All 50 Republican senators refused even to debate the Freedom to Vote Act (S. 2747) shaped by Sen. Joe Machin (D-WV) and a group of moderate Democrats to address shared concerns. A scaled-back version of the For the People Act (S. 1) blocked by Republicans earlier this year, the Freedom to Vote Act would make…
President Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) are scaling back and refining the Build Back Better Act to win the near-unanimous support of congressional Democrats that is a must-have for passage—the Senate is split 50-50 and the margin in the House is nearly as narrow. With…
The Senate still has not acted on the Equality Act (S. 393) passed by the House in February. The bill would amend federal laws to include sexual orientation and gender identity, giving LGBTQ Americans explicit protection from discrimination in key areas of life: employment, housing, credit, education, public spaces and services, federally funded programs, and…
By Mary Ellen Flannery “I like your take-no-prisoners attitude!” DeWayne Sheaffer, president of NEA’s National Council for Higher Education, told U.S. Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) this month. NEA Higher Ed members will use that same get-it-done attitude, he promised Porter, in sending emails to Capitol Hill, urging their Congressional representatives to support President Biden’s Build…
The Freedom to Vote Act (S. 2747) would, among other things, create national standards so we can safely and freely cast our votes, make Election Day a public holiday, and ensure that every state offers same-day voter registration at all polling locations by 2024 (and at a limited number by 2022). Unlike an earlier version,…