Senate Readies Passage of VAWA Reauthorization
The Senate was nearing a final vote on S. 47, the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The legislation, sponsored by the Chair of the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), has 61 cosponsors. A House version, HR 11, sponsored by Representative Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) has 181 House cosponsors.
The Senate bypassed the committee process this time around, since it is largely the same as last year’s VAWA bill. The one main difference between this Senate bill and last year’s bill is that this version does not include a revenue-raising fee related to the immigration visas.
House leadership had argued that such a provision violated the Constitution, since all revenue-raising actions must originate in the House. The provision was taken out in an effort to remove one argument against the legislation. There were indications that discussions on House action have made progress, with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) involved in discussions.
Also in this week’s edition of Capitol View:
- Groups lobbying to protect domestic and defense spending may band together as the next fiscal cliff approaches
- The Family and Medical Leave Act turns 20
- Three D.C. policy groups hosted a panel discussion last week to call for reform of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program
- The Department of Health and Human Services is still taking comments from the public on implementation of the Affordable Care Act until Feb. 21
John Sciamanna is a strategic consultant on child welfare policy and legislation. Complete copies of the newsletter Capitol View on Kids are available through membership in the National Foster Care Coalition (www.nationalfostercare.org ) or the National Child Abuse Coalition (www.nationalchildabuse.org ).
For more information on either coalition, email: [email protected]