Posted by: jgomori Posted date: March 6, 2021

The House passed George Floyd Justice in Policing Act (H.R. 1280) on March 4 by a party-line vote of 220-212. It is the exact same bill the House passed on June 25, 2020, which NAPO strongly opposed; The House passed the American Rescue Plan (H.R. 1319), President Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid package, on February 27 by a vote of 219-212. The aid package includes aid to state and local governments to help address budget and revenue shortfalls caused by the pandemic and to help with vaccine distribution. The package also includes additional $1,400 tax rebate checks, $300 of weekly federal unemployment insurance through October, an additional $30 billion for FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund for health care and first responder personal protective equipment and supplies, aid for communities and small businesses, and funding to help schools reopen safely; The Senate Judiciary Committee approved Merrick Garland’s nomination to be United States Attorney General on March 1 by a bipartisan vote of 15-7. Senate Democrats tried to expedite his confirmation vote, but Senator Tom Cotton (R-AK) blocked that attempt stating that there are still outstanding questions he has that Judge Garland needs to address. The Senate will most likely vote to confirm Judge Garland with strong bipartisan support the week of March 8.

For more on these and other legislative issues, please click on the March 5, 2021 Washington Report below.

 March 5, 2020 Washington Report