On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services published in the Federal Register proposed changes to how the federal government determines whether an immigrant is likely to become a “public charge.” Individuals applying for seeking adjustment of a status or a visa must establish that they are not likely…
Read More »The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is seeking comments on an upcoming Surgeon General’s Call to Action document with the working title, “Community Health and Prosperity.” The document seeks to clearly demonstrate that investments in community health have the potential to improve the health and prosperity of communities and issue a call…
Read More »On Saturday, September 22, the Trump Administration released the text of proposed changes to how the federal government determines whether an immigrant is likely to become a “public charge.” Despite the public release of the text, the language has not officially been published by the Federal Register; therefore the 60-day window for public comments has…
Read More »Recently, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams issued two new resources related to the nationwide opioid epidemic. Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Spotlight on Opioids assembles opioid-related information from the Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health into one cohesive document to better inform the general public, particularly family and friends of individuals…
Read More »On Thursday, the U.S. Senate passed its own version of the Farm Reauthorization Bill (S. 3042) on a bipartisan vote of 86-11. The Senate’s $867 billion Farm Bill does not include major modifications to nutrition title provisions that govern the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and SNAP-Education (SNAP-Ed). Despite the fact that several senators filed…
Read More »On Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an $867 billion Farm Bill Reauthorization (H.R. 2) on a 213-211 vote. The measure, which encompasses wide-ranging topics such as nutrition assistance, agricultural research, crop subsidies, and rural development, faced a tumultuous journey in making it through the House. Recall last month, the Farm Bill failed passage…
Read More »This week, the Trump Administration announced its plans to utilize a rare budgetary exercise to request a “rescission” – or claw-back – of $15 billion in federal funds, including those set aside for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Ebola response, and other health-related items. The Trump Administration rescission request targets federal funds appropriated but…
Read More »The U.S. House of Representatives this week continued its discussion and markup of the Farm Bill Reauthorization (H.R. 2) with the measure set for a vote in the House next week. Included in the measure are significant modifications for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and SNAP-Education (SNAP-Ed). The measure would propose to consolidate SNAP-Ed…
Read More »On Monday, a federal rule requiring calorie and nutrition information to be posted on menus of certain establishments throughout the United States took effect. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation applies to chain restaurants and similar retail food establishments with 20 or more locations that sell prepared food items, including grocery stores and movie…
Read More »This week, Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee) and Patty Murray (D-Washington), Chair and Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), respectively, introduced the “Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018.” The measure, S. 2680, is the result of 40 various proposals from Republican and Democratic Senators, seven bipartisan hearings over…
Read More »