CWLA has endorsed H.R. 2681, Foster EITC Act, sponsored by Congressman Danny Davis (D-IL). The Davis proposal would add an important expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for youth who were in foster care on or after their 14th birthday. Currently, the EITC disadvantages former foster youth who enter the work force
Funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) expired on September 30, and the health coverage of nearly 9 million is currently at risk. After reaching a bipartisan agreement on policy that extend CHIP for five years, due to the health care fights over repealing the ACA, attention shifted from CHIP and now due to
The President on, Thursday October 12, took two actions designed to weaken the individual insurance market. Although the first action of the day, an Executive Order to deregulate markets, drew the most initial attention, it is the second action on Cost Sharing Reductions (CRS) that could have the most immediate impact. The Executive Order is
On Wednesday the House Energy and Commerce Committee took its turn at focusing on the Opioids epidemic. This and other recent Congressional hearings are not without irony since they come against a backdrop of efforts to weaken the ACA and Medicaid which have increased access to critical substance use and mental health services. The twin
The Washington debate of tax reform is in the process of confusing and potential combining two separate and significant tax credits, the Child Tax Credit and the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit. The first one is provided to parents with a child under 17. The second is a long time established and important tax
The Administration on late Sunday October 8, released their priorities for any immigration reform as part of any deal on preserving the current protections for DACA students. Under Secure the Border by Deterring and Swiftly Removing Illegal Entrants, Establish Merit-Based Reforms to Promote Assimilation and Financial Success and Enforce Immigration Laws Across the United States.
On Wednesday, both the Senate Finance Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee moved their version of a CHIP reauthorization. The Senate bill sponsored by Senate Finance Chair Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the Keeping Kids’ Insurance Dependable and Secure (KIDS) Act (S. 1827), would extend CHIP for five years
The two 2018 budget resolutions adopted in the House and Senate Committees have two broad themes: larger tax reductions and larger budget cuts. The budget resolutions are different in the extent of their cuts with the House version being much grander in its mandatory and entitlement cuts and its cuts to the annual appropriations. Their
Last Thursday the Senate HELP Committee focused on the topic of spreading opioid addiction and what current Administration leaders and departments were doing about it. One of the starkest statistics (from the CDC) is that for every opioid related overdose death, there are another 60 addicts out there. The witnesses were Food and Drug Administration
Now that the House has acted on their version of a home visiting reauthorization (the Increasing Opportunity and Success for Children and Parents through Evidence-Based Home Visiting Act (H.R. 2824)), and the Senate has their version of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program, (the Strong Families Act of 2017), advocates are strategizing how to extend