>>If you say one thing today – House Democrats must stand up for families by acting to raise federal spending levels in order to stop drastic cuts to kids’ health and outdoors.

>>If you do one thing today – Use this guidance to urge moderate and progressive House Democrats to increase spending levels by issuing social media and vote recs

On the Horizon…                                                     

April 9: House Oversight Committee hearing on “The Need for Leadership to Combat Climate Change and Protect National Security”

April 9: House Foreign Affairs committee markup of several bills including H.R. 9, the Climate Action Now Act.

April 9: House Homeland Security Emergency Preparedness subcommittee hearing on “Assessing the Homeland Security Impacts of a Changing Climate.”

April 9: House Oversight Environment subcommittee “Climate Change, Part I” hearing on “The History of a Consensus and the Causes of Inaction.”

April 9: House Energy & Commerce committee hearing on EPA’s proposed FY20 budget featuring Wheeler

April 9: Senate ENR hearing on the USDA Forest Service’s proposed budget for FY20

April 10: Bernhardt Day of Action

April 11: Senate ENR hearing on “Opportunities for Energy Innovation and Other Potential Solutions to Help Address Climate Change.”

April 15-26: Congressional Recess

April 20: Anniversary of the BP Oil Spill

April 22: Earth Day

April 28: Anniversary of the Offshore Executive Order

Week Ahead by Sean Alcorn

House Floor Activity

• The House convenes at noon on Monday, with the usual collection of suspension bills beginning consideration that evening.
• H.R. 1644, a net neutrality bill, will receive consideration under a rule this week. It’s possible that H.R. 2021, a bill raising the budget caps, will also get a floor vote this week.

House Committee Activity

• On Tuesday at 10 AM the Oversight committee will be holding a hearing on “The Need for Leadership to Combat Climate Change and Protect National Security.” John Kerry and Chuck Hagel will be testifying.
• On Tuesday at 10 AM the Natural Resources committee will be holding a hearing on “The States of the ‘Rebuilding and Privatization of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’, (PREPA).”
• On Tuesday at 2 PM the Foreign Affairs committee will begin marking up several bills including H.R. 9, the Climate Action Now Act.
• On Tuesday at 2 PM the Energy subcommittee of Natural Resources will be holding a hearing on “Health and Environmental Impacts of Mountaintop Removal Mining.”
• On Tuesday at 2 PM the Emergency Preparedness subcommittee of Homeland Security will be holding a hearing on “Assessing the Homeland Security Impacts of a Changing Climate.”
• On Tuesday at 2 PM the Environment subcommittee of Oversight will be holding a “Climate Change, Part I” hearing on “The History of a Consensus and the Causes of Inaction.”
• On Tuesday at 2 PM the Energy & Commerce committee is holding a hearing on the proposed EPA budget for FY2020; Wheeler will be testifying.
• On Wednesday at 9 AM the National Parks subcommittee of natural Resources is holding a hearing on “Examining the Spending Priorities and Missions of the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.”
• On Wednesday at 10 AM the Energy subcommittee of Energy & Commerce is holding a hearing on “Investing in America’s Energy Infrastructure: Improving Energy Efficiency and Creating a Diverse Workforce.”

Senate Floor Activity

• The Senate convenes at 4 PM on Monday, with the first vote of the week scheduled for 11 AM on Tuesday. McConnell has filed cloture on six different nominations, the list of which is here, though none are directly in our space.
• Due to last week’s ‘nuclear option’ on debate time, we could see further nominations over the course of the week.

Senate Committee Activity

• On Tuesday at 10 AM the Energy & Natural Resources committee is holding a hearing on examine the USDA Forest Service’s proposed budget for FY2020.
• On Wednesday at 10 AM the Environment & Public Works committee is marking up several bills, including S. 383 aka ‘USE IT’ and S. 747 to reauthorize the DERA program.
• On Wednesday at 2:30 PM the Transportation subcommittee of Commerce is holding a hearing on “Pipeline Safety: Federal Oversight and Stakeholder Perspectives.”
• On Thursday at 10 AM the Energy & Natural Resources committee is holding a hearing on “Opportunities for Energy Innovation and Other Potential Solutions to Help Address Climate Change.”

Sign-On Letters

• Sign onto this letter to the docket opposing the Trump Administration's Dirty Water Rule - the extreme rollback of the Clean Water Act
• Deadline: COB Friday 4/12
• Sign onto this letter urging Congress to pass a bill that would phase out and replace PFAS-containing firefighting foams in the military
• Deadline: COB Friday 4/19
• Sign onto this NDD coalition bill endorsement of the House Dems’ caps legislation

Help Needed  

• Use this toolkit to support congressional champs that stand up for clean water and continue participating in the Clean Water week of action!
• Amplify a Morning Consult op-ed on the Trump’s admin’s Dirty Water Rule using this social guidance
• Reach out to Andrew at Clean Water Action with questions and to share comment numbers! (agrinberg@cleanwater.org)
• A court decision last week ruled halted drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic
• NRDC and EJ briefing, social guidance, and talking points on what the case means

• Offshore Drilling Defense
• Administration is expected to release its proposed final “5-year” year offshore drilling plan any time in the next couple weeks
• See this link for background, a spreadsheet of contacts for these events, and messaging materials.
• Reach out to Diane (dhoskins@oceana.org) or Kayla (kcalkin@nrdc.org) with questions

Intel

• Trump is traveling to Houston on Wednesday where he’s expected to announce a couple energy executive orders making it easier to speed up pipeline construction and permitting     
• The order will direct DOE and EPA to clarify Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, since New York state has refused to issue water permits for the Constitution Pipeline, reaching from PA to NY, blocking construction
• >>Start preparing statements and outreach to press
• CDP will circulate message guidance

#DirtyBudget

• Budget Process Overview
• Two-step process this year:
• Raising budget caps to avoid sequestration
• Passing a spending bill (or series of spending bills)
• Update
• Trump’s funding proposal requested cuts even bigger than sequestration
• Senate Republicans’ plan suggested a much smaller budget increase to avoid sequestration
• House Budget may hold a vote on their proposal this Wednesday before the House leaves town
• If this bill isn’t passed by the full House, Dems’ negotiating leverage with Trump and Senate Republicans goes way down
• Respond
• Use this guidance to do hill blasts and vote recs urging mod and progressive House Dems to vote for this package
• Share with budget committee staff! (reach out to Jonathan if you need a connection jonathan_asher@tws.org)
• Sign onto this NDD coalition bill endorsement form here
• Plan for #DirtyBudget recess activity in target House districts
• If you have capacity to lean into this tactic please reach out to CDP and we will get you more information on targeting. 
• Resources
• Full text of the bill
• Section-by-section description of the bill
• Analysis
• The Investing for the People Act Moves our Country Forward – an overview of why this bill is needed to invest in the future and restore order to the federal budget process.
• Investing for the People Act of 2019 – a longer analysis on this bill and how it chooses to invest in our economy and national security as well as prevent another shutdown.
• Consequences of Current Budget Caps
• The Devastating Consequences of the 2020 and 2021 Budget Caps – discusses what a $125 billion cut to discretionary spending means and the difficult no-win choices it would force us to make, ultimately harming those who are most vulnerable. 

Bernhardt

• Intel
• Senate ENR Committee vote was last week and three Dems flipped and voted for him, passing him out of committee (Heinrich, Manchin, King)
• Many groups are going to hold these Dems accountable
• As of last week both Sens. Rubio and Scott said they’re withholding their support until they get assurances that FL will be excluded from the 5-year plan
• Floor speeches expected on Wed, likely floor vote on Thurs
• >>Respond
• Use this accountability guidance to issue negative social for Ds and Rs who voted bad, as well as positive accountability to thank champs!
• Participate in a day of action on Wednesday raising the noise level against his nomination ahead of a likely floor vote on Thursday
• Sen. Cortez-Masto is circulating a letter asking Bernhardt to commit to better public participation opportunities for offshore plans
• Encourage Senators to sign on
• Ask Sinema and Jones to vote no on the floor
• Ask as many Dems as possible to make floor speeches
• Reach out to Hannah to get plugged into any of these efforts (hledford@partnershipproject.org)

Topic	Agency	Status	Deadline	Comment Guidance	Hearing
PFAS Plan	EPA	Open	4/15	CAC toolkit
WOTUS Proposal (Dirty Water Rule)	EPA	Open	4/15	CW4A toolkit	2/27 and 28 in Kansas City, KS
Mercury Rule Rollback	EPA	Open	4/17	CAC toolkit	3/18
Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) Proposal	NOAA	Open	4/25	Oceana Factsheet