Washington Watch: Committees and the North Carolina Delegation

The following publication was written by Strategics Consulting for the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners' (NCACC) County Quarterly article series “Washington Watch.”

Thousands of bills are introduced in Congress each year. However, only a few hundred are ever considered by the full House or Senate. After bills are introduced, they are sent to a committee, where the hard work of writing legislation is done.

There are 20 committees in the U.S. House of Representatives and 16 committees in the U.S. Senate, each with jurisdiction over a variety of bills, issues, agencies, and programs. Committees have subcommittees, which have narrower focus and jurisdiction than full committees.

Committees are the engines of Congress. Within their jurisdiction, they gather information, compare and evaluate legislative options, identify problems, propose solutions, and determine which bills to report to the full chamber for consideration. While most bills never make it out of committee, the work done in committees helps shape the bills that reach the floors of the House and Senate.

PERSPECTIVES ON THE NC DELEGATION

As the state's congressional delegation changes, so does its participation in the various committees. With the retirement of former U.S. Representative David Price, North Carolina will no longer hold a seat on the powerful Appropriations Committee, where Chairman Price was also the leader on the subcommittee making funding decisions for the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In the 118th Congress, however, North Carolina gains two committee chairs through the state's now longest-serving members: U.S. Representatives Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10) and Virginia Foxx (R-NC-5). As committee chairs, they set the legislative direction for their respective committees.

Representative Foxx chairs the House Committee on Education & the Workforce, which is charged with ensuring access to productive workplaces and quality education. The last time Representative Foxx chaired this committee, she led the effort to pass the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) in 2014. WIOA expired in 2020 and may again become one of her top priorities. Reauthorization of WIOA is also a top priority for the NCACC. In the 2023-2024 set of its federal goals, the NCACC on behalf of North Carolina counties supports the reauthorization of this vital funding source for workforce development with increased funding for Title 1 programs to address economic challenges,

Representative McHenry chairs the House Financial Services Committee, which has jurisdiction over issues pertaining to the economy, the banking system, housing, insurance, and securities and exchanges. He is already wielding his authority to reorganize the committee with the addition of new subcommittees and the elimination of others. Particularly notable is the creation of the Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and Inclusion to modernize the committee and consider new issues arising from the use of digital currencies.

Freshman U.S. Representative Don Davis (D-NC-1), a veteran and U.S. Air Force Academy graduate, sits on the House Armed Services Committee. He will also serve on the House Agriculture Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Farm Bill, one of the few must-pass bills this Congress. The bill will address a wide range of issues, from the crops farmers choose to grow to the kinds of food low-income families can afford, and is expected to include a climate component for the first time.

U.S. Representative Deborah Ross (D-NC-2) serves as a Chief Deputy Whip, one of ten representatives chosen to do so. This position provides Representative Ross the opportunity to work directly with Democratic leadership on all legislation moving through the House of Representatives. Representative Ross is also Vice Ranking Member on the House Judiciary Committee. In addition, she serves on the House Ethics Committee and the House Science, Space & Technology Committee.

U.S. Representative Greg Murphy (R-NC-3) continues to serve on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over all taxation, tariffs, and revenue raising legislation and is one of the most prestigious committees in the House of Representatives. Representative Murphy now also serves on the House Veterans' Affairs Committee and the House Administration Committee.

Freshman U.S. Representative Valerie Foushee (D-NC-4) serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which has jurisdiction over all modes of transportation and aspects of our national infrastructure, such as clean water and wastewater management, the development of economically depressed rural and urban areas, disaster preparedness and response, and more. Representative Foushee also serves on the House Science, Space & Technology Committee.

U.S. Representative Kathy Manning (D-NC-6) serves on the House Committee on Education & the Workforce, giving North Carolina additional influence in the reauthorization of the WIOA. In addition, Representative Manning sits on the Foreign Affairs Committee, which has jurisdiction over legislation regarding the impact of national security developments on foreign policy. Representative Manning also serves on the Congressional PFAS Task Force. The NCACC continues to closely monitor PFAS contamination issues and federal regulations of these emerging contaminants. With major PFAS developments expected on the horizon, the NCACC and counties repeated their support in the Association's 2023-2024 federal goals for strong regulations and enforcement along with funding assistance or reimbursement to state and local governments when a federal agency regulates emerging contaminants.

U.S. Representative David Rouzer (R-NC-7) continues to serve on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, where he chairs the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment. This subcommittee focuses on conservation and management, water pollution control, water infrastructure, and hazardous waste cleanup. One of the subcommittee's highest priorities is the regular passage of a Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) to authorize improvements to ports, locks, dams, inland waterways, and other water resources infrastructure.

U.S. Representative Dan Bishop (R-NC-8) continues to serve on the Homeland Security Committee, where he now chairs the Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations and Accountability. The Subcommittee has jurisdiction over the Department of Homeland Security operations, policies, and programs. Representative Bishop also continues to serve on the Judiciary Committee.

U.S. Representative Richard Hudson (R-NC-9) now chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee, which gives him direct access to the Speaker of the House and influence on pending legislation. He also continues to serve on the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has responsibility for matters ranging from telecommunications, consumer protection, food and drug safety, public health and research, environmental quality and energy policy, to interstate and foreign commerce and more.

Freshman U.S. Representative Chuck Edwards (R-NC-11) serves on the House Budget Committee, which reviews all bills and resolutions on the budget. The primary responsibility of the committee is preparing the budget resolution which sets the aggregate levels of revenue and spending expected to occur in a given fiscal year. He also serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the House Oversight and Accountability Committee.

U.S. Representative Alma Adams (D-NC-12) no longer sits on the House Financial Services Committee but will instead focus on her work in the Education & the Workforce Committee and the Agriculture Committee. Representative Adams will add another North Carolina voice to the reauthorization discussions on WIOA and the Farm Bill.

Freshman U.S. Representative Wiley Nickel (D.NC-13) serves on the House Financial Services Committee. The committee oversees the entire financial services industry, including the work of the Federal Reserve, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and other financial services regulators.

Freshman U.S. Representative Jeff Jackson (D-NC-14) landed a seat on the Armed Services Committee, a nod to his military service and the important military installations in North Carolina. The Armed Services Committee has jurisdiction over National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), another one of the few annual must-pass bills in Congress. Representative Jackson will also serve on the Science, Space and Technology Committee.

In the Senate, U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) vacated a seat on the Senate Armed Services Committee to join the Senate Finance Committee. This coveted position allows him the opportunity to influence the national agenda on matters relating to taxation, the national debt, trade agreements, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. He will also continue his work on the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee and on the Judiciary Committee.

Freshman U.S. Senator Ted Budd (R-NC) will replace Senator Tillis on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Senator Budd will also serve on the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee; the Health, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee (where former U.S. Senator Richard Burr was Ranking Member in the last Congress); and the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee.

With a Representative and a Senator on the Veterans Services Committees and Representatives and a Senator on the Armed Services Committees, North Carolina will continue to be a strong voice on issues concerning the nation's military and veterans. The NCACC, through its membership-based legislative priority-setting process, supports increased funding and flexibility in services for older Americans and veterans, as stated in the 2023-2024 federal goals, including expanded and strengthened federal funding for County Veteran Service Officers.

With their committee assignments, North Carolina's congressional delegation in the 118th Congress is poised to impact the NCACC's federal priorities discussed above and help shape policy on the federal level. To see the full list of the NCACC's federal legislative goals for 2023-2024, visit www.ncacc.org/federalissues.