While general budget talks continued last week, it comes against a backdrop of increasing budget shortfalls. In early October 2019, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected its near-final report on the 2019 federal budget deficit. The deficit rose to just under $1 trillion for the fiscal year that ended on September 30, with the total
Last week information from the Centers on Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in HHS indicated that health insurance premiums for 2020 would decrease by an average of 4 percent. At the same time, just 12 percent of ACA customers will be living in counties that will only have one insurer providing coverage. Additionally, 20 more
Last week, the National Foster Care Youth & Alumni Policy Council hosted a webinar to highlight the policy recommendations outlined in their new document, A Historic Opportunity to Reform the Child Welfare System: Youth & Alumni Priorities on Preventing Unnecessary Removal of Children from Families. The webinar featured members from the Policy Council Justin Abbasi
On Friday, October 11, 2019, Federal judges in New York, California, and Washington state all issued temporary injunctions on the Trump Administration’s final rule to expand the definition of “public charge.” The rule applies to immigrants legally seeking to enter the United States or adjusting their legal status (green card status). On Tuesday, October 15,
Despite Congress’s return this past week, the fate of the FY 2020 budget is no clearer. With FY 2020 appropriations expiring on November 21, reports in Washington media outlets, including the Washington Post, indicate that the President has drawn a line in the sand over his desire to have more funding for the Mexico-U.S. border
On Monday, October 7, 2019, the groups that headed up the Supreme Court amicus brief in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), released a press statement describing both the reasons for the action and resources that advocates can use. CWLA was one of more than thirty groups signing on in support of
Tuesday, October 15 from 2pm to 3pm is the final #CAPTA Day of Action – take 5 minutes to show your support on social media and encourage others to take action for CAPTA and CAPTA reauthorization. In addition to raising awareness throughout your network, Twitter is a great way to contact your elected officials. Be
On October 2, 2019, the Administration posted in the federal register a solicitation for comments on the current childcare system. The comments which are due December 2, classify comments by Improving Access to Affordable High Quality Care and Transforming Financing of Child Care and Early Education Programs. The solicitation asks for targeted comments regarding supply,
On Thursday, October 3, 2019, for the third time this year, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announces another change to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that would cut food benefits from households by a total of $4.5 billion over five years. According to the USDA, the proposed rule, SNAP Standardization of Sate
The President issued an executive order last week Saturday, October 5, 2019 that would create an additional hurdle for immigrants with visa's seeking to enter the U.S. The applicant must show that within 30 days of the alien's entry into the United States they have health care or, unless the alien possesses the financial resources