House Labor-HHS Appropriations Moves Out of Subcommittee

  On Friday, June 15, the House Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education reported out their bill for FY 2019. The full bill won’t be released until it is considered next week in the full Committee but some items were made public. Overall the Subcommittee is spending the same amount for FY 2019 that was spent and approved

Administration Floating Plan to Re-Make HHS

Last week Capitol Hill publications were reporting that the Administration will be releasing a plan to re-make the Department of Health and Human Services by moving programs and renaming the Department, possibly restoring the use of the word “welfare.” More significantly they would attempt to move the SNAP program from Agriculture to HHS along with

Approps Update More Time in Senate

With much fanfare, Majority Leader McConnell announced last week that the Senate would stay in session for most of August to vote on more nominations and more appropriations bills. The Senate had already agreed to bipartisan schedule with a goal of completing all 12 of the appropriations bills through Committee before they reach the July

Congress Back Until July 4th With Senate on Aggressive Approps Schedule

If they keep to the agreed to bipartisan schedule, the Senate will clear out all 12 of the appropriations bills this month before they reach the July 4th break. Senators started that process before the Memorial Day break. The Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee will take up its bill the week of June 25. That is the same

Youth Awareness and Prevention On Opioids

Shaquita Ogletree On May 22, the Hill newspaper sponsored another of their series of forums on opioids, America’s Opioid Epidemic: Youth Awareness & Prevention. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) spoke about her state having the highest opioid death rate per capita in the United States and how the state is struggling with the multiple families

Senate Moving Forward on Appropriations

Last week, Senate Appropriations Committee Chair, Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) joined with Ranking Member, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) to announce an orderly schedule to move all appropriations bills through their respective Senate subcommittees. On the Senate side of Congress, there is some positive thought that they can move appropriations in an orderly and in an

Kinship Navigator Funds Released

The Children’s Bureau has released instructions (ACYF-CB-PI-18-05) on how states can draw down $20 million in FY 2018 Kinship Navigator funds. The $20 million was added as part of the March-approved FY 2018 appropriations bills. It was attached to Title IV-B part 2, Promoting Safe and Stable Families. Unlike the Kinship-Navigator funds (which require programs

House Appropriations Adopts Funding Cuts To Juvenile Justice

Shaquita Ogletree A House Appropriations Subcommittee approved a fiscal year 2019 Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations bill (32-19) last week. The bill contains $62.5 billion in total discretionary funding for CJS programs, an increase of $2.9 billion from FY18 levels. CJS Subcommittee Chairman John Culberson stated that the increase in fiscal 2019 bill ensures investments

Administration Sends Rescission, Rumblings on Cuts in HHS

The Administration has sent up their package of rescissions totaling approximately $15 billion. The proposal, which must be acted on by appropriations committees to become effective, largely targets funds that have not yet spent. The biggest piece is CHIP reserve funds of approximately $7 billion. The funds are there in reserve in part to offset

CWLA Joins Onto Opposition to House SNAP Legislation

The Child Welfare League of America has joined onto opposition to H.R. 2, an agriculture reauthorization bill that extends nutrition programs including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program. The letter CWLA has signed onto urges Members of Congress to vote no. The letter was written jointly by First Focus and the Children’s Leadership Council.

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