Washington DC Update News
Below are recent articles from the Washington DC Update newsletter, a weekly Family Voices newsletter that provides the latest on national policy affecting children/youth with special health care needs and their families, and also shares relevant resources and happenings in the field.
Washington Update March 23, 2022
Spring has Sprung! The Cherry Blossom Festival is in full swing. For the next 4 weeks, trees along the tidal basin and throughout the city will be filled with pink blossoms; their petals carried all over the District. The planting of cherry trees in Washington DC...
Washington Update March 16, 2022
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a budget! Late last week, the Senate passed a $1.5 trillion omnibus spending package (text; summary). The 2700 page bill combines 12 appropriations bills and will fund the federal government through the end of its fiscal year in September...
Washington Update March 9, 2022
It wouldn’t be a week in Washington if a deadline with a fiscal cliff wasn’t looming! As both chambers of Congress kick off the March legislative work session this week there is likely to be a lot of roaring as they deal with a March 11 government funding deadline, a...
Washington Update March 3, 2022
“If March comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb.” As both chambers of Congress kick off the March legislative work session this week there is likely to be a lot of roaring as they deal with a March 11 government funding deadline, a lengthy list of...
Washington Update February 24, 2022
Congress is on recess this week for the President’s Day work period. The Senate will return on February 28th and the House will return on March 1st. Although they did not finalize a budget before the recess, they did pass a temporary continuing resolution until March...
Washington Update February 9, 2022
“Money is the opposite of the weather. Nobody talks about it, but everybody does something about it.” – Rebecca Johnson The Budget: Let’s hope that Congress is doing a lot of talking about the weather AND budget! As the February 18th deadline for the temporary...
Washington Update January 26, 2022
No Go on Voting Rights and Election Reforms While the legislation did not pass last week, there is a small group of Senators turning last week's discussions into momentum for a narrower bipartisan effort to reexamine the 1887 law that governs how Congress counts...
Washington Update January 19, 2022
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”- Martin Luther King Jr. This King quote is something that we live by as families in the care of our loved ones and as family leaders in efforts to bring about systems change. While 2022 has...
Washington Update January 13, 2022
Happy New Year! Both houses of Congress are back in session this week after a Holiday break. Build Back Better is… no one is sure what it is or where it stands. Is it alive? Is it dead? It appears that Build Back Better (BBB) is on “pause” now as committees turn to...
Washington Update December 14, 2021
This week in Washington, Congress will be tied up with the National Defense Authorization Act and voting to raise the debt ceiling - among many other things. Build Back Better (BBB) is…still being built. Many steps in the building process still remain to be completed....