The Republicans in Congress held their annual retreat in Baltimore late last week in an effort to plot out their strategy for 2016. There is a desire to focus on trying to pass each of the 12 appropriations bills on time by October 1. That is something that has not happened since 1994 when there
In his January 12, State of The Union address President Obama shied away from a list of specific policy proposals but he did single out a few areas including the drug use issue that is starting to rattle the foster care numbers. President Obama said, "Helping people who are battling prescription drug abuse and heroin
On Wednesday, January 20 the Senate Agriculture Committee is scheduled to take up a child nutrition bill that it is hoped will strengthen and expand a number of services that effect food access for children and their families. The meeting can be viewed at that time at that time through the Senate website at www.ag.senate.gov.
The President will deliver his State of the Union address on Tuesday, January 12 for the final time in his presidency. The speech is expected to be more general in tone than in the past speeches with the President focusing on his larger vision for the country rather than specific programs or budget requests. The
With just the House in session last week, Congress conducted limited business. The most significant action was the House passage of a reconciliation bill that had been carried over from last year. The reconciliation bill (HR 3762) used the fast-track legislative authority to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and defund Planned Parenthood. The legislation
When Congress returns this week it will mark the beginning of a very short congressional calendar. The President is scheduled to deliver his last State of the Union address on January12 which will unofficially begin the new budget debate for FY 2017. The official budget will come a little more than four weeks later in
On Tuesday night Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WS) announced a final budget deal that wraps up appropriations for the rest of fiscal year 2016. The House approved the package in parts with approval of the appropriations, the final piece, coming on Friday. The Senate wasted no time in voting later that day to approve the combined
The new version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), S. 1177, the Every Student Succeeds Act, with a text that runs over one thousand pages includes a number of long sought after reforms that are intended to help children in foster care and improvements in the McKinney-Vento Education For Homeless Children and Youth
The only thing clear by the end of last week was that Congress needs more time to negotiate a final budget for FY 2016. By Friday both houses of Congress adopted an extension of federal funding from its expiration on December 11 to December 16 of this week. Reports were kept confidential but what has
The draft bill, the Families First Act, will likely come up early in the New Year rather than this month as had been originally hoped. The legislation would allow Title IV-E funding on a limited category of substance abuse, mental health and in-home parent support programs for up to 12-months contingent on a child being
