Cantor releases House GOP agenda

House Republicans will target a provision of ObamaCare, home heating costs and a proposed IRS rule on political groups in legislation on the floor over the next month, Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) told lawmakers in a memo Friday.

Cantor said the party would look to begin acting on the agenda it laid out at its January retreat when Congress returns to session. He hailed the agenda as being aimed at building “an America that works again.”

{mosads}The bills the leadership has lined up are narrow in scope, but they are directed at Cantor’s goal of driving a message that relates to the everyday concerns of voters.

“Our plan is to reduce the middle class squeeze; create an environment for economic growth and job creation; reform our healthcare system to one of patient centered care and lowers costs; and ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to get ahead by accessing a quality education,” Cantor wrote.

One bill would repeal the provision in President Obama’s healthcare law that defines a full-time worker as someone who works 30 hours a week. Republicans say the definition is causing businesses to cut employee hours and full-time workers to avoid having to provide health insurance.

Cantor said the House would vote on Indiana GOP Rep. Todd Young’s Save American Workers Act in March.

Citing a federal study that projected higher heating costs for 90 percent of U.S. households in 2014, Cantor said the House would consider a package of energy bills the first week of March, including measures to expedite permitting for new power plants and making it easier to transport propane to areas with shortages.

The House GOP hopes to pass more than a dozen bills next week aimed at reining in the IRS and limiting regulations under a theme of stopping “government abuse.” A centerpiece of that package is a proposal to stop the IRS from promulgating regulations that address the “political activity” of 501(c)(4) groups following the agency’s revelation that it inappropriately scrutinized conservative groups.

Cantor also reiterated that the House will consider a flood insurance bill on the floor next week that differs from a measure the Senate passed last month.

And Cantor said the House later in March would take on Obama’s “pen and a phone” strategy by passing bills to combat the “imperial presidency” and reassert Congress’s authority as a coequal branch of government.

As expected, Cantor made no mention of bigger-ticket items like immigration and tax reform coming up for votes in the next month.

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has slowed his push for action on immigration, and a rewrite of the tax code from Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), slated for release next week, faces a long road before it gets a floor vote.