Overview: A partial government shutdown was averted last Friday when the Senate passed a funding bill for the departments of Agriculture, Transportation-HUD, Interior, Commerce, Energy-Water, and Veterans Affairs, sending the package to the president for his signature. This legislation will fund the departments until Oct. 1, when the new fiscal year begins. A second bill for Homeland Security, Defense, Financial Services, Labor-HHS-Education, Legislative Branch and State-Foreign Operations remains outstanding. How to appropriate Homeland Security funds is seen as the most difficult decision on which to reach consensus. This bill must be passed by March 22 to avoid another partial shutdown.
As reported by Bloomberg Government, President Biden's Fiscal 2025 Budget requests $7.3 trillion in total spending. Specific items in the president's request that Catholic Charities has advocated for include providing national paid family and medical leave; expanding the child tax credit and making it fully refundable; providing $8.5 billion for key nutrition programs, including $7.7 billion to fully fund WIC; and supporting healthy SNAP food options and opposing eligibility time limits.
Earmarks: Remember that Congress is accepting Community Project Funding requests, commonly known as earmarks. Earmarks are a funding request for a specific non-governmental entity to carry out a specific project, for example, a Catholic Charities agency may be provided funds for a substance abuse treatment program. Billions of dollars are still available. You should reach out to your member of Congress for more information on how to apply for an earmark, or please reach out to the CCUSA government relations team if you need assistance. Find your elected officials.
Building Civic Bridges Act: CCUSA joins its fellow members of the Team Up! project in endorsing the Building Civic Bridges Act which will be reintroduced into the U.S. Congress soon. A similar bill, also supported by CCUSA, was introduced in the 117th Congress and received strong bipartisan support.
The current bill would establish a non-partisan pilot program, led by an Office of Civic Bridgebuilding within AmeriCorps, focused on four core pillars:
- Administering a competitive grant program to support civic bridgebuilding programs across the nation. Funding will primarily focus on supporting organizations and spaces striving to heal toxic polarization in the United States through civic bridgebuilding efforts;
- Supporting the training of AmeriCorps members in civic bridgebuilding skills and techniques;
- Supporting academic research on civic bridgebuilding, civic engagement, and social cohesion; and
- Activating a public conversation about the importance of civic bridgebuilding by serving a key role as both a convening and coordinating partner to the national civic bridgebuilding movement.
The bill would promote the ability of local communities to tackle sources of division while empowering participants and organizations with a foundation on which they can address contentious issues and, ultimately, bridge divides.
SLFRF Funding Deadline: State and local governments only have until the end of 2024 to obligate any remaining funds they received under the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF) that was enacted three years ago as part of the American Rescue Plan Act. Unless they use the dollars, they lose them (as in sending the money back to the federal government). Billions of dollars are still available. We encourage our agencies to consider the opportunity to receive funding. As an additional reference see the NonProfit Times article, Seize The Moment: Tap Into Remaining American Rescue Plan Act Funds, Nonprofit FAQs, and Template Nonprofit Letter of Inquiry.
Anti-human trafficking: CCUSA, along with the USCCB, Catholic Relief Services, and the Catholic Health Association, wrote a letter to the Senate urging senators to pass the "Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2023," which would provide funds for community education programs, enhance preventive measures, and support reintegration programs for survivors.
Politics: "Civilize It: Our Catholic Response in a Polarized World" is a virtual event streaming live on March 20, 2024, at 4 p.m. EDT. Topics include the challenge of polarization and the tools from our Catholic tradition that can help us heal Church and society. The moderator is Gloria Purvis; panelists are Kerry Alys Robinson, president and CEO of CCUSA, and Rev. Aaron Wessman, G.H.M., author of The Church's Mission in a Polarized World.
Economy: In the week ending March 2, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 217,000, unchanged from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 2,000 from 215,000 to 217,000. The 4-week moving average was 212,250, a decrease of 750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 500 from 212,500 to 213,000.
Convening on homelessness: Attend one of CCUSA's regional convenings on homelessness, which will be co-hosted by local Catholic Charities agencies. Representatives from the government and faith-based organizations shared challenges, ideas, solutions, and models of best practices for addressing homelessness. Registration is open for Dallas, Texas (May 7-8); Philadelphia, Pa. (June 5-6); Providence, RI (June 24-25); and Phoenix, Ariz. (Oct. 24-25). There is no cost to register, but space is limited. Also, a limited number of stipends for travel costs are available to Catholic Charities agency staff members.
Child Tax Credit: After passing the House, the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 has yet to be taken up by the Senate, where it faces potential amendments that would weaken the legislation and make fewer families eligible for the credit. There is still time for you to urge your senators to pass the bill with an expanded Child Tax Credit by using CCUSA's action alert.