Congress is preparing to pass a short-term spending patch to fund the government after Sept. 30 (FY2023 begins Oct. 1) and then is likely to recess until after the November elections. Senate action on the Respect for Marriage Act appeared imminent, but has been postponed—again—until after the elections. The bill’s champions are optimistic they will secure the needed 60 votes, if not more.
The Respect for Marriage Act, passed by the House in July, would ensure that ALL married couples have the same legal rights and protections. It is an explicit response to Justice Clarence Thomas’ concurring opinion in the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, in which he suggested that same-sex marriage and other rulings should be overturned as well.
At the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute conference, NEA President Becky Pringle addressed the need to support educators and Texas State Teachers Association President Ovidia Molina participated in a panel on gun violence. Other NEA Hispanic leaders met with Department of Education and White House representatives to discuss concerns and ways in which they might work together.
This week, members of the NEA Board of Directors will go to Capitol Hill to lobby on student debt, child nutrition, marriage equality, and education funding. They’ll be pushing to increase the federal investment in education—specifically, in schools with high poverty rates through Title I, in children with disabilities through IDEA, in full-service community schools, and in career and technical education.
Join them and weigh in with your members of Congress!
Sincerely,
Marc Egan
Government Relations Director
National Education Association
After passing a short-term funding patch, Congress must finish its work with a comprehensive FY2023 funding bill that prioritizes education to ensure equal opportunity—particularly in Black, brown and rural communities.
In his concurrence on the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, Justice Clarence Thomas suggested that decisions on marriage equality, contraception, and consensual relationships between LGBTQ+ people should also be overturned.
Support the Social Security Fairness Act and the Social Security 2100 Act to repeal the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) that deprive educators of benefits they have earned.
CHEER: Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Katie Porter (D-CA), and Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) led a bipartisan letter from 48 Members of Congress urging leadership to include school-provided meals in an upcoming budget bill to ensure no child goes hungry—an estimated 10 million students would benefit nationwide.
