On Thursday, May 10, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Sequester Reconciliation Act of 2012 (HR 5352) by a vote of 299-199, a proposal that would replace the automatic spending cuts agreed to under the debt-limit law passed last year. The proposed package would reduce spending by $261 billion over 10 years, cutting SNAP by $33 billion and eliminating funding for the Social Services Block Grant, among other measures.

The bill is unlikely to be considered in the Senate as Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has said that he will not bring to the floor for a vote. In addition, the White House has said that President Obama would veto the proposal if it were to pass both houses of Congress. However, the budget is expected to play a large role in any lame duck sessions taking place after the November elections. 

Many thanks to all that sent messages to their representatives. Your advocacy efforts sent a strong message to Congress that constituents care and will hold them accountable for their spending decisions. To see how your member voted, please see the House clerk’s website. For letters from CCUSA, USCCB, and our partner organizations, please visit the “Letters to Congress” section of our web site. For more information, please contact Lucreda Cobbs, Senior Director, Policy and Legislative Affairs, at lcobbs@CatholicCharitiesUSA.org

On Wednesday, May 9, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security approved $120 million in funding for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP). The level of funding approved by the committee was $20 million above what had been requested in the budget proposed by President Obama earlier this year.

EFSP is part of the McKinney-Vento Act of 1987, and provides funding for emergency food and shelter programs to communities across the country. The program is run through FEMA and is administered by a national board of non-profit organizations, of which Catholic Charities USA is a member. The program is centered on quick response, public-private sector cooperation, local decision making and funds allocations to the neediest areas.

The Senate is expected to follow the House of Representatives and support the request for an allocation of $120 million for the program. For more information, please contact Ron Jackson, Senior Director, Government Affairs, at rjackson@CatholicCharitiesUSA.org

Last Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee marked up its version of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (HR 4377). The final version of the bill was passed by the committee by a 17-15 vote, and is an alternate form of a similar bill that was passed by the Senate earlier this month. The Senate's bill is a five-year reauthorization of the legislation which includes some additional provisions that have been the subject of some controversy. The House bill is a reauthorization of VAWA which does not include the controversial provisions. Debate between the Senate and the House will center around which version of the reauthorization to pass.

The legislation was successfully reauthorized in 2000 and 2005. For more information on the House VAWA bill, please visit the committee website. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has indicated that the House bill will likely go to the floor to be voted on sometime this week. Catholic Charities USA has signed a letter on VAWA, which can be found here. For more information, please contact Candy Hill, Sr. Vice-President, Social Policy and Government Affairs, at chill@CatholicCharitiesUSA.org

On Tuesday, May 8, the House Committee on Agriculture held a hearing on the 2012 reauthorization of the farm bill. Its chairman, Rep. Frank Lucas, R-OK, indicated that in writing the legislation, committee staff may look to cut government spending by targeting waste, fraud, and abuse in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps.)

In response, some of the panelists expressed their belief that illegal activity in the program is at an all-time low, pointing to statistics from the Agriculture Department indicating a fraud rate between about 1 and 4 percent. They argued that a strong SNAP program is vital to ensure millions of Americans access to healthy food.

The committee is in the process of writing a bill that will be introduced in coming weeks. SNAP is expected to be threatened by cuts to the $75 billion program, which provides vital nutrition assistance programs to over 46 million low-income Americans every year.

Click here for more information about the House committee's hearing. The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee is proposing cuts of $4 billion to the program in the farm bill that the committee approved April 26. For more information, please contact Ron Jackson, Senior Director, Government Affairs, at rjackson@CatholicCharitiesUSA.org