This week, Goodwill® advocates from around the country will visit Capitol Hill and meet with hundreds of lawmakers to advocate for federal investments in programs that leverage Goodwill and benefit the people we serve, and increase employment opportunities for people with disabilities. You can help bolster the success of their visits and help strengthen Goodwill’s public policy influence.
READ MORE from Join the #GoodwillOnHill Virtual Advocacy Day
Since 1902, Goodwill has been helping people find jobs despite employment challenges. Much has changed since our founder, Edgar Helms, opened the first Goodwill store in south Boston, providing jobs and much needed wages to people in the economically distressed neighborhood. Back then, a solid education was certainly nice to have; today however, access to education is an absolute necessity if one is to succeed in a job and advance in a career.
Both the House and Senate are due to complete work on their respective budget resolutions this week, right before leaving town for a two week recess. The budget resolutions don’t become law, but they do set the spending targets for the current fiscal year, creating one possible blueprint for spending and tax policy for the next 10 years.
READ MORE from House and Senate Budgets – A Case of Vote and Run
Most everyone is familiar with March Madness, the NCAA college basketball playoffs - the brackets, the hype, the fans and ultimately the games themselves. Well Washington, DC is in the midst of its own style of March Madness.
Last Friday, the U.S. Department of Labor released its jobs report for the month of February. The February jobs report finds that the unemployment rate has fallen to 5.5 percent, its lowest level since May 2008. In addition, 295,000 jobs were added last month. In response to these findings, Secretary of Labor Tom Perez stated, "No one's spiking the football here, but there's an undeniable tailwind in the economy."
READ MORE from Tailwind Economy Represents a First Down in a Long Drive
March is National Women's History Month and Developmental Disabilities Month. These should not be viewed as competing events. In fact, in terms of the barriers that women and people with developmental disabilities still struggle to overcome, they have more in common. Both have to address stereotypes and discrimination.
READ MORE from Women’s History and Developmental Disabilities Awareness in March
Debate and disagreements on issues are both common and necessary in a representative government. But in too many instances this week the old partisan refrains were echoed in such a full throttled manner that it left me wondering if there is any chance for an agreeable resolution to these issues.
READ MORE from Serious Issues Demand Thoughtful Consideration
I had to fly recently. In the process of making polite pre-flight conversation with my neighbor, she asked me the question, “What do you do?” When I informed her that I’m Goodwill’s senior director for government affairs and public policy, she looked quizzically at me and then asked, “What does Goodwill® need lobbyists for?” It’s a fair and frequently-asked question. So why does Goodwill engage in advocacy and what do we advocate for?
The Senate will soon bring up S. 192, the Older Americans Act (OAA), for a vote. If you have already contacted your senators we thank you. You’ve helped to move this key legislation for America’s lowest income seniors. If not, Goodwill® supports this bipartisan legislation and we urge you to take just a couple of minutes to ask your senators to support S. 192.
READ MORE from Urge “Yes” Vote When the Senate Considers the Older Americans Act
When the president announced his next to last budget on Monday he laid down a blueprint designed to draw sharp distinctions from the new GOP controlled Congress, but also looks for common ground on some policies. For example, the budget calls for tax increases on the wealthiest Americans while seeking to boost defense spending. The budget proposes ending the sequester, something the bipartisan Murray-Ryan budget deal accomplished for two years, but it also called for increases in non-defense domestic spending increases.
READ MORE from President Releases FY 2016 Budget, Battles with Congress Loom
Maybe it’s their abysmal approval ratings, or that the last Congress was rated the least productive ever, or perhaps it was the election results. No matter the reason, this Congress is pushing ahead at a brisk pace, for Congress anyway.
President Obama fulfilled his constitutional requirement to address the nation earlier this week with the annual State of the Union. The pundits will weigh in on whether or not the policies laid out will be achievable in a Republican-controlled Congress. The economists will debate what can be paid for and how. The journalists will count how many times the crowd clapped and stood. As an advocate, I looked for the programs that impact Goodwill® and the people we serve.
READ MORE from Goodwill® Reacts to State of the Union Address
