Policy Corner: July 24, 2020

House and Senate Advance the Defense Spending Bill

The U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, separately, advanced the Fiscal Year 2021 appropriations bill to fund the Department of Defense, which is usually the first bill passed of the 12 appropriation bills necessary to fund federal government beginning Oct. 1. The Senate approved a $740.5 billion defense spending bill, and the House passed its version earlier this week. shortly after. The House Appropriations Committee approved an additional $175 million for the peer-reviewed psychological health and traumatic brain injury research program and an additional $40 million for spinal cord research.

House and Senate Agree on Bill Relating to Specially Adapted Housing for Veterans

The House approved the final passage of the Ryan Kules and Paul Benne Specially Adaptive Housing Improvement Act, H.R. 3504, which would increase the current amount of the Specially Adapted Housing grant to better match the cost of construction, establish a supplementary grant for veterans who need it, and allow veterans more opportunities to draw from the grant funds to accommodate moving and life changes. The grant program is administered by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and is available to service members and veterans with certain severe service-connected disabilities. The bill was introduced last year by Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) and had passed both legislative bodies. However, a Senate amendment necessitated that the House concur before it could be sent to the president.

BIAA Supports Strengthening the SNAP program

The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) signed a letter organized by the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) to House Leadership in support of bill and report language that would strengthen the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in the recently approved Fiscal Year 2021 Agriculture-Rural Development-FDA spending bill. The report language would block the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents rule and the Standard Utility Allowance rule, as well as report language that encourages USDA to withdraw the Broad-Based Categorical Eligibility rule. These rules threaten access to SNAP, referred to as food stamps, for people with disabilities and for students with disabilities who are automatically eligible and directly certified for free school meals through participation in SNAP.

National Health Advocates Call for Funding to Help Schools to Reopen Safely

National health organizations and child advocates, led by the American Academy of Pediatrics, wrote to House and Senate leadership calling on Congress to pass at least $200 billion in K-12 education funding so that schools can safely reopen and so that our health care system can respond to the increasing medical needs brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The letter states, “Schools are fundamental to child and adolescent development and well-being. They provide students with academic instruction, social and emotional skills, safety, reliable nutrition, physical, speech and mental health therapies, and opportunities for physical activity, among other benefits. In order for schools to be able to reopen while keeping students, teachers, and staff safe, Congress must provide sufficient funding to help schools adapt and make necessary changes and accommodations.”

Senators Introduce School Choice Now Bill

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Senate Education Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) introduced the School Choice Now Act to provide direct federal aid for private school scholarships to students during the pandemic, and to create permanent tax credits supporting educational choice. The bill would use 10% of emergency education aid to offer one-time emergency funding for scholarship organizations approved by the state. These scholarships could then be used by families to go toward private school tuition or home schooling expenses. This bill is a priority of the Trump Administration.

BIAA gratefully acknowledges the Centre for Neuro Skills and Avanir Pharmaceuticals for their support for legislative action.