On the heels of Valentine’s Day, love is in the air, but not on Capitol Hill. President Trump kicked off the week with the delivery of his administration’s Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) budget proposal, A Budget for America’s Future, to Congress.
READ MORE from The Trump Administration’s FY21 Budget Proposal
President Trump delivered his official State of the Union address on February 5. Among the special guests invited to attend the speech was Felicia Porter, who works as a Senate custodian through Goodwill of Greater Washington’s participation in the AbilityOne program.
This year is an election year, resulting in a shorter legislative calendar for Congress so that lawmakers can have ample time on the campaign trail. This means in order to gain lawmakers’ attentions and for policies to get pushed through this year, advocates must be smarter in their efforts.
READ MORE from Introducing Our New and Improved Legislative Action Center!
January is National Mentoring Month. I’ve been fortunate to have a number of mentors in my life including family, teachers, friends and colleagues who have all helped me advance in my career, overcome challenges or provided another perspective on something I may have been struggling with.
Nearly every state legislature – with the exception of Texas, North Dakota, Montana and Nevada – will be holding a legislative session this year, and the vast majority of them are convening this month.
An election year can be a difficult one for Congress to accomplish a lot, given a shortened legislative calendar to provide lawmakers with ample time to be on the campaign trail.
The year 2019 and the first session of the 116th Congress came to a close with a few public policy wins that could benefit local Goodwill® organizations and the people they serve.
Perhaps Congress is feeling the holiday spirit, or lawmakers recognize that we’re heading into an election year, or our collective advocacy efforts have paid off – whatever the motivation, Congress (the House and Senate) and the Administration have reached a deal on federal funding and a year-end tax bill, thus averting a government shutdown.
This month marks the first anniversary of the signing of the First Step Act of 2018, a landmark criminal justice reform bill.
This past Tuesday, December 3 marked Giving Tuesday, a day when American generosity is on full display. Early reports indicate that nonprofits raised nearly $2 billion.
We’re giving thanks this year for our supporters and Congressional champions who have advocated on behalf of the Goodwill® mission, advanced our public policy priorities, and strengthened our influence with policymakers.
As I write this, federal funding is set to expire at midnight (again). For the last few weeks, we have been concerned that the government may shut down (again).
