Congress returned from the July 4th recess last week and moved quickly on a number of initiatives, as there are only three weeks until the August recess begins. The Appropriations process is a top priority for both House and Senate Leadership, because the deadline for passing the spending bills to fund the government is fast
The House Committee on Ways and Means hosted a Subcommittee hearing on July 13, 2023 titled “‘Where is All the Welfare Money Going?’ Reclaiming TANF-Non-Assistance Dollars to Lift Americans Out of Poverty.” The hearing examined Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds in light of recent reports of misuse by states. Prominent speakers included Chairman
On July 13, 2023, the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health held a markup of seventeen bills, including H.R. 4056, the Ensuring Medicaid Continuity for Children in Foster Care Act. This legislation would exempt Qualified Residential Treatment Programs (QRTPs) from the institutions for mental disease (IMD) exclusion in Medicaid. If this bill were
On June 28th, 2023, the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin- Madison held a webinar, "Thirty Years of the FMLA: What’s Worked, What Hasn’t, and Recommendations for More Equitable Policies," to discuss the advantages and drawbacks of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and ways to improve equity and
Both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees are moving forward in the Appropriations process, releasing text and holding mark-ups for several of the Appropriations bills over the past couple of weeks, including the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies bill, which is covered below. Leaders of both Committees have made a
Both the House and Senate have started the process of considering Appropriations Bills, including the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Bill. This bill includes nutrition programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Woman, Infants, and Children (WIC). On June 14th, the full House
On June 21, 2023, the House Health Subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee held a legislative hearing entitled “Responding to America’s Overdose Crisis: An Examination of Legislation to Build Upon the SUPPORT Act” to evaluate how the Substance Use–Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities (SUPPORT) Act has worked
On June 22, 2022, Reps. Danny K. Davis (D-IL), Bill Pascrell, Jr., (D-NJ), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Gwen Moore (D-WI), and Dwight Evans (D-PA) recognized June as Gun Violence Prevention Month by introducing The Gun Violence Prevention and Safe Communities Act - legislation to create guaranteed annual funding for gun violence prevention. The
Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA) introduced a Resolution to Fully Address Child Poverty on June 23, 2023. The Resolution, which has 19 Democratic co-sponsors calls on Congress to address child poverty, recognizing that the United States continues to have a significantly higher rate of child poverty compared to other wealthy nations because we fail to sufficiently
On Tuesday, June 13th, 2023, the House Ways and Means Committee held a markup for a series of tax bills, including the Tax Cuts for Working Families Act. The package was eventually passed favorably out of committee by the Republican Majority. The bill would make several tax cuts and would increase the standard deduction; Republicans