President Trump speaks to the press with first lady Melania Trump and Acting Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Norman Sharpless (left) and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar in the Oval Office at the White House on Wednesday. (Nicholas . . .
U.S. Congress
TV broadcasters to stop taking e-cigarette ads
A woman exhales a puff of vapor from a Juul pen in Vancouver, Wash. Television broadcasters including Viacom, CBS and WarnerMedia announced they are no longer running e-cigarette ads. (Craig Mitchelldyer/AP) Major broadcast companies including CBS, Viacom, and WarnerMedia . . .
Guns terror in America
PBS Newshour
Shootings renew debate over how to combat domestic terrorism
Texas state troopers guarding the entrance to the mall where 22 people were killed in El Paso. The F.B.I. has been pressing for better coordination with local and state law enforcement agencies to combat domestic terrorism. (Credit: Adriana Zehbrauskas for . . .
Emotional Sen. Rob Portman says he hopes for gun law consensus after Dayton and El Paso shootings
In this April 11, 2019 file photo, Sen. Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio, leaves the chamber as senators wrap up legislative work at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. Rob Portman on . . .
Call to Action: Rise for Refuge National Day of Action
There will be a national day of action in support of immigrant asylum and resettlement on August 3, 2019. Please consider participating in this action supporting the beliefs of The Episcopal Church See more Information here https://www.weareallusa.org/riseforrefuge Put your . . .
Rise for Refuge National Day of Action
See more Information here https://www.weareallusa.org/riseforrefuge Put your event on the map https://www.weareallusa.org/events On the heels of Trump barring virtually all refugees from seeking asylum at the U.S. southern border, reports have surfaced that administration officials are pressing to zero out refugee . . .
House votes to protect coasts from new offshore drilling activities
Representatives Vote to Reinstate Atlantic, Eastern Gulf and Pacific Offshore Drilling Moratoriums Thursday, June 20, 2019 Location: Washington, DC Loryn Baughman: lbaughman@nulloceana.org 202-467-1909 Dustin Cranor, APR: dcranor@nullOceana.org 954.348.1314 Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed three amendments to the . . .
Urge Congress to fund gun violence research
June 11th, marks a day of action to advocate for Congress to fund gun violence research. The Office of Government Relations, in partnership with Bishops United Against Gun Violence, is calling on Episcopalians to support this funding. Tomorrow, the House . . .
New census data projects which states could gain or lose congressional seats in 2020 reapportionment
On Dec. 19, the Census Bureau released its 2018 population estimates for every state, detailing how many residents each state has gained or lost since the 2010 census. The firm Election Data Services has used these estimates to project how many congressional . . .
Episcopal Public Policy Network (EPPN) Office of Government Relations has issued an Action Alert
Expand Background Checks Last week, Bishops United Against Gun Violence, a group of more than 80 Episcopal bishops working to curtail the epidemic of gun violence in the United States, gathered in Washington D.C., to continue their advocacy for the . . .
Resources on HR 6, the American Dream and Promise Act
Dear Friends, The final text of the American Dream and Promise Act of 2019 (HR 6) — which now has 207 cosponsors — was posted this morning. On behalf of Undocublack, United We Dream and the National Immigration Law Center, . . .
Bipartisan deal on public lands preserves US natural treasures
The Wayne National Forest headquarters and Athens Ranger Station between Athens and Nelsonville (Dispatch photo) Wonder of wonders: In a year when it takes a 35-day government shutdown to get Congress to agree on anything and when the president’s . . .
Nearly $30 million in federal funds secured for Great Lakes
New budget includes money to control algal blooms, Asian carp U.S. Rep Marcy Kaptur, D-Toledo. (Jon Stinchcomb/News Herald) WASHINGTON – Despite so much political contention prior to its passage late last week, one area of the federal budget that received . . .
Congress signs off on water bill with projects to help Lake Erie
A man fishes from a break wall on the shores of Lake Erie in Cleveland. (Tony Dejak, Associated Press) The U.S. Senate on Wednesday signed off on legislation that authorizes federal spending for water projects and demands that the U.S. . . .
New state report on overdose deaths unveils good, bad, ugly
For those who view last week’s long-awaited release of the Ohio Department of Health’s annual report on accidental drug overdoses through the lens of a glass half full, they will confidently find concrete evidence for cheer. For those who view . . .
Bipartisan opioid bill would boost treatment, without the funding advocacy groups wanted
00:0000:0000:0000:00UP NEXT…AD06:26 / 17:06 Quality Auto360p720p1080 Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill hope to combat the opioid epidemic in part by expanding access to addiction treatment, a key part of the major legislative package unveiled late Tuesday. But some advocacy . . .
House passes major opioids bill, including Portman portion
The House easily approved a bill Friday aimed at reducing the number of Americans addicted to opioids, a measure that includes a section from Sen. Rob Portman to make it more difficult to use the mail system to send fentanyl . . .
Harmful U.S. Farm Bill is back – and it’s worse than before
Tell your member of Congress to vote NO! We just got word that the Farm Bill (H.R. 2) will be up for a re-vote TODAY in the U.S. House. Right now, the vote is too close to call. That’s why . . .
Moving backward
Efforts to Undo Pre-Existing Condition Protections Put Millions of Women and Girls at Risk The National Partnership for Women and Families is a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy group dedicated to promoting fairness in the workplace, reproductive health and rights, access to . . .
House GOP plan would cut Medicare, Medicaid to balance budget
(Photo by Matt McClain/The Washington Post) House Republicans released a proposal Tuesday that would balance the budget in nine years — but only by making large cuts to entitlement programs, including Medicare, that President Trump vowed not to touch. . . .
Sen. Sherrod Brown drafts bill to overturn Ohio voter roll purging upheld by Supreme Court
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown has introduced legislation that would counteract a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld Ohio’s method of purging ineligible voters from its rolls. Days after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Ohio’s process for removing inactive . . .
Congresswoman Beatty Anti-Human Trafficking Bill now law
Securing justice for victims of human trafficking Congresswoman Beatty is a leader in the bipartisan effort in Congress to end the scourge of human trafficking Congresswoman Beatty celebrates the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, H.R. . . .
House Republican Farm Bill proposal launches a dangerous attack on nutrition assistance
A view of the U.S. Capitol dome, January 2018. (Getty/Drew Angerer) Yesterday, House Republicans released a draft of the 2018 Farm Bill, opening up another front on their ongoing attack on struggling Americans’ access to food assistance. The Farm . . .
“WE” are killing our children!
On Valentine’s Day, a day to celebrate love, the expectation is that couples would enjoy a nice dinner, chocolates or roses, that would normally cause their hearts to flutter. However, this year on February 14th, hearts were not moved by . . .
Domestic abusers could carry concealed guns under US House-passed bill
The House voted Wednesday along party lines for a bill that would require states to honor other states’ concealed carry licenses — a top priority of the National Rifle Association. The proposal, which all Ohio Republicans supported and all Ohio . . .
Brown calls for passage of bill to keep Fentanyl out of Ohio
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) called for Senate passage of his bill to keep deadly synthetic opioids like fentanyl out of Ohio following passage of the bill in the House of Representatives. The INTERDICT Act passed in the House Tuesday, . . .
How failure of the Obamacare repeal affects consumers
Obamacare repeal is dead, again. But the months of Republican attacks on the health law will still have consequences for some consumers. For now, people who get their insurance through Medicaid can rest easy. While some states have applied to . . .
Bipartisan Senate group prepares to present Obamacare fix
Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander, HELP Committee chairman, and Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the committee’s top-ranking Democrat, are expected to release a bill early next week. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Senators on the health committee are working over the . . .
House budget cuts to nutrition assistance would harm families in every state
AP/Robert F. BukatyIn this March 27, 2017, photo Sunny Larson, left, and Zak McCutcheon pick produce while gathering provisions to take home at the Augusta Food Bank in Augusta, Maine. Budgets, it is often said in Washington, are moral . . .
Portman, others want feds to investigate Backpage
Sen. Rob Portman is asking the U.S. Justice Department to open a criminal case against the website Backpage.com. The Ohio Republican on Thursday joined Sens. Tom Carper, D-Del., and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., in calling on the government to investigate whether . . .
Report shows Ohio’s richest would benefit from GOP health plan
Nearly 540,000 Ohioans would lose coverage over the next decade under the House version of the American Health Care Act. (Andrew Malone/Flickr) Ohio’s millionaires could see an average tax cut of close to $27,000 a year if the American Health . . .
Senate’s opioid fund cannot substitute for health coverage
Paul Wright smokes a cigarette, Thursday, June 15, 2017, at the Neil Kennedy Recovery Clinic in Youngstown, Ohio. (AP/David Dermer) This column contains a correction. The concerns of some Senate Republicans about making the opioid epidemic worse have spilled . . .
Senate health care bill would worsen opioid crisis, lawmakers say
Some local politicians fear the health care bill unveiled in the Senate on Thursday will make it more difficult for Ohio to fight the growing opioid crisis. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Cleveland, specifically targeted changes in the Medicaid . . .
Rob Portman noncommittal on Republican Senate healthcare plan
Sen. Rob Portman said Thursday he has not yet taken a stance on the new Republican Senate healthcare bill.(John Minchillo, Associated Press) Sen. Rob Portman hasn’t yet made up his mind on the new healthcare bill. Senate healthcare . . .
Sen. Portman, stand up for health reform that doesn’t hurt Ohioans or cripple fight against opioid abuse: editorial
As the Senate drafts its version of health care reform, President Donald Trump had lunch Tuesday with some key Republican senators in the Cabinet Room of the White House, including Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio at far left. Portman has . . .
Rob Portman’s dilemma: How to repeal Obamacare without undermining opioid fight
Opioid overdose runs are becoming commonplace across the country. First responders are dealing with an epidemic never before seen. It weighs on them. (Liz DuFour) Republican Senator from Ohio Rob Portman talks with reporters in the basement of the . . .
Portman joins push for cuts to Medicaid expansion funds
Portman (Associated Press) Sen. Rob Portman has joined with other Republicans in pushing for a compromise to gradually reduce federal dollars for Medicaid expansion in Ohio and other states. The new effort is in contrast with the House-passed measure . . .
Portman wants phaseout of Medicaid-expansion funds; Kasich has backed in past
With his fellow Republican senators struggling to produce an Obamacare replacement, Rob Portman of Cincinnati is pushing to gradually scale back federal funding of Medicaid expansion in Ohio and other states. The proposal stands in contrast with the House-passed version . . .
Ohio House wants to include work requirements for Medicaid
(Credit Ohio Public Radio) The Ohio House’s state budget proposal includes a new work requirement for the 700 thousand people enrolled in Medicaid. Ohio Public Radio’s Andy Chow explains. The House version of the state budget says those who . . .
Unemployed Ohioans would lose healthcare coverage under proposed changes to Medicaid expansion
(Lisa DeJong/The Plain Dealer) A new state budget proposal presented in the Ohio House of Representatives would limit the number of people eligible for Medicaid through the expansion. The proposed budget would only cover under the expansion those who are . . .
The White House unveiled a tax reform plan. It’s not really a plan
The White House unveiled the bare outlines of a plan to revamp the U.S. tax code on Wednesday, touting the proposal as the “biggest tax cut” in history but offering few fresh specifics about how the overhaul would work or . . .
What changed in the health repeal plan to win over the Freedom Caucus
A month after pulling their health care overhaul bill from the floor, House Republicans are growing increasingly confident that they may have found a way to pass it. An amendment drafted by Tom MacArthur, a New Jersey congressman, would keep . . .
Meals on Wheels: More than a meal
Meals on Wheels provide home-delivered meals for homebound older adults via locally administered programs. According to Meals on Wheels America, these programs receive about 35 percent of their funding from the federal government through the Older Americans Act. As the . . .
Who would Jesus starve? GOP lawmaker uses Bible to justify SNAP cuts
Who would Jesus starve? Step aside Pope Francis, because this Texas Republican seems know exactly who: One lawmaker is citing a godly reference to justify changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Tex.) recently quoted the New Testament to . . .
Sen. Brown reintroduces legislation to end pay discrimination
Today is Equal Pay Day and Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown is reintroducing legislature that would end pay discrimination based on gender. The Paycheck Fairness Act would close a loophole that allows women to be paid less than men, according to . . .
Talking about the Trump budget
With President Trump’s proposed budget touching every aspect of American life, our national nonpartisan Campus Election Engagement Project has pulled together the attached resource on ways to use this teachable moment to discuss the budget’s implications. It’s designed for classrooms, . . .
Medicaid coverage for 715k Ohioans hangs in balance as debate rages
Gov. Kasich is arguing to keep Medicaid expansion under Obamacare, but Republicans in Congress and in Columbus have other plans. Ohio House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger and Senate President Larry Obhof respond to the governor’s 2017 State of the State address . . .
Ohio would lose funding for heating aid, arts, Lake Erie clean-up under Trump budget
Donald Trump’s first budget may go nowhere in Congress, but it laid down a gauntlet more direct than the president’s bluntest tweets: The federal government will be far smaller, and even the pet projects of the states that sent him . . .
Ohio’s sickest children may wind up in budget vise
Gov. John Kasich’s administration plans to overhaul a program that helps pay medical bills for Ohio’s sickest children, but it is raising concern that fewer will get the care they need. The Bureau of Children with Medical Handicaps (BCMH) pays . . .