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
On September 23rd, 2022, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) released a new paper highlighting the success of the Expanded Child Tax Credit in reducing childhood poverty and the need for Congress to come to a bipartisan agreement to extend this important policy. The paper notes that, "the expansion helped lower child poverty
With the end of the fiscal year quickly approaching, Congress will need to take action to keep the government from shutting down on October 1st. At this time, the Four Corners (the four top Appropriators in the House and Senate) have not come to an agreement on the top-line numbers necessary to start budget proceedings,
Major child welfare legislation that is up for reauthorization this year is still pending, with negotiations continuing among the committee staff and leadership. The House has passed the Stronger Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), but the Senate HELP committee continues to negotiate its version of the CAPTA Reauthorization bill. Both the House and
On Tuesday, August 16, 2022, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, marking a significant win for his administration that meets several of his campaign promises. As previously reported, this spending bill was negotiated primarily between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) and focuses on climate change, healthcare,