With the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic over the past month as a major public health and economic crisis, the primary focus on Capitol Hill has been on passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Stimulus...more
...On Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Whip James Clyburn, Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio, and Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone held a press conference on a...more
4/6/2020
/ Acts of Congress ,
Air Cargo ,
Air Carriers ,
Airlines ,
Biomedical Companies ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Defense Production Act ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employee Retention ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Federal Funding ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Funding Opportunities ,
Health Insurance ,
Infrastructure ,
IRS ,
Life Sciences ,
Medical Devices ,
Medical Equipment ,
New Legislation ,
New Regulations ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Relief Measures ,
SBA ,
SBA Lending Programs ,
Sick Leave ,
Sick Pay ,
State and Local Government ,
State Budgets ,
State Health Insurance Exchanges ,
Tax Credits ,
Tax Legislation ,
U.S. Treasury
In response to the ongoing coronavirus epidemic, the federal government has taken several actions in recent days. The most consequential are: the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act (signed...more
Senate to Take up Bipartisan Energy Bill -
Could this finally be the year for a bipartisan energy bill? Perhaps. On February 27, Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Joe Manchin (D-WV), the leaders of the Senate Energy and...more
3/9/2020
/ Energy Efficiency ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Modernization ,
Natural Resources ,
New Legislation ,
Oil & Gas ,
Renewable Energy ,
Sustainability ,
Trump Administration
Congressional activity for January was primarily in the House of Representatives as the Senate conducted the impeachment trial of President Trump.
House Democrats Announce New Infrastructure Plan -
House Democrats have...more
As we begin a new year and the second session of the 116th Congress, ML Strategies is pleased to share some highlights of where we see action this year on Capitol Hill. Although the impending impeachment trial of President...more
1/23/2020
/ Appropriations Bill ,
Energy Sector ,
Federal Budget ,
Federal Funding ,
Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) ,
Foreign Policy ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Privacy Laws ,
Tax Extenders ,
Trump Administration
New Secretary of Energy Sworn in by President Trump -
On December 11, President Trump presided over the swearing in of Dan Brouillette to serve as the 15th Secretary of Energy, with Vice President Pence administering the...more
1/10/2020
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Energy Sector ,
Energy Storage ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
New Legislation ,
Oil & Gas ,
Production Tax Credit ,
Renewable Energy ,
Secretary of Energy ,
Trump Administration
Congress returns to Washington the week of December 2 for a short work period of two weeks, although additional legislative days may be added to the calendar as the House and Senate work to conclude several matters before the...more
12/4/2019
/ Appropriations Bill ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Energy Policy ,
Environmental Policies ,
Federal Budget ,
Foreign Policy ,
Investment Tax Credits ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Legislative Committees ,
Oil & Gas ,
Popular ,
Production Tax Credit ,
Renewable Energy
With partisanship at a fever pitch, one area of agreement between both parties on Capitol Hill and with President Trump has been the need to address the increasingly fragile state of the nation’s infrastructure. However, as...more
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has published final regulations that change some of the key features of the EB-5 Program, which makes approximately 10,000 green cards available each year for qualifying investors and...more
8/5/2019
/ Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
EB-5 ,
Final Rules ,
Foreign Investment ,
Green Cards ,
Institutional Investors ,
Investors ,
Job Creation ,
New Regulations ,
Targeted Employment Area ,
USCIS ,
Visas
Congress returned from a two-week recess on April 29, with the next one-week recess scheduled for the week of May 27. Since our last update, a number of energy-related bills have been introduced and congressional committees...more
5/7/2019
/ Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) ,
Energy Sector ,
Executive Orders ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Power Infrastructure ,
Secretary of Energy ,
Trump Administration
Following the November 6th United States Federal elections, Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ) is expected to become the Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Pallone issued a statement on the Democrats winning the...more
Congress has continued its 57-year tradition of passing an annual defense authorization bill with the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2019 finalized by Congress on August 1 and signed...more
8/24/2018
/ CFIUS ,
Covered Transactions ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Emerging Technology Companies ,
Export Controls ,
FIRRMA ,
Foreign Investment ,
National Security ,
NDAA ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Commerce Department
Congress -
House Hearing on Challenges Facing Our Electrical Grid -
On May 10, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy held a hearing to discuss the state of the country’s electric transmission...more
6/5/2018
/ Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Electric Generation Suppliers ,
Electricity ,
Energy Sector ,
Legislative Agendas ,
National Security ,
Nuclear Power ,
Power Grid ,
Power Infrastructure ,
Puerto Rico ,
Utilities Sector
House Hearing on DOE Budget -
On April 12, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy held a hearing on “The Fiscal Year 2019 Department of Energy Budget” with testimony from Secretary of Energy Rick Perry. The...more
5/3/2018
/ Climate Change ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Energy Conservation ,
Energy Efficiency ,
Energy Policy ,
Manufacturers ,
Offshore Wind ,
Oil & Gas ,
Petrochemicals ,
Power Grid ,
Private Sector ,
Public Private Partnerships (P3s) ,
Renewable Energy ,
Research and Development ,
Solar Energy
A provision to extend the current EB-5 Program until September 30, 2018 is contained in the proposed Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (“Omnibus”). If passed by the Congress and signed into law by the President this week,...more
Lawmakers are again considering changes to the EB-5 Program. In fact, before the end of this month, we may see provisions from the “Immigrant Investor Visa and Regional Center Program Comprehensive Reform Act” or “EB-5 Reform...more
Congress nearly averted a shutdown last week, but just missed the mark when Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) temporarily blocked Senate passage of the fifth – and supposedly final — continuing resolution (CR) of this fiscal year...more
2/13/2018
/ Continuing Resolution ,
DACA ,
EB-5 ,
EB-5 Regional Centers ,
Foreign Investment ,
Government Shutdown ,
Immigrant Investor Program ,
Stakeholder Engagement ,
Trump Administration ,
Visa Applications ,
Visas
Three days into the government shutdown, Senate Majority Leader McConnell (R-KY) and Senate Minority Leader Schumer (D-NY) took to the Senate floor Monday afternoon to announce an agreement to end the impasse and reopen the...more
1/26/2018
/ Continuing Resolution ,
DACA ,
EB-5 ,
EB-5 Regional Centers ,
Foreign Investment ,
Government Shutdown ,
Immigrant Investor Program ,
Investors ,
Trump Administration ,
Visa Applications ,
Visas
Three days into the government shutdown, Senate Majority Leader McConnell (R-KY) and Senate Minority Leader Schumer (D-NY) took to the Senate floor Monday afternoon to announce an agreement to end the impasse and reopen the...more
1/25/2018
/ Continuing Resolution ,
DACA ,
EB-5 ,
EB-5 Regional Centers ,
Foreign Investment ,
Government Shutdown ,
Immigrant Investor Program ,
Investors ,
Time Extensions ,
Trump Administration ,
Visa Applications ,
Visas
With just hours to spare in order to avoid a government shutdown, the House and Senate approved on December 21 a short-term continuing resolution (CR) funding federal activities through January 19. The CR was approved in the...more
With all eyes in Washington focused on tax reform, let’s not forget that there is a hard deadline approaching to address funding of federal activities with the current continuing resolution (CR) set to expire soon. The CR has...more
The chances of a stand-alone EB-5 bill gaining consensus with lawmakers on Capitol Hill are low. With the GOP failing to repeal the Affordable Care Act, lawmakers may be spending time readjusting priorities in unexpected ways...more
9/29/2017
/ DACA ,
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ,
EB-5 ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Register ,
Foreign Investment ,
Immigration Reform ,
Proposed Rules ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Trump Administration ,
USCIS
The chances of a stand-alone EB-5 bill gaining consensus with lawmakers on Capitol Hill are low. With the GOP failing to repeal the Affordable Care Act, lawmakers may be spending time readjusting priorities in unexpected ways...more
This month’s Washington Update offers an extensive overview of the major legislation that has recently been introduced on Capitol Hill, as well as the big takeaways from this month’s congressional hearings related to energy...more
6/28/2017
/ Clean Tech ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Cross-Border ,
Energy Efficiency ,
Energy Policy ,
Environmental Policies ,
Infrastructure ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Paris Agreement ,
Power Grid ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Public Schools ,
Renewable Energy ,
Research Funding ,
Trump Administration