LEGISLATIVE ALERT: Congress is Debating $1.2 Trillion in Government Funding

     Since taking office in January 2021, President Biden has signed 13 major pieces of legislation:

1. American Rescue Plan Act
2. PPP Extension Act
3. COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act
4. Juneteenth National Independence Day Act
5. Capitol Police Congressional Gold Medal Act
6. RENACER Act
7. Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
8. Capitol Police Emergency Assistance Act
9. Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act
10. National Defense Authorization Act, 2022
11. Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2022 (including Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act)
12. Emmett Till Antilynching Act
13. Postal Service Reform Act

     There are several laws passed that come close to being landmark but are not: there was the suspension of permanent normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus, a retroactive ban on forced arbitration of sexual assault claims, the reform of the Victims of Crime Act Fund, the HAVANA Act, bills supporting law enforcement and veterans, and much more. There are several such bills pending, most notably the Ocean Shipping Reform Act and Affordable Insulin Now Act, but the following is what is upcoming for landmark legislation:

1. Sunshine Protection Act: This Senate-passed bill merely needs a House vote, which should be almost unanimous and could even be done quickly under a suspension of the rules; it would make Daylight Savings Time permanent.
2. EQUAL Act: This bill has 10 Republican cosponsors, which means it will pass if all Democrats vote for it; it would end the discrepancy between crack and cocaine sentencing and retroactively reduce the sentences of thousands of inmates.
3. SAFE Banking Act: Passed in the House three separate times this Congress with strong bipartisan support, the SAFE Banking Act would bolster the marijuana industry by protecting banks from criminal liability at the federal level for investing in legitimate marijuana businesses in states where it is legal.
4. MORE Act: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has made this a top priority. Passed largely along party lines in the House, Schumer is working with Republican senators to garner enough support for a bipartisan law to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level.

     Here's where the spending comes in:

1. Honoring Our PACT Act: This landmark $300 billion bill would retroactively provide benefits to hundreds of thousands of veterans who have been exposed to burn pits. The Agent Orange of our time, burn pits are an insidious threat, and this legislation is 40 times bigger than the 9/11 Fund: it would be the most important legislation for veterans since the GI Bill. All 50 Democrats support it, which means it will come down to 10 Republican votes.
2. U.S. Innovation and Competition Act: This landmark bill will have a final price range of between $110 billion and $350 billion. It will make minor investments in clean energy; restore American manufacturing, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and ending the outsourcing of jobs; bolster Made-In-America products; make a historic investment in American supply chains; help America compete with China; restore science and innovation; and much more. It passed the Senate roughly 70 to 30, so it should pass by similar margins in the coming weeks.
3. Senate Democrats are also trying to revive the Build Back Better Agenda with a new strategy: breaking it up into two separate reconciliation bills. The first would meet the moment by providing a $550 billion investment in clean energy, a number that could go higher as Democrats seek to make climate change more of a priority.

     I'll be contacting GOP senators from Alaska, Maine, Kansas, Florida, West Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Utah, and other states to find out their stances on the Honoring Our PACT Act, one that I have great hopes for: when Jon Stewart gets involved, you know it's serious. In any case, we'll be taking big action for America this spring, and it's up to us to make enough noise to ensure every single one of these seven landmark (as well as two other major) bills are passed.