Culture and Arts

A number of bills introduced: September 18-22, 2023: A bill to extend protections to part-time workers in the areas of family and medical leave; increasing access to short-term child care; a bill to provide access to an annually updated list of adoption agencies that are licensed and not-for-profit; extend protections to part-time workers in the areas of family and medical leave; a bill providing deferment of loans for borrowers who are survivors of sexual harassment, stalking, and assault; A bill to provide birth mothers and adoptive families with access to an annually updated list of adoption agencies that are licensed and not-for-profit in states across the United States; and a bill to recognize the Women-Owned Small Business program in the Department of Veterans Affairs procurement hierarchy of small business preferences.   more »

Jo Freeman Writes: "A coalition of national and local organizations brought approximately 15,000 people to NYC to demand that President Joe Biden end the use of fossil fuels. On Sunday, September 17 they marched from Columbus Circle across Manhattan to rally half a mile from the United Nations. This was the first day of Climate Week, which is held every year at the beginning of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. President Biden will address that Assembly on Tuesday. A UN Climate Ambition Summit will be held on Wednesday, September 20. Biden will be meeting with other Heads of State that day as well." more »

"Human Trafficking - On Thursday, the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations will hold a hearing, "Children are Not for Sale – Global Efforts to Address Child Trafficking". This week, the Senate is scheduled to consider a “minibus” spending package that will include S. 2131, the FY2024 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies spending bill; S. 2127, the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs more »

"The effort, building off work following last August's IRA funding, will center on adding more attention on wealthy, partnerships and other high earners that have seen sharp drops in audit rates for these taxpayer segments during the past decade. The changes will be driven with the help of improved technology as well as Artificial Intelligence that will help IRS compliance teams better detect tax cheating, identify emerging compliance threats and improve case selection tools to avoid burdening taxpayers with needless "no-change" audits." more »