Before turning to the latest in Congress, a brief word about the presidential race. NEA’s PAC Council and Board of Directors last week endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the next president! Read President Pringle’s statement about the endorsement, as well as her comments following President Biden’s announcement that he would not seek another term.

Meanwhile, members of Congress are eager to be home and not in Washington, DC. House GOP leadership announced last week a change in schedule, canceling votes for the upcoming week and putting the House in recess until September 9. Part of this was also due to the majority’s inability to secure enough votes to advance funding bills, including the education appropriations bill that contains extreme cuts as noted in this space last week. Thank you for your quick advocacy to push back on those cuts. Let’s keep it going in August (see alert below), as Congress will need to come together for at least a short-term funding agreement before the end of the fiscal year on September 30.

We also continue to press for action on full repeal of the GPO-WEP Social Security penalties, with passage of the Social Security Fairness Act (HR 82 / S 597). With a record number now of co-sponsors in both the House and the Senate, it’s time for a vote. Take a minute to send a new message to Congress in support of a “discharge petition”, a parliamentary move in the House to force a vote on the bill.

In solidarity,