Yearly Archives: 2013
- CHN: Government Shutdown Followed by Economic Meltdown? A Way Out Remains Elusive
The federal government has been shut down for almost a week. The public does not like it. The drivers of the shutdown strategy are starting to acknowledge it has failed to stop or delay the new health care law. The House has begun to enact funding measures for popular programs such as the national parks, veterans’ services, and WIC. The Senate has rejected this piecemeal approach. Divisions among Republicans attempting to extricate themselves from a bad spot are increasingly public Read More »
Posted in Budget and Appropriations, Economy Comments Off - CHN: The Affordable Care Act – Enrollment Begins
Enrollment in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as “Obamacare,” got off to a robust start on October 1 when 2.8 million people went to the www.HealthCare.gov website and millions more visited state-specific websites to explore their options. The latest census data indicates that in 2012 nearly 48 million Americans, or 15.4 percent, were uninsured. Read More »
Posted in Health, Health Care Reform, Medicaid, Medicare Comments Off - CHN: House Democrats Introduce Immigration Bill
On October 2, House Democratic leaders introduced a bill To Provide for Comprehensive Immigration Reform and for Other Purposes (H.R. 15). Lead sponsor Rep. Joe Garcia (D-FL) and the 120 co-sponsors hope that the bill will help build momentum for a bipartisan effort in the House to enact comprehensive immigration reform this fall. Read More »
Posted in Immigration Comments Off - CHN: Family and Medical Leave Insurance Act to be Introduced Soon; Advocates Continue to Build Support for This National Program to Help Working Families
Most people will need to take time away from their job to deal with an illness or care for a family member at some point in their career – and yet only eleven percent of workers in the United States receive employer-paid family and medical leave. The Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act (FAMILY Act), new legislation sponsored by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), would provide all eligible employees with as much as twelve weeks of paid leave Read More »
Posted in Health, Labor and Employment Comments Off - CHN: House Extremists in the Pilot’s Seat: Hurtling Towards Government Shutdown and Debt Crunch
A government shutdown grew more likely last week, as House Republicans deferred to their most extreme members and passed a temporary spending bill that would defund the health care law. Making a headlong run towards the fiscal cliff, the House leadership also started talking about tying delay of the health care law to an increase in the debt limit. It comes down to this: extremists may shut down government and sabotage its fiscal integrity in their attempts to cripple the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Read More »
Posted in Budget and Appropriations, Health Care Reform Comments Off - CHN: Advocates’ All-Out Effort to Stop Deep Cuts to SNAP Falls Short
On September 19, the House narrowly passed (217-210) a whopping nearly $40 billion cut to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps. Democrats were joined by 15 Republicans [Capito (WV), Fitzpatrick (PA), Fortenberry (NE), Gibson (NY), Grimm (NY), Hanna (NY), Jones (NC), King (NY), LoBiondo (NJ), Meehan (PA), Garry Miller (CA), Smith (NJ), Valadao (CA), Wolf (VA), and Young (AK)] in opposing the Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act of 2013 (H.R. 3102). According to the Congressional Budget Office, the bill would result in 3.8 million people being removed from SNAP in 2014. At risk of losing SNAP are low-income working families, children, seniors, and unemployed childless adults. Read More »
Posted in Budget and Appropriations, Food and Nutrition, SNAP Comments Off - CHN: Minimum Wage and Overtime Protections Extended to Home Care Workers
On September 17, the US Department of Labor announced that it will extend minimum wage laws and overtime protection to all home care aides who care for the elderly and people with disabilities as of January 1, 2015. This measure will end a 38-year ruling that excluded home care workers from receiving these basic protections. Direct care work is one of the fastest-growing industries in the nation, and almost two million people will benefit from this policy change. Aides help America’s elderly and disabled populations by assisting with daily tasks such as dressing or bathing, doing chores and administering medications in their homes. Read More »
Posted in Health, Labor and Employment, Minimum Wage Comments Off - War on Poverty Hearing in the House: Chairman Ryan’s Budget Committee Witnesses Don’t Quite Toe His Line
On July 31, The House Budget Committee held a hearing anticipating the 50 year anniversary of the War on Poverty – the beginnings of Head Start, college prep programs, Work Study, and other programs for youth, and community action programs to seek community-wide economic development. Read More »
Posted in Poverty and Income, Social Services Comments Off - Student Loan Bill Enacted
On July 1, student loan rates doubled because Congress failed to agree on legislation to avert the scheduled increase. After a month of proposals and counter-proposals, Congress enacted a solution. Read More »
Posted in Budget and Appropriations, Education and Youth Policy Comments Off - Willing to Deny Food to 4 Million More Poor People: Rumors of House Plans to Double SNAP Cuts
The House was unable to pass a farm bill with a nutrition title because the $20 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP/food stamps) approved by the House Agriculture Committee was not deep enough for some of the most right-wing members. Now, the House leadership is reported to have crafted a new stand-alone bill including massive SNAP cuts – doubling the cuts to $40 billion, with 4 million more people losing SNAP and millions more seeing their benefits reduced. Read More »
Posted in Budget and Appropriations, Food and Nutrition, SNAP Comments Off
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