If not for the continuing controversy of the health care debate, the issue of a House budget resolution would probably have been the headlines coming from Washington this past week. The Republican leadership introduced their resolution early in the week and it aligns with many of the rumors that have been leaked over the past
The House Appropriations Committee acted on a Labor Department-Health and Human Services-Education Department bill last Wednesday. For the most part, the smaller child welfare programs that are dependent on the annual appropriations were flat funded. CAPTA state grants, CAPTA discretionary grants, Child Welfare Services, Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF), we're all funded at last
The House Appropriations Committee Funds Adoption Opportunities at $39 million which is a rejection of the Administration’s proposed cut of $9 million. Adoption/Kinship Incentives is funded at $37.9 million, the same as last year. The lack of increase for Adoption/Kinship Incentives fund continues to build on a recent and growing problem of underfunding. Since its
The Dream Act of 2017 has been introduced in the Senate by Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Called the United We Dream Act, it would offer a route to permanent legal status for millions of undocumented immigrant youth. The bill comes as ten Attorneys General sent a letter to Donald Trump
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will delay a critical key procedural vote this week after Senator John McCain (R-AZ) announced he would be absent due to a medical procedure. That will not prevent McConnell from trying to get the necessary votes but will likely delay it at least a week. Once the Senate approves
On Thursday, July 13, the House Subcommittee on Labor-Health and Human Services-Education approved an appropriations bill that would cut FY 2017 funding by an additional $5 billion. While it provides an increase of $1.1 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), rejecting the President’s request of severe cuts, it does little else for human
CWLA is part of the Child Care NOW! campaign led by the Woman’s National Law Center. The Child Care NOW campaign joins together child care advocates and allies to focus on raising awareness among policymakers and the public about the child care challenges facing America today, including affordability, quality, and provider compensation. The campaign provides tools
On Thursday, July 13, Roll Call publications sponsored a forum on Fighting the Opioid Crisis. The forum included introductory remarks by David Hawkings, Senior Congressional Editor of Roll Call, David Cordani, President and CEO, Cigna, sponsor of the event, a discussion with Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Congressman Tim Murphy (R-PA), a discussion on current
House Budget Committee Chair Congresswoman Dianne Black (R-TN) continued to struggle with the most conservative members of her House Caucus over the level of mandatory and entitlement cuts. There seems to be agreement over discretionary (annually appropriated) spending. Nondefense programs would be cut to $511 billion. (Under the existing Budget Control Act—BCA, the spending level
When and if Congress moves forward on a tax package late this year or next year one of the more vulnerable tax provisions is the Adoption Tax Credit. CWLA has been a longtime supporter of this tax credit which has taken on various forms and sizes over the past two decades. At times, it has