The House Ways and Means Human Resources Subcommittee held a hearing, “Jobs and Opportunity: Legislative Options to Address the Jobs Gap,” with the purpose to unveil a TANF reauthorization. The reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) was a Republican bill but in some respects was not as conservative as some had projected.
On Wednesday, May 9, Dr. Phil McGraw was the featured speaker at a briefing co-hosted by several congressional caucuses including the Congressional Caucus on Foster Youth, Senate Caucus on Foster Youth, Congressional Social Work Caucus, Congressional Mental Health Caucus, the Congressional Crime Prevention and Youth Development Caucus, the Bipartisan Taskforce to Combat the Heroin Epidemic.
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
With less than three weeks before the Memorial Day break, the House majority is preparing to use the less than 14 legislative days to flex their muscle with a range of new work requirements in anti-poverty programs. The efforts will focus on nutrition programs, targeting SNAP, but they will also look at housing services including
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.
A group of young people, as part of United We Dream, inspired a CWLA crowd at Thursday morning’s plenary, to go to Capitol Hill in support of fixing the current DACA gridlock by passing the DREAMERS Act. Sanaa Abrar, Policy Director for United We Dream was joined on the panel by Claudia Quinonez, Gerson Quinteros,
In preparation for Thursday afternoon Capitol Hill visits, CWLA members and state advocates came together on Wednesday afternoon to hear from a series of Washington D.C. speakers who addressed some of the latest issues and policies including the Family First Act. Associate Commissioner, Children’s Bureau, Jerry Milner offered the group some initial comments and engaged
Also addressing the Wednesday CWLA gathering were four key legislative staffers from the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee. The bipartisan group included Anne DeCesaro, House Republican Staff, Morna Miller, House Democratic staff, Laura Berntsen, Senator Ron Wyden, and Ryan Martin, Senator Orrin Hatch. The bipartisan group used a power point
The new Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) was working with his Democratic counterpart in the Senate, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) to determine a path forward on 2019 appropriations. Shelby, who took over this month when Senator Thad Cochrane (R-MS) retired due to health issues, wants to move appropriations bills to
Ben Carson, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, On Wednesday, April 25 was offering up what may be one of the first Administration responses to the President’s earlier proclamation on “welfare reform.” Carson’s initiative would raise subsidies to 35 percent of income from the current 30 percent. He also is seeking to get rid of