The House of Representatives is aiming to pass all 12 appropriations bills before it begins its month long recess on August 1. The first of two “minibuses” was passed on Wednesday, July 20, and the second is expected to be passed later this week.
The first minibus includes funding for the Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development, Energy, and Interior Departments, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
The second minibus, scheduled to be approved this week, includes funding for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Justice, Commerce, and Homeland Security, as well as the Department of Defense.
If adopted into law, the minibuses would provide $91 billion for the Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development, $86 billion for the Department of Homeland Security, $38 billion for the Department of Justice, $12 billion for the Department of Commerce, and $11 billion for the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as $762 billion in discretionary defense budget authority, and $224 billion to fund the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services and Education.
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Weather patterns appear to be changing every day. Wet places are now wetter; dry places are now drier; hurricanes and tornadoes are becoming more frequent and violent; and floods and other catastrophes seem more prevalent. We need only look at Hurricane Ida which neared a category 5 storm, the recent flooding in Tennessee, and tornadoes in regions of the country that have never experienced tornadoes to know that things are different. Record rainfalls, for example, are happening across the eastern half of the country.
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Now that we are more than one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, there is one thing that is certain: there is no single way to safely bring employees back into the office. While employers are grappling with how to safely have employees return to the office, employees are also grappling with whether it would be better for them to return to the office or continue to work remotely.
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An innovative collaboration among federal, public and private entities has come together in the San Antonio, Texas region to form a defense-based public-private/private-public sector partnership (P4) designed to protect a military installation, public and private infrastructure, essential government services and private sector businesses from the danger posed by natural and man-made electromagnetic disturbances.
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There is clear evidence that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is making a tremendous difference in the lives of tens of millions of Americans who are unemployed and in need of accessible quality health care during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In March the number of unemployed individuals rose sharply from 5.7 million to 23.1 million[1] and 17.1 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits[2] as state and local officials ordered bars and restaurants, offices, manufacturing plants, schools, gyms, and other public and private facilities to shut down in the wake of the sudden spread of the novel coronavirus.
By May 2, more than 33 million people had filed for unemployment insurance.[3] Of those, the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) estimated that as many as 27 million unemployed workers had lost their health insurance.[4] For many of those individuals, the only accessible or affordable health insurance was available through two federal programs: Medicaid (including Medicaid Expansion) and the ACA’s insurance marketplaces.
According to KFF, more than 21 million, or 77 percent of all Americans who were laid off, were eligible for either Medicaid (12.7 million) or an ACA insurance plan (8.4 million).
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Over the next several weeks, the House and Senate will be working
on drafting a final fiscal year (FY) 2020 omnibus appropriations bill in hopes
of meeting the November 21 continuing resolution deadline. As is so often the
case, the House and Senate Labor-Health and Human Services-Education (Labor/H)
appropriations bills differ.
Overall, the House FY 2020 Labor/H appropriations bill –
passed through the chamber as a part of the H.R. 2740 legislative
minibus package – offers more favorable funding levels for the Older
Americans Act (OAA) and other key health and human services programs.
Welcome to the latest edition of Regional Councils: This Month in Photos!
Each month, NARC publishes Regional Councils: This Month in Photos to highlight events and activities taking place in regions around the nation.
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Welcome to the latest edition of Regional Councils: This Month in Photos!
Each month, NARC publishes Regional Councils: This Month in Photos to highlight events and activities taking place in regions around the nation.
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What began as a single city- or county-based job training system some 45 years ago has morphed into a robust, multi-jurisdictional job training system that reflects how and why economies emerge. Going beyond governmental boundaries, this system provides workforce development based on labor markets, economic development areas, local economies, industrial composition, labor force conditions and participation, and much more.
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After more than a year of negotiations, the Senate appears to have moved closer to an agreement on disaster funding for Puerto Rico, Florida, and California.
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