Monthly Archives: March 2007
- CHN: Changes To Minimum Wage Package In Vehicle With Uncertain Outcome
This week the Senate followed the House’s lead by including provisions to increase the minimum wage and provide funding for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) in the war supplemental funding bill it passed. (See 3-16-07 HNR story) The Senate chose to up the ante in the standoff with the House over the minimum Read More »
Posted in Minimum Wage Comments Off - CHN: Bipartisan Immigration Reform Bill Introduced In House
On March 22, Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and Representative Jeff Flake (R-AZ) introduced the STRIVE Act (Security Through Regularized Immigration and a Vibrant Economy) of 2007, a bipartisan comprehensive immigration bill. It is the first immigration reform bill to be introduced in either chamber in this Congress. The key elements of the bill include: a Read More »
Posted in Immigration Comments Off - CHN: The House Passes a Budget
House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt (D-SC) had a challenge. Could he craft a budget that would hold the support of a majority? In a word – yes. The House voted 216 to 210 on March 29 to pass a budget resolution that increases domestic appropriations by more than $12 billion above this year’s spending, Read More »
Posted in Budget and Appropriations Comments Off - CHN: Senate Passes FY 2008 Budget Resolution (3/30/07)
broken link Read More »
Posted in Budget and Appropriations Comments Off - CHN: Legislation Addresses Post-Hurricane Housing Needs
The response of the federal government to the housing crisis resulting from the 2005 hurricanes has been haphazard and mismanaged by both FEMA and HUD. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, an estimated 302,000 housing units were severely damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Approximately 216,000 of those units were affordable to low Read More »
Posted in Housing and Homelessness Comments Off - CHN: Minimum Wage Increase, Children’s Health Attached To Supplemental Spending Bill
Despite strong support in the House and Senate, the increase in the minimum wage has still not moved to final passage. The minimum wage bill initially passed by the House was a clean bill. However, the Senate-passed bill added $8.3 billion in so-called small business tax cuts to its minimum wage increase. Although House Ways Read More »
Posted in Minimum Wage Comments Off - CHN: Senate Committee Passes FY 2008 Budget
More Progress Needed in Human Needs Funding The Senate Budget Committee approved its budget resolution on March 15, with action in the full Senate expected to begin on March 20. Advocates have been bringing three basic budget concerns to Congress: (1) the need for a substantial funding increase for domestic appropriations; (2) the need to Read More »
Posted in Budget and Appropriations Comments Off - CHN: Support Builds For SCHIP
Members of Congress, state officials and advocates hope to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), a popular and successful joint federal-state program that provides health insurance to children whose families have low incomes but earn too much to qualify for Medicaid. The program, which was created in 1997 by the Balanced Budget Act, Read More »
Posted in Health Comments Off - CHN: First Step To Head Start Reauthorization
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions took the first step toward reauthorizing the Head Start program by unanimously passing the Head Start for School Readiness Act, S. 556, on February 14. The bipartisan bill attempts to strike a balance between emphasis on the academic and social aspects of the program. S. 556 Read More »
Posted in Early Childhood Education Comments Off - CHN: Senate Resumes Immigration Debate In 110th Congress
On February 28, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) presided over his first immigration hearing as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Witnesses were members of the President’s Cabinet, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. During the hearing, Sen. Leahy and other members of the Senate Judiciary Committee inquired about the President’s commitment Read More »
Posted in Immigration Comments Off
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