Legislative

Congressional lawmakers passed a $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill that was signed into on Friday, March 23. The omnibus will increase the Department of Energy's (DOE) budget to $34.5 billion (almost $4 billion more than FY 17). This includes additional funds to the following programs:

At a U.S. House Ways and Means Committee hearing on Trade last Wednesday, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer was asked by Rep. Kenny Marchant (R-TX) about the Administration’s current approach to resolving the softwood lumber dispute with Canada. 

A group of U.S. Senators today announced a common-sense proposal aimed at providing legal certainty for undocumented children brought to the United States by their parents and preventing others from falling into the same legal limbo in the future.

Many state legislatures have convened for their 2018 session, the vast majority of which will be short budget sessions. Here are some highlights.

President Trump's tighter border controls have already reduced greatly the influx of illegal aliens, but he needs legislation to finish the task.

A multi-bill package aimed at addressing California’s housing affordability crisis headed to Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday as lawmakers prepared to draw the curtain on the 2017 legislative year.

Legislative leaders and Gov. Jerry Brown have reached a deal on a trio housing bills expected to spur new construction across the state and begin digging California out of the current unprecedented housing shortage .

There may be rumblings about lowering the cap on mortgage interest rate deductions, but it would have a "rather small effect" on the housing market, Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Shiller says.

SBCA is interested in knowing how it’s members have been affected by the new overtime rule, and may submit comments on behalf of the industry.

While congressional Republicans struggle to check off big-ticket agenda items from their to-do list before the August recess, bipartisan Senate energy legislation reworked from last year could fill the legislative vacuum in the coming weeks.