📎 Federal Advocacy Roundup | Holding this moment, government shutdown averted, SCOTUS preview, and more | October 2023

Government shutdown averted

On September 30th, Congress passed a 45-day continuing resolution, which averted a government shutdown until November 17th. A government shutdown can harm local governments and communities – especially if longer than a few weeks – by interrupting essential benefits to low-income people, pausing federal discretionary grants, furloughing local federal workers and interrupting healthcare passthrough funding. Congress must either pass an annual spending bill or another continuing resolution by November 17th. 

Ruling expected on power of federal regulatory agencies  

The United States Supreme Court is expected to hear Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo in the coming weeks. The question for the court is whether to overrule well-established precedent from the Chevron case. Chevron deference refers to the principle that courts should defer to reasonable federal agency interpretations of ambiguous provisions in congressional statutes and judges should refrain from crafting their own reading of the laws. In recent years, the Supreme Court’s conservatives have issued rulings that erode the power of the administrative state as part of a deregulatory agenda that harms workers, consumers, and the environment. 

Overturning Chevron would undermine the administrative agency’s ability to implement policies that serve the country. For example, it would undermine the Biden administration’s climate agenda by complicating efforts to tackle major issues such as climate change via regulation, and could potentially take away the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to mitigate carbon emissions from the two highest polluting industries in the United States, the electricity and transportation sectors.

New OMB rule for federal grants and procurements 

On September 28, the federal Office of Management and Budget published a new rule for federal grants and procurements which would remove a Reagan-era ban on applying local hire policies to federal funding, and clarifies that local governments can incorporate other worker & community benefit standards in their federally-funded procurement. The updates also promote environmental justice, community involvement in contracting, and the use of a preference for sustainable green materials in contracts.  

The public has an opportunity to comment on the proposed rule until December 4th. Local governments have taken the lead in pioneering local hire and high road procurement policies, which have used public purchasing power to increase economic inclusion of marginalized groups. Local Progress is a member of the Local Opportunities Coalition, led by Jobs to Move America, which recommended many of these changes, and will be organizing Local Progress members with positive experiences with local hire and progressive procurement policies to share them with the OMB and support this monumental rule change. If your local government has had success with a local or targeted hire policy, or high road procurement policy, that you would like to share, please reach out to nhorrell@localprogress.org.

Biden plans to cancel $9 billion in student loan debt

After student loan repayments resumed last month, President Biden announced new plans to cancel another $9 billion in student loan debt. This news comes after the Supreme Court struck down the Biden Administration’s original plan which could have canceled $10,000 in student loan debt for those making less than $125,000 or households with less than $250,000 in income. 

Biden’s new plan will forgive loans for 125,000 people who qualify under existing programs, including for public-service workers such as teachers and firefighters and for people on permanent disability. While the new plan is a victory, it pales in comparison to the debt that would have been under the plan that was struck down by the Supreme Court. Under that plan, over $400 billion in student debt for about 43 million borrowers would have been forgiven. 

Farm Labor Stabilization and Protection Pilot Program 

The USDA launched the Farm Labor Stabilization and Protection Program this month. The program is a new and innovative grant program for agricultural employers that aims to address workforce needs in agriculture, promote a safe and healthy work environment for farmworkers, and support expansion of lawful migration pathways.

The purpose of the program is to improve food and agricultural supply chain resiliency by addressing challenges agricultural employers face with labor shortages and instability. The program seeks to 1) drive U.S. economic recovery and safeguard domestic food supply by addressing current labor shortages in agriculture; 2) reduce irregular migration from Northern Central America through the expansion of regular pathways; and 3) improve working conditions for all farmworkers.