MORE POWER for Jan. 20th
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
January 20, 2023
This week in MORE POWER:
Crowdfund advocacy on immigration policy
An update on pending anti-abortion bills
A bill to reduce IRS funding
Strategic Energy Reserve legislation
Talking politics on Majority 54 podcast
Crowdfund Advocacy on Immigration Policy
Immigration reform has bipartisan attention and support in the new Congress, but what reforms come together remain to be seen. On January 9th, Representative Chip Roy (R-TX) introduced H.R. 29 Border Safety and Security Act. This bill is limited in scope, but allows the Department of Homeland Security to completely close the border if they determine they do not have the resources to evaluate individuals' immigration claims. This would result in many individuals with legitimate and pressing asylum claims being denied entry to the US.
Crowdfunding is a great way to pool small-dollar donations to have a big impact. Use 1000 MORE to donate to an organization advocating for or against this bill.
Update on Anti-Abortion Bills
Now that Republicans control the House, what bills get called for a vote in that chamber look very different from Congress' previous term. This especially applies to abortion bills. In their first week of business, the House introduced:
H.R. 26 Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act: this bill protects infants born alive from an abortion and sets criminal penalties if a doctor does not provide the infant due care. Some doctors say this bill is redundant, as the bipartisan Born-Alive Infants Protection Act already passed in 2002.
H.R. 7 No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act: this bill prohibits the use of federal funds for healthcare that includes abortions and restricts hospitals that receive federal funds from performing abortions.
Last week, the House passed the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which is now in the Senate. To pass there, the bill would first need to get scheduled for a vote, but that is unlikely because the majority leader is a pro-abortion rights Democrat. The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act is still on the House’s schedule for a vote.
Have a view on these bills that you would like to share?
Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act
In August of last year, a Congress run by Democrats passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) with spending items aimed at reducing inflation and the rising cost of living. Since then, Republicans have focused attacks on one specific item in the IRA: adding an additional $25.3 billion in funding to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Earlier this month, the now Republican-run House passed H.R. 23 Family and Small Business Taxpayer Protection Act along a strict party line vote. This bill would rescind the funds made available to the IRS through the IRA.
Advocates for the new bill argue that spending more on tax enforcement is both unnecessary and double-dips in the pockets of taxpayers. Supporters of this spending argue that the IRS needs more funds to hire new employees to replace a retiring workforce and better enforce tax fraud, which could result in the IRS collecting back many of their new expenses.
Senate Democrats have said they will not schedule this bill for a vote. Want to share your views on it with your Senators?
Strategic Oil Reserve
America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve is a fuel reserve of up to 700 million barrels for the government to use, distribute, or sell to manage crises or sudden rises in fuel costs. Last year, President Biden sold 180 barrels of oil from the reserve to manage rising fuel costs caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While this had the immediate effect of lowering gas prices, its long-term impact is still unknown.
Last week, the House introduced two measures to protect our reserve and to ensure we are not distributing oil to China, a major fuel competitor:
H.R. 21 Strategic Production Response Act: This bill would limit how much oil can be drawn from our strategic reserve until a plan is created to replenish recently sold barrels. This bill was introduced but has not been called for a vote in the House yet.
H.R. 22 Protecting America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve from China Act: This bill would prohibit sales from our strategic reserve to China and requires purchasers to agree they will not send purchased oil to companies owned by China. It passed with a wide bipartisan vote of 331 to 97; that's 218 Republicans and 113 Democrats voting yes. It now goes to the Senate.
You can use 1000 MORE to read about H.R. 22 and contact your Senators.
1000 MORE on Majority 54 with Jason Kander & Ravi Gupta
This week I had the opportunity to sit down with Majority 54 cohosts Jason Kander and Ravi Gupta for a conversation on how voters can stay engaged beyond elections. (Our chat starts at 37:05 if you want to skip ahead. Sorry Jason and Ravi. ;)
