Congressional plate full, Womack says – Arkansas Online

SPRINGDALE -- The U.S. House has until the end of September to pass a budget, a debt ceiling increase and a bevy of bills important to Arkansas, said Rep. Steve Womack of Rogers.

Disputes within the Republican majority in the House are still a major obstacle, Womack said. The strongly conservative Freedom Caucus wants deep spending cuts, while the so-called Tuesday Group of moderates is more moderate than the bulk of Republicans, he said.

These factors have plagued congressional budgeting for the past six years, Womack and others said, often leading to "continuing resolutions" of whatever an appropriation was the previous fiscal year rather than new appropriations that meet changing needs.

"Go ask Kelly Johnson how important FAA reauthorization is," Womack said, referring to the Northwest Regional Airport director and reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration. "Go ask J.B. Hunt Inc. about the same thing, because that reauthorization includes meal and rest requirements for our trucking industry."

Womack made his remarks in an interview at the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette offices in Springdale on Thursday, during Congress' August recess. Congress will resume session Sept. 5 and has until Sept. 30, the end of the current federal fiscal year, to appropriate money for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

A budget tells each department of the federal government how much it can spend, but appropriation bills such as the FAA bill gives those agencies the money and authorizes them to spend it.

Working out a deal with Democrats and bypassing both groups might gain some support from the Tuesday Group, but at a cost of mainstream Republican member votes. Then there is the matter of getting anything the House passes through a divided Senate.

The FAA appropriation, Johnson said in an interview Friday, has had 23 continuing resolutions in a row. Johnson affirmed the importance of reauthorization for the FAA. The resolutions mean airports are never on completely solid ground in long-term planning for construction projects, she said.

"So you complete part of a project at a time because you can only count on the money six months at a time," she said. "Well, when you have to rebid a project under competitive bids, everybody knows what your last bid was." The chances of getting a lower-than-normal bid for work disappears, she said.

Two other bills Womack mentioned as particularly important to Arkansas are authorizations for flood insurance and for the State Children's Health Insurance Program. The program spent $178 million in Arkansas in this federal fiscal year to provide assistance to parents who are low income but make too much money for their families to be eligible for Medicaid, federal figures show.

"Over half of the kids in the state receive benefits" from the program, said Marquita Little, health programs director for the nonprofit Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families.

Another piece of congressional business to settle is whether Womack will enter the race to become House Budget Committee chairman, he confirmed.

Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn., the House Budget chairwoman, announced her bid Aug. 2 to become her home state's governor. Black and Womack entered Congress in 2011 and have been close political allies throughout their terms. House tradition and rules dictate that a candidate who intends to leave the House has to leave committee chairmanships.

"Leading contenders to replace Black include GOP Reps. Steve Womack of Arkansas and Bill Johnson of Ohio," the newspaper Roll Call, which tracks Congress, said on Aug. 14. "Meanwhile, Reps. Rob Woodall of Georgia and Tom McClintock of California could also make the list if they decide to seek the post."

Womack confirmed Thursday he has an appointment to talk with House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., on Aug. 24. He expects the chairmanship of budget will be the topic of that call. He said there are factors he would have to consider before seeking the chairman's slot.

For example, he does not want to lose his position on the Appropriations Committee.

"Appropriations is where you write the bills" authorizing specific spending. He also wants the budget Black hammered out with her committee to get a vote on the House floor.

Congress will raise the debt ceiling, Womack said, allowing further federal spending. Whether it passes a budget, though, depends largely on the Senate. The debt ceiling, the amount set by Congress as the maximum amount the government can have in its total debt, is currently $19.81 trillion. How much it should be raised or whether the limit should be suspended for a time is in dispute. Womack also warned interest payments on the debt have reached $250 billion a year during a time of historically low interest rates. Historically normal interest rates could double that, he said.

Recent events make passing a budget uncertain, Womack said. The failure to repeal and replace Obamacare adds to the urgency for Republicans to pass a budget with serious tax reform, he said.

"We really can't take any more heavy defeats on the agenda," Womack said of his party, which holds the majority in both chambers of Congress. "I don't think we can afford to have another big ticket item fail," he said.

Despite the looming deadlines, "budget and authorizations are not what people are calling my office about," Womack said. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump gave a news conference where he was asked about a rally in Charlottesville, Va. last weekend organized by white supremacists. A counter-protester, Heather Heyer, was killed. The president condemned violence and bigotry, but went on to say: "You also had some very fine people on both sides."

The backlash to the president's remark is severe, said Womack, who represents one of the safest Republican districts in the country. Arkansas' 3rd Congressional District has sent Republicans to Congress in every election since 1966, usually by large margins.

"Ninety percent of the calls to my office are about his remarks about Charlottesville," Womack said. By far most of those calls strongly disagree with what the president said and want much clearer condemnation of white supremacy than he gave, Womack said.

"A clear and overwhelming majority of the people I represent are not conflicted on the subject," Womack said, and neither is he. "We as Americans reject racism and anti-Semitism. That is not who we are," he said.

NW News on 08/20/2017

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Congressional plate full, Womack says - Arkansas Online