In response to the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, a small bipartisan group of nine Senators, led by Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) met on Thursday, May 26, to discuss reaching a deal on gun control reforms. Senator Murphy has been leading the call for gun reform for the Democratic Party. Other senators
This week, Axios reported that Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) have revived their discussions about a reconciliation package. In December of last year, these discussions about the Build Back Better package ground to a halt when Senator Manchin announced that he could not support the legislation that was proposed.
On Monday, May 16th, 2022, Senators Patty Murray (D-WA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) officially announced their revamped child care and early learning reconciliation proposal. As we wrote last week, this proposal is roughly half the size of the original child care proposal in Build Back Better and largely focuses on expanding funding through the Child
Last weekend, on Sunday, May 9th, 2022, Politico reported that Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) is in the process of pitching a new child care proposal to the rest of the Democratic party, taking a bold step to keep child care in the conversation about a potential reconciliation
On May 4th, in an op-ed for Fox News, Representative Jackie Walorski (R-IN) and former First Lady Melania Trump highlighted National Foster Care Month, calling on Americans to support families and give older youth in foster care the tools they need to thrive as they transition to independence. They noted legislation that increased support for
On Tuesday, April 26, 2022, the Economic Policy Subcommittee of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee held a hearing, “Child Care and Other Policy Tools to Combat Bottlenecks and Inflation.” Chair Senator Warren (D-MA) started the hearing with an overview of the problem – inflation is on the rise due, in part, to
Congress must pass legislation that addresses barriers to mental health care for youth and their families, including maternal mental health care, services and prevention for children and adolescents, Medicaid reform, and bolstering the workforce. Maternal mental health: postpartum depression affects up to 15% of women, and the negative short-and long-term effects on child development are
On April 12th, 2022, the U.S. Child Poverty Action Group and GRACE & End Child Poverty California campaign hosted a webinar entitled ‘Ending Child Poverty at the Federal and State Level.’ This webinar focused on how states have promoted child welfare, as well as sharing the importance of the passage of the Child Poverty Reduction
Tuesday, April 5th, 2022 the Health Subcommittee of the Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing on several important bills, including H.R. 7236, the Strengthening Kids' Mental Health Now Act. If enacted, H.R. 7236 would expand the availability of mental, emotional, and behavioral health services under the Medicaid program. This bipartisan legislation would bolster the infrastructure for
On Wednesday, March 30th, 2022 the Senate Finance Committee continued their series on mental health with a hearing entitled ‘Behavioral Health Care When Americans Need It: Ensuring Parity and Care Integration.’ Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) emphasized the need to hold insurance companies accountable for not adhering to parity laws. Wyden referenced a recent GAO report,