On Friday, July 31, 2020, the House passed HR 7614 a second “mini-bus” legislative package that included six more appropriations bills. Combined with the previous week’s action that moved four appropriations bills, the House of Representatives has passed ten of twelve appropriations bills. Before moving on this legislative package, House leadership removed funding for the Department
As the end of the week approached, Washington was still waiting for a complete initial package from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on what will be a fifth COVID-19 relief measure. Negotiations that had started within the White House on Monday between the President’s staff and Republican Congressional leaders from the House and Senate
Last week the House passed HR 7617 a “mini-bus” legislative package that included funding for four separate appropriations bills. Included in the mini-bus (as opposed to an omnibus bill) were the four appropriations for Agriculture-FDA, Interior-Environment, Military Construction-VA, and the State Department-Foreign Operations. There is a total of 12 annual appropriations bills. This week
On Monday, July 13, 2020, the House Appropriations Committee approved an FY 2021 appropriations bill for the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education by a party-line vote of 30-22. In total, the bill provides $196 billion in discretionary (annually appropriated) funds for the three federal departments, with HHS getting approximately $96.4 billion
Last week the House Appropriations Committee began to move the 12 annual Fiscal Year 2021 appropriations bills through their respective subcommittees. The Labor-HHS-Education bill passed through the subcommittee on Tuesday, July 7, 2020, with funding receiving a slight increase. Congress is still acting under the final year of the ten-year budget caps. The HHS portion of
Senator Murray (D-WA), Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Democrats introduced the Coronavirus Child Care and Education Relief Act before the fourth of July holiday break. This bill includes $430 million for many of the Senate Democratic priorities for child care, K-12 schools and higher education, and child welfare: The child welfare specific legislation includes $1.5
On Tuesday, June 23, 2020, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Worker and Family Support held a hearing on the status of child care during the pandemic and the recession. In his opening remarks, Chairman Danny Davis (D-IL) said that, in Illinois, nearly half of all available child care slots are at risk of disappearing altogether
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) released the House summer schedule at the end of May. He expects a month full of appropriations and other committee action through all of June with floor votes beginning on June 30th until the July 4th break. It appears likely the House will begin committee action on appropriations starting
On Thursday, May 28, 2020, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) released a joint letter to promote family strengthening and virtual primary prevention during COVID-19 and beyond. As federal agencies with a collective mission to improve the health, economic, and social well-being of children and families
On Thursday, May 28, 2020, the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth hosted a briefing on COVID-19 and its impact on child welfare to explore the effects of the pandemic on these vulnerable young people and their families. The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-sweeping impacts on all Americans, and the impacts on children and families in
