The House and Senate will return from their Presidents’ Day recess this week without an agreement on the four funding bills that expire on March 1st, 2024, the end of this week. As previously reported, the House and Senate leadership were able to agree on topline numbers for the total FY 2024 budget that closely
The Housing and Insurance Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee held a field hearing on Thursday, February 22, 2024, “Restoring Prosperity in American Communities: Examining the Failures of Status Quo Housing Policy.” Chairman Davidson (OH-R) stated that the American people have been adversely impacted by bad government decisions and failed federal housing policies. Further,
Representatives Judy Chu (D-CA) and Erin Houchin (R-IN) introduced H.R. 7010, the Increasing Access to Foster Care Through 21 Act on January 17, 2024, ahead of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee hearing on supporting older youth in foster care. The bill would provide an incentive for all states to extend child welfare support and
The hearing entitled, Protecting Missing and Exploited Children, was convened by the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education and led by Chairman Bean (R-FL) advocated for the bipartisan Missing Children’s Reauthorization Act of 2023. The hearing addressed the significant increase in child exploitation and the critical role of
On January 31st, 2024, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Health held a hearing entitled “Health Care Spending in the United States: Unsustainable for Patients, Employers, and Taxpayers,” which discussed the rising costs of healthcare. Subcommittee on Health Chair Mr. Brett Guthrie (R-KY) led the hearing by emphasizing his commitment to “continuing
Representatives Danny Davis (D-IL) and Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) introduced the Housing for Homeless Students Act on February 7, 2024, which would increase access to affordable housing for students who are homeless, including veterans and youth formerly in foster care. From the press release: “The Low Income Housing Tax Credit reduces the tax liability for developers
On January 31, 2024, the House of Representatives passed the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, the bipartisan tax package that includes an expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC), in an overwhelmingly bipartisan 357-70 vote. The bill, which would help about 16 million children in families with low incomes in the first
The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement held a hearing on Thursday, January 11, 2024, entitled, "The Impact of Illegal Immigration on Social Services." Witnessed included: Manuel Mello III, Fire Department Chief of Eagle Pass, Texas; Danyela Souza Egorov, Vice President of the Community Education Council for New York City School District
Congress left Washington, D.C., on Thursday, December 14, 2023, without reaching an agreement on funding for FY2024, a bad sign for the new year. Although the Senate is expected to be back this week to work out an agreement on aid for Ukraine, Israel, and new immigration policies for the southern border, it’s unclear if
On December 6, 2023, Representative Kevin Mullin (D-CA) introduced the Poverty Line Act, which would update the way the Federal government calculates the federal poverty line by accounting for real costs and adjusting for regional differences. This would make millions more families eligible for safety net programs such as Medicaid, SNAP (food stamps), LIHEAP (energy
