On Saturday, December 3, the Senate gave final approval to their tax package by a vote of 51 to 49. It now will be negotiated with the House. The tax legislation being considered by Congress would not only have major implications for a range of issues and families reliant on the current tax structure but
Congressional Republicans are hoping to adopt a two-week CR that would extend funding for two weeks to December 22, 2017 so they could then extend funding for two to four more weeks to January 2018. Last week ended without a meeting between the Congressional Leaders and the President after Mr. Trump tweeted at the Congressional
Shaquita Ogletree On Thursday, November 30, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing to discuss the opioid crisis and how states, communities, and providers were responding to the epidemic. Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) indicated that he hoped the Committee would take further action next year. Most of Committee members made
The major development regarding the Affordable Care Act occurred within the Senate and passage of their tax reconciliation legislation. The legislation does away with the individual mandate. Based on an analysis by the CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation, that action will increase the number of uninsured and will increase premiums. The decreased coverage
Last week’s Congressman Kevin Brady (R-TX) and Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) released similar bills to extend the Court Improvement Program (CIP). The CIP is part of the Promoting Safe and Stable Families program. It provides approximately $30 million a year to all fifty states through their state court systems to better link and educate judges
There has been no progress on CHIP reauthorization but there was a lot of talk. There was a debate on the Senate floor when Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) said that CHIP would get done because “I invented it. I was the one who wrote it… Kennedy came over and became the one who helped put
Thursday, November 16 was a big day for tax cut advocates. The House of Representatives passed their tax bill (HR 1) by of 227 to 205 with all but 13 Republicans and no Democrats voting for it. Later that evening the Senate Finance Committee passed their counter proposal out of Committee by a vote of
On Tuesday, November 14, the Senate passed S 534, the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017. The legislation, which has had the active support of CWLA, was originally introduced by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) to address reports of sexual abuse of Olympic athletes. After passage Senator Feinstein said,
The major development regarding the Affordable Care Act occurred on Wednesday when the Senate Finance Committee under the leadership of Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT), inserted a repeal of the individual mandate as part of the Senate Finance Committee’s tax package. According to an analysis by the CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation, “… repealing
Last week ended with Senate Appropriations Chair Thad Cochran (R-MS) saying, "We need a new budget deal to finish our work. Congress and the administration must reach agreement on acceptable top-line funding levels. I urge all parties to those negotiations to redouble their efforts to reach agreement." That statement was issued because there is still
