On Wednesday, April 21, 2021, the House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing entitled ‘In Their Own Words: Paid Leave, Child Care, And An Economy That Failed Women.’ The hearing showcased stories of struggles experienced by working moms before and during the pandemic. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) began
Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) is holding up Senate confirmation of President Biden’s nominee to head up the Centers on Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), Chiquita Brooks-LaSure. Senator Cornyn’s action comes in response to the Administration’s withdrawal of a Texas Medicaid waiver that had been approved shortly before the expiration of the Trump Administration. Under the 50-50
On Thursday, April 15, 2021, the House Subcommittee on Appropriations for the departments of Labor-HHS-Education heard testimony from the new HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. The testimony builds on the previous week's White House overview of the FY 2022 appropriations. The House focused several Thursday hearings on the FY 2022 appropriations meaning we are now in the full
On Thursday, April 15, 2021, the Biden Administration announced the release of $39 billion in child care funding resulting from the March passage of the American Rescue Plan. The allocations for the states found here are divided between $14.9 billion in flexible funds and $23.9 billion in stabilization funding. They also announced that they would provide guidance to
Congress returns this week with a busy two months before the next holiday on Memorial Day. Since the spring break, the President has released his infrastructure bill’s outlines with expectations that a second part or piece of an infrastructure bill that addresses human services will be coming out soon. In addition to infrastructure, Congress will
On Wednesday, March 31, 2021, President Biden will be in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, to deliver a speech that will describe his vision and major next steps for his economic agenda. Last week several publications wrote of major plans the Biden Administration is considering for inclusion in the President’s detailed FY 2022 budget to be released
Congress is starting its spring break these next two weeks, but the Biden Administration will still release their proposed discretionary appropriations numbers while members are on recess. The House returns on April 13, 2021, and when they return, they are expected to begin the appropriations process. The ten-year 2011 Budget Control Act agreed to
This week, a bipartisan Dear Colleague letter was circulated in the House of Representatives by Congresswoman Haley Stevens (D-MI) and Elise Stefanik (R-NY), and Congressmen Frank Mrvan (D-IN), and Dusty Johnson (R-SD). As the Dear Colleague says: Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the opioid crisis led to an increase in the number of children in foster
CWLA and other national and state groups signed a letter calling on the President to make permanent the improvements to the Child Tax Credit (CTC), Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC). The American Rescue Plan (ARP) includes significant, but temporary, improvements to the CTC, the EITC and
On Tuesday, March 23, 2021, President Biden celebrated the 11th anniversary of the enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by extending the current open enrollment until August 15, 2021. The announcement extends a special pandemic-related enrollment period that had started on February 15 and was to last until May 15, 2021. It is also an
