Politics in Action: H.R. 954 and H.R. 5303

STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY

H.R. 954 - CO-OP Consumer Protection Act of 2016

(Rep. Smith, R-NE, and seven cosponsors)

The Administration strongly opposes House passage of H.R. 954.  The Administration remains committed to providing Americans with accessible, quality, and affordable health coverage, including by addressing issues that arise when their health insurers stop offering coverage during the year.  In such circumstances, the Administration has offered special enrollment periods, provided consumer outreach, and worked with state departments of insurance to ensure consumers have smooth transitions to other health plans.  Individuals for whom coverage is unaffordable or who experience a hardship also may quality for an exemption from the individual-responsibility provision of the law.  These options are available to all consumers in these circumstances, not just those enrolled in coverage through CO-OPs.

H.R. 954 would exempt anyone whose CO-OP ends coverage during the year from the individual-responsibility provision.  This is unnecessary given consumer protections already available.  Moreover, it would create a bad precedent for using exemptions from the individual-responsibility provision to address unrelated concerns about the Affordable Care Act.  The individual-responsibility provision is a necessary part of a system that prohibits discrimination against individuals with pre-existing conditions and requires guaranteed issuance.  The provision helps prevent people from waiting until they get sick to buy health insurance or dropping health insurance when they believe they do not need it.  Weakening the individual responsibility provision would increase health insurance premiums and decrease the number of Americans with coverage.

The Administration always is willing to work with the Congress on fiscally responsible ways to further improve health care affordability and the Affordable Care Act.  The President's Budget offers a number of proposals to do so.  However, H.R. 954 would be a step in the wrong direction, because it would create a precedent that undermines a key part of the law and would do nothing to help middle-class families obtain affordable health care. 

If the President were presented with H.R. 954, he would veto the bill.

H.R. 5303 - Water Resources Development Act of 2016

(Rep. Shuster, R-PA, and 3 cosponsors)

While H.R. 5303 would advance some of the Administration's policies and principles including building a foundation for long-term economic growth, addressing significant risks to public safety, strengthening the Nation's resilience to the impacts of climate change, and protecting and restoring our environment, it should be improved with additional reforms and elimination of problematic provisions.  Additionally, the Administration believes that the Congress should quickly pass targeted funding to support Flint, Michigan, whether in the Water Resources Development Act or another vehicle.

H.R. 5303 would authorize the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to construct several new projects that the Administration has recommended for authorization.  New project and study authorizations should be limited to those most likely to provide high economic or environmental returns to the Nation or address a significant risk to public safety within the Corps' three main mission areas: flood and storm damage reduction; commercial navigation; and aquatic ecosystem restoration.  The Administration supports provisions in the bill to de-authorize projects that no longer meet the Nation's needs.

Creating and maintaining the Nation's water resources infrastructure is a shared responsibility between Federal and non-Federal beneficiaries and requires that the management, use, protection, and restoration of our water resources continue to evolve to meet the Nation's future needs.  The Administration welcomes the efforts in the bill to expand options for non-federal project partners who want to cover more of, or all of, the costs to study or construct a Corps project.

This legislation impedes Administration efforts to both enhance resilience and increase public-private collaboration and private investment in environmental restoration by establishing a confusing and duplicative mitigation bank program overseen by the RESTORE Council, which includes Governors from only the five states along the Gulf Coast.

The Administration urges the Congress to enact an important reform of the laws governing the Inland Waterways Trust Fund, which a proposal in the President's FY 2017 Budget would accomplish.  The proposal would raise $1.3 billion in additional revenue over 10 years from the commercial users of these waterways, which would help finance future capital investment and maintenance work on these waterways that will benefit these users and support economic growth.

The Administration remains committed to working with the Congress on bipartisan legislation to address the Nation's water resources challenges. 

Source: Executive Office of the President, Office of Management and Budget