Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) pulled the Better Care Reconciliation Act from a vote during the Republican weekly luncheon last Tuesday, June 27 concerned that the bill would go down to defeat. Once that happened he intensified rounds of negotiations looking at nearly $200 billion in projected savings to try and buy enough support
When and if Congress moves forward on a tax package late this year or next year one of the more vulnerable tax provisions is the Adoption Tax Credit. CWLA has been a longtime supporter of this tax credit which has taken on various forms and sizes over the past two decades. At times, it has
Last Tuesday, June 20, the House of Representatives adopted a series of bipartisan child welfare bills. The five bills were all taken from last year’s Families First legislation that had been adopted by the House last summer. Taken together the bills would speed up placements across state lines, improve regional partnership substance use treatment grants
It would not be an exaggeration to say that advocates for preserving the Affordable Care Act are extremely concerned that a Senate bill will pass shortly before the July 4th break. If that happens and 50 votes are rounded up, passage by the House is very likely. The Senate language is being held very tight
A Wednesday vote on a series of child welfare bills was cancelled last week after the Congressional baseball practice shooting. Instead the House Ways and Means Committee discharged the bills with the intent they will be taken up on the House floor. That floor date and vote has been set for Tuesday, June 20. The
Before leaving for the weekend, House Republicans introduced a reauthorization of the MIECHV (Maternal Infant Early Childhood Home Visiting), or home visiting program. The bill, the Increasing Opportunity through Evidence-Based Home Visiting Act (HR 2824), would extend the program for five years—as CWLA and other advocates have pursued—but provides level funding of $400 million a
Majority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is bound and determined to have a vote on the Senate ACA repeal bill by the end of this month. The logic is that the Senate needs to move the issue one way or another so that the rest of the legislative year and priorities such as a tax
On Wednesday, June 7, the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth, along with Florida-based Camelot Community Care, hosted a discussion, REAL kids, REAL voices, REAL time – Roundtable Discussion by Youth in Foster Care. The discussion focused on the experiences of nine young people in foster care. The hour-long dialogue included question and answers by Tavyla
Last week, the Trump Administration announced the appointment of Jerry Milner as the next head of the Children’s Bureau and Lynn A. Johnson as the new Assistant Secretary for Family Support. Milner becomes the Associate Commissioner at the Children’s Bureau. While holding that formal title, he will also hold the position of Acting Commissioner for
The Administration released their full 2018 budget on Tuesday, May 23, titled A New Foundation for American Greatness. The good news is that they do not propose converting Title IV-E into a block grant and most of the core discretionary funding for specific child welfare programs is at the same level as 2017. The bad