Last week Congressional Republicans released an outline of their tax reform proposal for 2017. They hope to move the package on a fast track both in process and time. The process part is that they will try and use a new 2018 budget resolution and reconciliation tool to fast track the legislation through the Senate
What is next for ACA repeal may be clearer later this week when and if Congressional leaders decide whether to include in the 2018 budget resolution an instruction to repeal the ACA. Such a provision would muddy the fast track for tax cuts but would keep alive another shot at the Graham-Cassidy-Johnson-Heller block grant/Medicaid per
On Tuesday, September 16, the House passed the Increasing Opportunity and Success for Children and Parents through Evidence-Based Home Visiting Act (H.R. 2824). Support was not overwhelming at 214 to 209. The Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program, would be reauthorized for 5 years at its current funding level of $400 million, and include many other
By mid-week House Republicans were throwing cold water on the idea that they would move the CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) before the fiscal year and the authorization ran out. The debate and chance to act on CHIP by October 1, were thrown off when the Senate engaged in another ACA-repeal effort. On Monday, September
The Senate is expected to vote on the Graham-Cassidy-Johnson-Heller Medicaid block grant/per capita cap this week, with shifting odds of passage. Over the weekend, more questions than answers were being raised about its prospects, especially after Senator John McCain (R-AZ) said on Friday that he could not vote for the bill yet due to the
On Friday, September 22, Congressperson Karen Bass (D-CA), along with Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), introduced resolutions designating September as National Kinship Care Month. CWLA has long supported efforts to more formally recognize the month as a month of tribute to kinship caregivers and families similar to November as National adoption
On Tuesday, September 19, Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) introduced the “Strong Families Act of 2017,” reauthorizing the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV). The legislation was also co-sponsored by Senators Roy Blunt (R-MO), Bob Casey (D-PA), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Ben Cardin (D-MD), and Sherrod Brown (D-OH). It
On Monday, September 18, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) released their bill to extend CHIP for five years. The Keeping Kids’ Insurance Dependable and Secure (KIDS) Act (S. 1827), would over time reduce the enhanced match. In releasing the bill, Senator Hatch said, “Introducing this legislation is
Around the same time that the latest repeal of the ACA was gaining traction, Senate leaders lead by Budget Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-TN) indicated that Republican leadership had come to an agreement on a budget resolution for 2018. The budget resolution is significant in that it could clear the way for a fast track
On Wednesday morning and evening, the House Ways and Means Committee debated and passed a re-authorization of the home visiting program. The legislation, the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program, named the Increasing Opportunity and Success for Children and Parents through Evidence-Based Home Visiting Act (H.R. 2824) passed on a party-line vote. Despite