Tag Archives: Legislative Update

On February 12, the U.S. Senate passed the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) by a comfortable 78-22 margin.  The bill included comprehensive protections for Native American women, women in same-sex marriages, and illegal immigrants, features not included in the 2012 House version of the bill. Now, we are urging the House of Representatives to pass the same version of VAWA ... Read More »

On January 29, 2013 President Obama gave his “The Time is Now” speech which ushered in his administration’s Comprehensive Immigration Reform legislative initiative. A day earlier, a bipartisan group of four Republican and Four Democrats (the “gang of eight”) also announced that they will introduce comprehensive immigration legislation. Because the president received 70 percent of the Hispanic vote in November, ... Read More »

In May, we updated you on the Senate’s reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).  Now, there is a possibility of the bill failing if the House and Senate are unable to reconcile differences between their two bills.  The House bill excludes members of the LGBT community and reduces protections for Native American women as well as immigrants.  It ... Read More »

Recently, I had the opportunity to attend an event at the White House to see President Obama make a statement about student loan debt.  My invitation to the White House occurred because I reached out to the organization, Campus Progress, and volunteered to work at their Student Debt Day.  By volunteering, I was given the opportunity, along with other student ... Read More »

The Violence Against Women Act, or VAWA, has played a crucial role in the lives of women and families since its original passage in 1994.  We have seen both a sharp increase in the reporting of domestic violence, and significant decrease in the number of people harmed by an intimate partner.  Additionally, an increase in legal services has helped women ... Read More »

Yesterday, the Senate passed its 6th short term continuing resolution (CR) that will keep the federal government running through April 8. The Senate action follows Tuesday’s passage of the bill by the House, and came one day before the current CR is set to expire. The CR would cut federal spending by roughly $6 billion from the current level.  While the new ... Read More »

Update from the White House Office of Public Engagement WEST WING UPDATE Dear Friends, It’s been an incredibly busy week as we continue to work with our allies in Congress and across the country to try to get the DREAM Act across the finish line. Here is a quick update. It looks like the House and Senate could take up ... Read More »

Political Climate The primary season began in earnest on Tuesday, May 18 and we learned several important lessons that night.  For one, voter turnout was not particularly high, defying the expectations of many observers who believed voter anger would voice itself loudly at the first opportunity.  Second, the night clearly went better for Democrats than it did for Republicans.  The ... Read More »

The House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education held a hearing on March 18, 2010 titled “Elementary and Secondary Education Act Reauthorization: Addressing the Needs of Diverse Students” to examine how schools can appropriately educate low-income, minority, English Language Learners, disabled, Native American, and homeless students within the context of reauthorizing  the Elementary and Secondary ... Read More »

On March 18, Congress coupled the Student Aid bill with health reform legislation to advance President Obama’s two major domestic policy issues, the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act (H.R. 4872). NASW strongly supports this bill and has tirelessly advocated for the creation of public policies that make health care and higher education more affordable and accessible for all ... Read More »