The Century Foundation released a commentary on ONDCP’s report about maternal health and substance use disorder on January 13th, 2023, noting that “the increasing criminalization of substance use in pregnancy disproportionately affects Black pregnant and postpartum people,” and makes recommendations for Congress to act. From the commentary: “Due to systemic racism and inequality, Black birthing
On January 18th, 2023, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released a statement to recognized the expansion of access to Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD). The 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act, signed into law by President Biden on December 29, 2022, expands access to medication for opioid use disorder. The legislation removes
This past Congress has certainly had its challenges. Throughout the last Congress, CWLA has joined with national stakeholders and coalitions to increase funding levels across 44 separate funding programs – many of which received an increase in the spending omnibus, and some remained at level funding. While a notable disappointment was the failure to reauthorize
On December 14th, 2022, with only a handful of days left in the 117th Congress, Representative Virginia Foxx (R-NC) introduced the Parental Right to Protect Act, which would introduce gender-affirming care issues into the Child Abuse Protection and Treatment Act (CAPTA). The bill seeks to make states ineligible for CAPTA funding if they allow Child
The Senate passed the Respect for Marriage Act on Tuesday, November 29th, 2022, in a bipartisan 61-36 vote. The bill, originally passed in the House, will codify federal recognition of same-sex marriage. It received bipartisan support because of added measures on religious liberty protections. House leadership has scheduled a vote on the amended bill next
The Continuing Resolution (CR) that Congress passed in September to avoid a government shutdown is set to expire next Friday, December 16th, 2022, unless lawmakers can pull together a budget or pass another CR. Reports from the Hill indicate that the Four Corners (the four leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees) have continued
On November 17th, 2022, Representative Sylvia Garcia (D-TX) introduced a Resolution on "Recognizing the harm associated with restraints in schools," which was referred to both the Education and Labor and Judiciary Committees. Restraint and seclusion, which are legal in most districts nationwide, are commonly used when students – particularly those with disabilities – are in
Congress has than four weeks left to pass legislation in the 117th Congress and there are several important items that need to be addressed in that time. Although there are still races that haven’t been called, news outlets have predicted that Democrats will retain control of the Senate and Republicans will gain a narrow majority
As lawmakers look to wrap up the 117th Congress this year, dozens of progressive Democrats are calling on leaders to ensure that the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) is renewed as part of the top end-of-year priorities, reports the Hill. Congressional Democrats expanded the CTC as part of the American Rescue Plan, a comprehensive package
On October 3rd, Senators Hassan (D-NH), and Young (R-IN) introduced the bipartisan Senate companion bill to the Foster Youth and Driving Act, originally introduced in the House by Representative Danny K. Davis (D-IL) and Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE). The Senate companion bill makes no changes to the House bill. As previously covered, H.R. 7932 Foster
