recovery efforts will be guided by the congressionally-mandated State Wildlife Action Plans, which identify specific strategies to restore the populations of species of greatest conservation need.
  • Provide Tribal nations $97.5 million annually to fund proactive wildlife conservation efforts on roughly 140 million acres of land.
  • Include improvements to ensure funds are appropriately targeted to the areas of greatest need and facilitate additional investments in protecting at-risk plant species.

To view the full letter, click the link below: