On October 12, 2023, CWLA submitted comments for the record on the Ways and Means Subcommittee hearing on, “Modernizing Child Welfare to Protect Vulnerable Children.” Our comments explained the history and background of the programs in Title IV-B of the Social Security Act and highlighted a number of key areas of focus for a potential
After several weeks without making significant progress on a deal to keep the government running, Congress passed a bipartisan continuing resolution (CR) on Saturday, September 30, 2023, just hours before the end of the fiscal year. For much of last week, the House and the Senate were on two different paths. House Republicans were unable
Congress has just five days to negotiate and pass a bill to continue to fund the government after the end of the fiscal year on September 30th, 2023. Last weekend, leadership of both the House Freedom Caucus and House Main Street Caucus released a stopgap proposal, or continuing resolution (CR) that would temporarily fund the
On September 20th, 2023, the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Subcommittee hosted a hearing entitled “Childcare Since the Pandemic: Macroeconomic Impacts of Public Policy Measures.” Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) lead the meeting, joined by Senator John Kennedy (R-LA). Senator Warren started with how broken the childcare system in the United States is following the
Child Poverty Reduction Act On September 21, 2023, Representative Danny K. Davis (D-IL), Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA), Representative Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA), Representative Sara Jacobs (D-CA), and U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) introduced the Child Poverty Reduction Act of 2023 to commit the nation to cutting child poverty by half in 5 years and to
On September 11, 2023, the United States Census Bureau released Poverty in the United States: 2022, the annual report that measures the economic wellbeing of households, families, and individuals in the United States. This report provides estimates of two measures of poverty: the official poverty measure and the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM); the SPM is
The Senate returned from recess last Monday, September 4, 2023, and the House will return to Washington, D.C. this week to resume work on the numerous legislative priorities before them, the most pressing of which is finding a way to fund the government past September 30th, the end of the fiscal year. With just about
The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy released a new report, Expanding the Child Tax Credit Would Advance Racial Equity in the Tax Code, on August 29, 2023, examining the Child Tax Credit under current law and the House expansion proposal, introduced by Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT). The report makes the following key findings: “Expanding
On August 23, 2023, First Focus on Children and ZERO TO THREE released Babies in the Budget, a new report that examines federal investment in the nation’s youngest children across more than 120 programs. Their analysis finds that the federal government invests very little in babies and toddlers – the federal share of spending on
On Thursday, July 27, 2023, Congress wrapped up their work for the summer and left town for the August recess. Members will spend the next 6 weeks in their districts and will return to Washington, D.C. after Labor Day to resume business on the Hill. The Senate moved quickly to pass each of the twelve