Senate Legislation

Educating Homeless Students During COVID-19

On Wednesday, October 14, SchoolHouse Connection hosted a Congressional briefing titled “Educating Homeless Children and Youth During COVID-19”. The briefing included several panelists, including Congressmen Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) and Don Bacon (R-NE). The bipartisan Congressional briefing also featured four local educational agency homeless liaisons experts, John Bright from Omaha Public Schools in Nebraska, Ayesha Buckner

Mixed Signals from President, Clear Signal from Federal Reserve, Next COVID Package?

Last week on Tuesday, October 6, 2020, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told members of the National Association for Business Economics that there needs to be more stimulus, telling members, “Too little support would lead to a weak recovery, creating unnecessary hardship for households and businesses.” Shortly after giving a boost to the discussions that

ACA Repeal: Why A Stand-Alone Pre-existing Condition Law Does Not Protect People

One of the most popular provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is that part of the law that prohibits insurance companies from denying health insurance coverage because a patient has a “pre-existing condition.” A pre-existing condition could cover any number of previous illnesses, health history, or other circumstances that insurance companies, before the ACA,

CR Passes Senate

On Wednesday, September 30, 2020, the Senate gave final approval to (HR 8337) a continuing resolution or CR that will keep the government from shutting down at the start of the fiscal year. The CR provides level funding (FY 2020 funding levels) with some slight adjustments to address formulas and some program changes. The CR

House Offers Another COVID-19 Relief Bill

On Thursday, October 1, 2020, the House approved a $2.2 trillion COVID-19 relief bill representing a reduction from their $3.2 trillion passed on May 15, 2020, but higher than the general support the White House has said they would support at $1.5 trillion. The House action was against a backdrop of ongoing discussions between the House Democrats

Supreme Court Appointee Looms Large on Future of ACA

The Supreme Court, with either 8 or 9 members, has scheduled oral arguments on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act for November 10, 2020. This is a Supreme Court case that could strike down the entire ACA. May 13 was the deadline to file amici briefs on the case of the State of California,

ACA Repeal: What We Told Congress

When CWLA joined hundreds of organizations in defense of the Affordable Care Act in 2017 and 2018, we explained to Congress, and our members, why the ACA is vital to any efforts to reduce the number of children coming into foster care and in preventing instances of child neglect. In a June 2017 letter to

Congress Acts on Continuing Resolution But No COVID-19

Last week, Tuesday, September 22, 2020, the House of Representatives passed (HR 8337) and sent to the Senate a continuing resolution or CR that will keep the government from shutting down at the start of the fiscal year. The Senate leadership has indicated they hope to approve the CR by Tuesday of this week, a

Senators Introduce Bill to Rebuild Child Care Infrastructure

On Thursday, September 24, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) introduced, Rebuilding a Better Child Care Infrastructure Act, a bill to make child care more affordable and accessible for families, as well as helping to rebuild a more robust child care system. The COVID-19

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