Chuck Darwin<p>GOP House committee chairs are working on coming up with menus of options for what they want to see included in President-elect Donald Trump’s“one big, beautiful bill.” </p><p>Now comes the hard part. </p><p>Anything they’re pitching for <a href="https://c.im/tags/reconciliation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>reconciliation</span></a> has to follow the budgetary restraints of the filibuster-proof process, <br>meaning not every panel’s top priority can make it in the package.</p><p>Several who we’ve talked to said they’ve met with House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) <br>and have either planned meetings or had them with their committee members.</p><p>Here’s what some are considering.</p><p>🔸House Natural Resources: <br>Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) has a long list going. <br>He told us the committee’s whole agenda for the immediate future is “reconciliation, reconciliation and more reconciliation.”</p><p>Westerman has met with Arrington, talks often with him on the phone and texts him frequently. <br>It’s all hands on deck to get the bill done, Westerman said. </p><p>The committee already has text prepared. Now it’s a matter of getting accurate scores on that text.</p><p>With wildfires ripping through Los Angeles, Westerman, a forester, said reconciliation can be used to prevent future devastation. </p><p>There’s forest management and water storage issues related to the budget that he’s looking into, he said.</p><p>The Palisades and Eaton fires are set to be the most expensive fires ever. <br>Managing areas that burn and preventing future fires has several budget implications, Westerman said.</p><p>“Everything that has a revenue increase or expense decrease, <br>the primary purpose is on the table for reconciliation,” Westerman said.</p><p>Mandating oil and gas leases would also raise revenue, <br>and Westerman also believes there’s large revenue potential from mining leases.</p><p>🔸Permitting Conundrum: <br>The big ticket item from the committee, though, will be any changes to the laws and procedures on how the government approves new infrastructure projects,<br> often called "permitting reform".</p><p>Lawmakers have been trying for years to get something going in this area. </p><p>Last year, there was a big push from Sen. John Barrasso(R-Wyo.) and former Sen. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) to enact their deal that would accelerate the permitting process for energy and mineral projects all over the country.</p><p>Don’t expect any permitting legislation that ends up in reconciliation to look like that package, Westerman said. </p><p>There are ways to streamline the process that saves the government money and can go through reconciliation, <br>but it won’t be a broad overhaul, he said.</p><p>🔸Energy and Commerce: Westerman’s partner on the permitting piece of reconciliation will be Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), <br>whose panel shares some of that jurisdiction.</p><p>Guthrie said part of the process now is figuring out what exactly can or can’t be done in terms of changes to permitting.</p><p>Republicans are likely to borrow revenue items from last Congress’ big energy bill that passed the House, the “Lower Energy Costs Act.” </p><p>Anything from that legislation, which included more sweeping permitting changes than is likely possible under reconciliation, <br>that has a revenue impact is on the table.</p><p>In the health space, Guthrie is looking to enact changes to Medicaid through reconciliation. </p><p>Guthrie told us he’s discussed per capita allotments, which could lower Medicaid spending by allocating money based on population rather than cost of care.</p><p>We’ve also reported that pharmacy benefit manager legislation could be used in reconciliation to help with offsetting the bill’s cost.</p><p>🔸Agriculture: <br>Some chairs demurred on what exactly they’ll propose, <br>saying they’re not as far along in terms of specifics.</p><p>House Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn Thompson (R-Pa.) said he’s been having discussions with committee members and Arrington about what’s possible.</p><p>One policy Thompson is sure about, though, <br>is he wants to protect some conservation spending from the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act. </p><p>He told reporters recently that he doesn’t want to see cuts to the $14.5 billion in Agriculture Department conservation spending.</p><p>Other Republicans are eyeing the money leftover from the IRA to use for other priorities and to offset the reconciliation package. </p><p>We’ll see who wins out in that battle.</p><p>🔸House Ed: <br>House Education and Workforce Committee Chair Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) said he’s already identified some cuts <br>that he believes would pass the Senate Parliamentarian’s test<br> but wants to hear from his committee members as well.</p><p>👉Part of Walberg’s pitch to the Steering Committee was that he wants to use reconciliation to cut the Education Department’s funding and reduce its power.</p><p>Walberg is meeting with his committee members this week.</p><p>– Samantha Handler</p><p><a href="https://punchbowl.news/archive/11325-the-portal/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">punchbowl.news/archive/11325-t</span><span class="invisible">he-portal/</span></a></p>