We want to update you this morning on time-sensitive news about what is happening in Congress. The U.S. Senate is expected to vote today on a Republican senator’s resolution aimed at reversing the Biden public charge regulation. As a reminder, the new public charge regulation, which PIF supported and fought hard for, recently took effect. It’s important to note that, on its own, this vote will not result in any changes to public charge policy. However, we take any attack on immigrant families seriously and are committed to mounting an effective defense.
The Nitty-Gritty:
Though subject to change, the vote is currently scheduled for around 5:00pm EDT.
The resolution requires only a one-vote majority to pass, and given the Senate’s current makeup and Republican leadership’s backing, we believe passage is possible. If passed by the Senate, it would also have to be passed by the House and then signed by President Biden in order to change the current public charge policy. You can watch the vote on the Senate website.
What Is PIF Doing?
The PIF team is working with champions on Capitol Hill to shore up our defense in the Senate. While a widespread congressional outreach effort might inadvertently raise the profile of this otherwise-obscure proposal, we have identified a few Senate delegations as priorities for today’s vote.
What Can PIF Members Do?
PIF and NILC have produced talking points on the CRA, that you can find here. We’d ask that partners who live or work directly in the target states listed below to call their senators today, urging a no vote on “SJ Res 18”. The Capitol switchboard is 202-224-3121, and you can find your specific senator’s contact info on the Senate website. Calls from outside lawmaker’s state would be counterproductive, but constituent calls could be helpful. In particular, we think calls from hospital executives, business leaders, and similar stakeholders could be persuasive. We have two tiers of targets:
