Congress Extends Deadline Budget Bills
Congress
passed legislation extending the deadline to pass the 12 appropriations bills
for fiscal year (FY) 2024. Six bill deadlines were extended to March 8 and the
other six, including the Labor-HHS-Education bill, were extended to March 20.
The bill to extend the deadlines passed both houses by a large bipartisan margin.
In related matters, President Joe Biden will deliver his
annual State of the Union message to Congress on March 7. Following that address,
he will release his FY 2025 budget requests on March 11.
U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Request to Halt Race-Conscious Admissions at West Point
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court rejected an emergency petition to block the
United States Military Academy West Point’s race-conscious admissions policies.
In January, the anti-affirmative action group, Students for
Fair Admissions (SFFA), filed an emergency petition with the high court to overturn
a lower court decision that temporarily allowed West Point to continue to use
race in admissions while a challenge against the practice proceeds. The Biden
administration had urged justices to reject the petition, arguing that the Army
has “a compelling interest in the diversity of its cadets” because West Point
serves as a direct pipeline for future military leaders.
“The record before this Court is underdeveloped,” the Supreme Court wrote in
an order. The Justices noted that the “order should not be construed as expressing
any view on the merits of the constitutional question.”
No justice noted any dissent, and the unsigned statement did
not indicate that it came from any particular justice.
The Supreme Court’s brief statement aligns with lower court
concerns. Judge Philip Halpern of the Southern District of New York, in the case
against West Point, and Judge Richard Bennett of the District Court of Maryland,
who is overseeing a similar challenge against the United States Naval Academy,
have ruled that SFFA has not yet established a factual record proving that the
federal government’s consideration of race in admissions is not being used to
further compel governmental interests and is not narrowly tailored. Therefore,
SFFA’s emergency petition is denied.
Reps. DeGette and Burgess Reintroduce the Preventive Health Savings Act
U.S. Reps. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) and Michael C. Burgess (R-Texas) want to reform
how the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) evaluates the cost of preventive health
measures. Their proposed bill, H.R.766 Preventive Health Savings Act, advocates for a 30-year
horizon in the CBO's scoring system, emphasizing the long-term financial benefits
of preventive health strategies. The legislation highlights a growing recognition
of the disparity between the current CBO methodologies, which focus on shorter
time frames, and the economic advantages associated with preventative health care measures.
The heart of the dispute lies in the traditional scoring methods employed by the
CBO, criticized for inadequately capturing the extended-term savings resulting
from preventive health care. Critics argue that the current system fails to consider
the substantial cost reductions associated with decreased disease incidence and
improved public health over decades. The bipartisan bill introduced by DeGette
and Burgess reflects a shared acknowledgment among lawmakers that a scoring system
aligning more closely with health care economics, particularly in the context of prevention, is needed.
For the past 10 years, Reps. DeGette and Burgess have reintroduced
their bill. Their most recent introduction was on Feb. 2. A companion bill, S. 114 Preventive Health Savings Act, was also introduced in
the Senate by U.S. Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho).
H.R. 766 was referred to the U.S. House of Representatives’
Budget Committee and marked up in committee on Feb. 6. It now moves to the House floor.
