April 21st
1000 MORE's weekly nonpartisan roundup of the most important happenings in federal government, written in a way that doesn't require a law degree to understand, with tools to take action
April 21, 2023
This week in MORE POWER:
A House proposal to avoid economic meltdown
Congress votes to ban trans girls from sports
A bill to block adversaries from spying abroad
An official response to the Spy Balloon
Fire Grants & Safety Act
Gun bills in Congress
A House Proposal To Avoid Economic Meltdown
This week, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, (R-CA) finally released a proposal to lift the debt ceiling: the Limit, Save, Grow Act. The debt ceiling is the Congressionally imposed limit on how much debt the federal government can accrue on past spending. Whenever this debt gets close to the ceiling, Congress has to act to raise the limit in order to prevent defaulting on the debt, and the economic meltdown default would cause. This bill would lift the debt ceiling through May of 2024.
It would also set a $584B cap on non-defense discretionary spending (aka programs like Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, SNAP, etc), limit budget growth to 1% annually for the next 10 years, ban student loan forgiveness, repeal green tax credits, set work requirements for social programs, enact the Low Energy Costs Act that the House passed last month and pass the REINS Act, which is designed to reduce federal regulation.
Passing the bill is widely considered the next step in overall debt ceiling negotiations. The Democrat-controlled Senate is expected to counter with a "clean" debt ceiling bill, meaning legislation solely to increase the debt limit without spending cuts, which is what the White House wants and what has largely been done in the past.
The House is likely to vote on the Limit, Save, Grow Act next week. Time is of the essence, as analysts estimate that the federal government could default on the debt as early as June if Congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling by then. The likely domino effects of default include the stock market tanking, the value of the dollar and 401Ks plummeting, as well as delays in government program payments like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, WIC, and the VA
Congress Votes To Ban Trans Girls From Sports
In debate about Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act this week, Rep. Jimmy Gomez called Republicans “bigots and bullies.”
Professional women athletes like Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird also tried to stop the bill, claiming women’s sports need protection from “unequal pay, sexual abuse, & lack of resources, NOT from trans kids.” In spite of their efforts, yesterday House Republicans passed the bill.
Supporter of the bill Rep. Nancy Mace, (R-SC) said: "I’m a girl mom. Also, my girl is an athlete. I cannot imagine her having to be put in that position where there's a biological male in her locker room. Or if she's trying to compete for a college scholarship that it gets taken away by a man who's much stronger and has much greater physical capabilities that she does … it’s complete and total bulls---. It’s cruel."
If the bill passes the Senate and gets signed into law by the president, it would ban trans women and girls from competing in sports. However, that is unlikely to happen in the LGBTQ+ rights friendly, Democrat-run chamber. The Senate is not expected to put the bill on their schedule.
A Bill To Block Adversaries From Spying Abroad
Many of the bills Congress has passed this year have a foreign policy focus, namely, thwarting threats from China. The Countering Untrusted Telecommunications Abroad Act is another bill in this vein. If Congress passes it and the President signs it into law, the bill would help the U.S. and its allies shore up telecommunications equipment and channels in order to make sure that U.S. diplomatic missions have secure communications. It would also prevent the potential of Chinese government spying by banning certain companies with ties to Beijing from getting telecommunications contracts. The House passed the bill on Wednesday. It goes to the Senate next.
The USA Act
An Official Response To The Spy Balloon
You may remember the Chinese spy balloon debacle earlier this year, when an unmanned aircraft floated high above sensitive military sites across the continental U.S., likely capturing information. That particular balloon was eventually shot down over the Atlantic ocean in South Carolina, but the news story prompted the White House to acknowledge that there have been at least five balloons of this kind. The federal government hasn't publicly held the people involved in this type of spying accountable.
Rep. Gregory Meeks, (D-NY) sponsored a bill to change that - the USA Act. This bill would not only use international diplomatic pressure to target the individuals responsible, it would use export controls and sanctions, like stopping property transactions and ending visas of individuals involved. The House passed the USA Act this week. The Senate will vote on it next.
Fire Grants & Safety Act
You probably know about the mega wildfires that have plagued the West Coast in recent years, but did you know that several large wildfires popped up on the East Coast this week in states like Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania? Combatting these large scale blazes continues to require coordination from all levels of government, and with the projected acceleration of a changing climate, this problem isn't going anywhere soon.
That, in addition to expiring programs to fund firefighting in communities nationwide moved the Senate to pass the Fire Grants & Safety Act this week. The House votes on the bill next.
Gun Bills In Congress
Misinformation about gun policy reform is running rampant. Many people are saying, “nothing is going to happen” and “elected officials are doing nothing.” That's not true.
In reality, there is a lot happening on the Hill and we are closer to progress than you may think- but it won't happen without public pressure. There are now over 40 pieces of legislation on guns in Congress, including:
The Assault Weapons Ban to largely ban the types of guns used in mass shootings.
The Federal Firearm Licensee Act to close loopholes in federal legislation in order to stop illegal firearms sales.
The Mental Health Access and Gun Violence Prevention Act to provide funding for mental healthcare and set-up a nationwide mental health background check system.
The Office of Gun Violence Prevention Act to set up a new federal agency to coordinate funding and policy for gun violence prevention nationwide.
Our elected officials will only bring these bills to a vote with enough pressure from constituents. If we don’t contact our legislators on these issues, the big lobby wins. You can use the links above to read about each bill in the platform and take action.
What Congress Passed This Week
What POTUS Signed Into Law This Week
Nothing.
