Congress is behind on dealing with FY 2019 appropriations but before moving on those 12 bills, they may take a shot at cutting back on FY 2018. There were reports that Congressman Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), the number two leader in the House, has had discussions with the Administration on using the President’s rescission authority to
On Wednesday, the Senate HELP Committee will hold a hearing on additional legislation to deal with opioids. The legislation, The Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018, has been called by some a second version of the 2016 Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA). The Committee released a discussion draft on April 4 with public comments
Part of what the Senate (and future House) action is about is the funding that was included in the FY 2018 appropriations. The Congressional response includes several increases and provisions that add some actual dollars to address the issue. Some, like the child welfare spending increases have a dual purpose with part of the purpose
Last week HHS released final numbers for health care enrollment through the ACA. Overall enrollment this year was 11.8 million, a 3.3 percent year-over-year decrease. A decrease that many see as undercutting claims that the exchanges are collapsing. Perhaps most significantly, the report shows that premiums did increase significantly but the offset purchasers received through
The biggest event last week was not the drama around a final FY 2018 budget bill but came on Saturday when several hundred thousand came to Washington to listen to a series of young people-children speak of the horrors of gun violence in the United States. Except for some limited celebrity entertainment in support of
A combination of higher budget caps tied to the defense budget and the increasing spread of opioid addiction combined into a final appropriation deal that resulted in some truly historic increases in children’s spending. Leading the way was the single biggest increase in child care funding history at $2.3 billion with an additional $600 million
The just-signed appropriations had a number of improvements for a child welfare advocacy community that does not normally experience. Congress was not “budget neutral”, e.g. we will increase child welfare funding if we cut child welfare funding in other areas. The increase in CAPTA is in fact historic rising from an ever-eroding base of $25
The $2.3 billion in new child care funding represents an historic increase not experienced since its inception in 1990 under the George H.W. Bush Administration. Other increases included the 1996 TANF law that included an influx of $1 billion over six years that also leveraged state matching funds. The next big increase came at the
Shaquita Ogletree The final federal budget for FY 2018 resulted in an overall Juvenile Justice funding level that is slightly above 2017. There is a notable $22 million increase for youth impacted by the opioid crisis and drug addiction added to Title V and Youth Mentoring programs. State Formula grants increased by $5 million to
The week started with the President in New Hampshire announcing his opioid abuse reduction plan and ended with Congress acting in a much bolder funding proposal. The President’s plan was thin on specifics but included a broad outline that included broad strokes of: • REDUCE DEMAND AND OVER-PRESCRIPTION: President Trump’s Opioid Initiative will educate Americans