The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued an opinion on July 15, 2019 telling Congress that recent changes the Administration made to the ACA waiver authority were significant enough to allow for congressional review because it is a new federal “rule.” As a result, it is subject to congressional oversight and requires certain reporting to
A new report by Avalere analyzed the impact of a Medicaid block or per capita cap’s effect on health care funding. The results are very negative especially for children. The study shows that between 2020 and 2029 federal funding lost under a Medicaid block grant would result in a $163 to $143 billion cut
Last month, when the House of Representatives approved a four-bill appropriations package that included appropriations for the Department of Health and Human Services (by a vote of 226-to 203) they included an important improvement for child abuse prevention. The final House appropriation for the Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention (CB-CAP) received a $35 million increase to
With time running short, it is looking more and more likely that the hot topic of July through September will be the FY 2020 budget. That budget debate now involves funding levels for the upcoming FY 2020, FY 2021 budgets as well as raising the debt ceiling. It is now believed that the debt ceiling
Congress gave final approval to a border funding bill totaling approximately $4.6 billion negotiated between Senate Republicans and Democrats. The final bill approved in the House by a vote of 305 to 102 included a mix of Democrats and Republicans. Many House Democrats were unhappy about the fact that, earlier in the week, a Democrats-only
On Monday, June 24, Congressperson Bass (D-CA) introduced the Child Welfare Data Modernization Act, HR 3438, which would provide temporary federal funds with a match of 75 percent for states, tribes, and territories child welfare data reporting expenses. Since some states and tribes started updating child welfare AFCARS data systems in 2017, the temporary enhanced
The House of Representatives completed action on the Financial Services bill on Thursday. That makes 10 of 12 bills approved before the July 4th break. The remaining two include the Legislative Branch and Homeland Security. The Legislative Branch is likely to move after the break after stalling on a failed attempt to unfreeze congressional salaries
After a joint meeting on Wednesday, June 19 congressional leaders and the White House were no closer to an overall budget deal than they have been over the last several months. Unlike previous meetings this White House meeting included the Democrats. After the meeting was adjourned there was no deal and no consensus by participants
On Thursday, the House Ways and Means Committee passed a series of tax bills designed to expand current tax benefits for a number of low and middle income families and individuals. The Economic Mobility Act of 2019, among several provisions, expands the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for childless workers; expands refundability of the child
Members of Congress in both the Senate and the House are interested in providing states with additional resources and support to implement the Family First Prevention Services Act (Family First). The Family First Transition and Support Act, S 1376, was introduced on May 8, 2019 in the Senate by Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Debbie