Congress is back and the list of priorities have grown due to Hurricane Harvey. That list may have become easier or more difficult because of the need for more disaster relief. That all remains to be seen. There are currently 12 working days when both houses are in session before the end of September and
The President is expected to announce his decision on the fata of "DACA" sometime today. In June, Homeland Security announced what appeared to be an extension of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Later the Administration said they had not made a final decision on DACA but wanted to clarify their policy in another
Child Welfare Services (Title IV-B part 1) and Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF, Title IV-B part 2) expired last year and they have a temporary extension through the end of this fiscal year. At risk are some smaller programs attached to PSSF, the Court Improvement Program (CIP) and grants for drug treatment and workforce
For now, the President will permit the latest installment of insurance cost-sharing subsidies through the Affordable Care Act. That is important for now, because the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has determined there would be significant problems in insurance coverage and significant costs to the federal government if the President pursues his threat to cut off
The Senate cut short their extended work schedule on Thursday when they finished work on several nominations including some from HHS. They will be out until after Labor Day. When Congress returns in September they will have a long list of items many that must be addressed by the end of the month or at
Last week’s debate and fire on repealing the Affordable Care Act was bookended by two narrow votes of 50 to 51 and 49 to 50 with three senators being the key actors. In between the fewer than a dozen votes cast it became clear that a replacement plan was not possible and any reforms or
Before the House of Representative left for the summer break on Friday, members approved a partial FY 17 appropriations bill, left a budget resolution for an uncertain future and waited on the Senate for signals on both issues. On Thursday, the House gave final approval to a package of five “security” bills on a partisan
Last week Congressman Danny Davis (D-IL) announced the introduction of a second House bill to reauthorize the home visiting program. The HomeVisiting Works Act of 2017 would extend the program for an additional five years and, similar to the goals of the Home Visiting Coalition, it would gradually increase funding to $800 million in year
On Tuesday, July 25, Voice for Adoption sponsored a briefing on Capitol Hill to raise the importance of adding in resources and funding for the Adoption Opportunities program and the Adoption and Kinship Incentive fund. During the hour, long session participants heard from the two congressional cosponsors of the event, Congressman Jim Langevin (D-RI) and
The last week of head-spinning on health care was best represented by the various positions of the President throughout the week. By week’s end the path forward is still uncertain with the Senate parliamentarian delivering the biggest blow Friday night but Senator McConnell (R-KY) determined to vote on Tuesday. The effort to move forward on