Yearly Archives: 2003
- CHN: Nation’s Unemployed Still Waiting For Vote To Extend Federal Benefits
With Congress Planning on Adjourning Before Thanksgiving, Time is Running Out After another week of inaction on the extension of unemployment benefits, Congress is coming dangerously close to adjournment and once again leaving Washington for the holidays without helping the nation’s unemployed workers who have exhausted their benefits. Neither the Senate nor the House of Read More »
Posted in Labor and Employment, Unemployment Insurance Comments Off - CHN: Omnibus Appropriations Bill Moving Forward
House and Senate appropriators are working quickly to wrap up a $285 billion omnibus spending bill for fiscal year 2004 before Thanksgiving. The bill will fold five separate spending bills into one large package – including the Labor-HHS-Education, VA-HUD, and Commerce-Justice-State bills. The Senate is expected to take up the omnibus on Monday. It is Read More »
Posted in Budget and Appropriations, Disabilities, Early Childhood Education, Education and Youth Policy, Housing and Homelessness, Labor and Employment Comments Off - CHN: Medicare Prescription Drug Bill Heading for a Vote
Medicare Prescription Drug Bill Heading for a Vote (11/21/03) Republican leaders in Congress reached an agreement last weekend on a Medicare prescription drug bill and are preparing to move the bill to the House floor as early as Friday, November 21 (HR 1). The Senate will probably begin debating the bill over the weekend. It Read More »
Posted in Job Training and Education Comments Off - CHN: Pressure Continues to Increase Section 8 Funding
As the Congressional calendar draws to a close, a bipartisan group of Representatives and Senators are continuing to push for increased funding for the Section 8 Housing Voucher program in the fiscal year 2004 VA-HUD appropriations bill. President Bush drastically under-funded the Section 8 program in his budget this year. The shortfall threatened to cut Read More »
Posted in Early Childhood Education, Education and Youth Policy Comments Off - CHN: Appropriations Update: Prospect of Omnibus Appropriations Bill Looms
With several major spending bills for fiscal year 2004 still unfinished, Republican leadership is asking House and Senate appropriators to prepare for an omnibus appropriations package that would be finished by November 18. Congress must approve 13 spending bills each year to keep the government running. Although the new fiscal year started October 1, only Read More »
Posted in Budget and Appropriations Comments Off - CHN: Congressional Democrats Push For Votes To Extend Unemployment Benefits
Over the past two weeks, Democrats in the House and Senate have begun a major push to force both chambers to vote on the federal extension of unemployment benefits. Thus far, the Republican leaders of the House and the Senate have failed to schedule a vote on any of the bill to reauthorize or expand Read More »
Posted in Child Nutrition, Food and Nutrition Comments Off - CHN: Federal Unemployment Benefits Program Will Expire December 31 Without Extension
Congress Must Act to Renew Program to Keep Millions of Unemployed Workers Receiving Assistance While Congressional leaders are predicting an adjournment date of November 7 – a target that appears increasingly unlikely – another important deadline is looming for America’s unemployed workers. Before adjournment Congress must act to extend federal unemployment benefits, which are set Read More »
Posted in Labor and Employment, Unemployment Insurance Comments Off - CHN: Senate Introduces Head Start Legislation Without State Block Grant Pilot
On the evening of Wednesday, October 22, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee released its bipartisan Head Start reauthorization bill. Reauthorization of the landmark federal preschool program has been a contentious one in Congress this year largely due to lawmakers’ partisan disagreement over whether to hand authority for the programs to the Read More »
Posted in Early Childhood Education, Education and Youth Policy Comments Off - CHN: Child Nutrition Reauthorization Delayed in Senate
The Senate Agriculture Committee announced last week that it will delay reauthorization of child nutrition programs until early next year. The Senate will now have to extend child nutrition programs, which are set to expire on October 30. The Senate’s delay follows similar action in the House, which recently voted to extend the programs for Read More »
Posted in Child Nutrition, Food and Nutrition Comments Off - CHN: Medicare Conferees Continue to Crawl Towards Agreement
Overview House and Senate negotiators are inching closer to an agreement on a bill that would add prescription drug benefits for more than 40 million elderly and disabled people in the Medicare program. This week conferees announced more areas of agreement and some staff said a final bill might be released within a week or Read More »
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