November 2015
The Reducing Gun Violence in Our Neighborhoods Act (H.R. 3830) aims to reduce gun violence, increase mental health counseling, and enhance tracking of lost and stolen firearms. The bill proposes a $100 tax on the sale of any firearm and mandates the Treasury of the US to create a 'Gun Violence Reduction and Mental Health Counseling Trust Fund' for community mental health services and crime control services.The bill also calls for a national standard for passive identification capability meaning that every firearm would be equipped with a form of technology that enables it to be identified by a mobile or fixed reading device. Failure to report the loss or theft of a firearm would result in a $10,000 fine per unreported firearm.
Another bill introduced to congress (H.R. 3411) aims at enforcing criminal background checks for every firearm sale. The bill also requires that any individual prohibited from purchasing a firearm is listed in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, including individuals who have been “adjudicated as a mental defective.”
The two bills are a step towards limiting the prevalence of guns in hopes that this will reduce gun violence in communities overall. The requirement of mental health counseling and denying the sale of firearms to individuals who have a history of struggling with mental health illnesses will increase the importance and credibility of proper mental health.
Introduced: 7/29/15 (H.R. 3411) & 10/26/15 (H.R. 3830)
Act now and tell Congress to pass this bill!
Another bill introduced to congress (H.R. 3411) aims at enforcing criminal background checks for every firearm sale. The bill also requires that any individual prohibited from purchasing a firearm is listed in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, including individuals who have been “adjudicated as a mental defective.”
The two bills are a step towards limiting the prevalence of guns in hopes that this will reduce gun violence in communities overall. The requirement of mental health counseling and denying the sale of firearms to individuals who have a history of struggling with mental health illnesses will increase the importance and credibility of proper mental health.
Introduced: 7/29/15 (H.R. 3411) & 10/26/15 (H.R. 3830)
Act now and tell Congress to pass this bill!
The Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act of 2015 will repeal the requirement imposed by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, requiring certain employers to automatically enroll employees into a health plan. The bill will eliminate the requirement for individuals to maintain minimum essential health care coverage. The bill will also terminate funding for the Prevention and Public Health Fund, which provides funding for programs aimed at improving the public’s health and reducing the overall healthcare costs. For one, year no federal money can be paid to entities such as the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and other tax-exempt organizations that provide similar services.
By limiting funding to organizations such as Planned Parenthood, many individuals would be losing access to a number of preventative health services. Terminating the Prevention Fund has serious negative implications to public health as this fund has invested in a multitude of evidence-based intervention programs and research involving tobacco prevention, immunizations and screenings, public health workforce training and much more.
Introduced: 10/16/15 Passed by House: 10/23/15
Act now and tell Congress to support the Prevention Fund!
By limiting funding to organizations such as Planned Parenthood, many individuals would be losing access to a number of preventative health services. Terminating the Prevention Fund has serious negative implications to public health as this fund has invested in a multitude of evidence-based intervention programs and research involving tobacco prevention, immunizations and screenings, public health workforce training and much more.
Introduced: 10/16/15 Passed by House: 10/23/15
Act now and tell Congress to support the Prevention Fund!
The Women’s Public Health and Safety Act will amend Medicaid to modify the requirements for a state plan for medical assistance. Currently, any individual that requires medical assistance may receive services from any entity, institution, agency or person qualified to do so. Under this new bill, states will be able to choose whether or not to deny services provided by certain entities to eligible individuals based on the individual’s or entity’s involvement with abortions.
By limiting services from any health care providers who offers abortions, this act would limit a range of other family planning and women’s health resources to Medicaid receiving individuals.
Introduced: 9/11/15 Passed by House: 9/29/15
By limiting services from any health care providers who offers abortions, this act would limit a range of other family planning and women’s health resources to Medicaid receiving individuals.
Introduced: 9/11/15 Passed by House: 9/29/15
The Community-Based Gang Intervention Act responds to the growing burden of gang violence by providing grant monies and outlining parameters for effective community-based interventions.
The United States has only 5 percent of the world’s population, but 25 percent of the world’s prisoners.With increased prison costs, vital social programs and services such as education, job creation, housing, and healthcare are being cut or eliminated to maintain the prison industry.
The most recent data reveals that in 1998, states spent nearly $4,200,000,000 on “juvenile justice” related programs. Of those expenditures only 8.4 percent went towards delinquency prevention. This bill supports developing a comprehensive violence reduction strategy, acknowledging and addressing larger, entrenched social conditions and issues such as poverty, homelessness, inadequate educational systems, and limited economic opportunities that give rise to gangs and gang violence.
This act offers holistic and comprehensive support for the variety of community-based gang intervention activities that focus on and engage active and former gang members, their close associates, and gang members in and returning from confinement. This act provides definitions of terms and services related to community-based gang intervention to ensure that funding for such intervention is utilized in a cost-effective manner and that community-based agencies are held accountable for providing holistic, integrated intervention services.
Introduced: 10/15/15
The United States has only 5 percent of the world’s population, but 25 percent of the world’s prisoners.With increased prison costs, vital social programs and services such as education, job creation, housing, and healthcare are being cut or eliminated to maintain the prison industry.
The most recent data reveals that in 1998, states spent nearly $4,200,000,000 on “juvenile justice” related programs. Of those expenditures only 8.4 percent went towards delinquency prevention. This bill supports developing a comprehensive violence reduction strategy, acknowledging and addressing larger, entrenched social conditions and issues such as poverty, homelessness, inadequate educational systems, and limited economic opportunities that give rise to gangs and gang violence.
This act offers holistic and comprehensive support for the variety of community-based gang intervention activities that focus on and engage active and former gang members, their close associates, and gang members in and returning from confinement. This act provides definitions of terms and services related to community-based gang intervention to ensure that funding for such intervention is utilized in a cost-effective manner and that community-based agencies are held accountable for providing holistic, integrated intervention services.
Introduced: 10/15/15
The Protecting our Infants Act of 2015 requires the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to report on prenatal opioid abuse (abuse of opioid drugs during pregnancy) and neonatal abstinence syndrome (the symptoms of withdrawal in a newborn).
The report must include:
The Department of Health and Human Services must review its activities related to prenatal opioid use and neonatal abstinence syndrome and develop a strategy to address gaps in research and programs.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must provide technical assistance to states to improve neonatal abstinence syndrome surveillance and make surveillance data publicly available.
Introduced: 3/15/15 Passed by Senate: 10/22/15
The report must include:
- assessment of existing research on neonatal abstinence syndrome
- evaluation of the causes and barriers to treatment of opioid use disorders among women of reproductive age
- evaluation of treatment for pregnant women with opioid use disorders and infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome
- recommendations on preventing, identifying, and treating opioid dependency in women and neonatal abstinence syndrome
The Department of Health and Human Services must review its activities related to prenatal opioid use and neonatal abstinence syndrome and develop a strategy to address gaps in research and programs.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must provide technical assistance to states to improve neonatal abstinence syndrome surveillance and make surveillance data publicly available.
Introduced: 3/15/15 Passed by Senate: 10/22/15