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Monday, October 08, 2018

ESSC Bill being Voted on by Congress!



Contact the Florida members of Congress and ask them to co-sponsor the ESSC bill. Please feel free to share the link with your SCA and other work colleagues, friends, relatives, etc. The link is not tied to ASCA membershipwww.votervoice.net/ASCA/campaigns/60913/respond
The Fiscal Year 2019 Labor, Health, and Human Services and Education Appropriations Conference Committee held its final meeting and released its report on Sept. 13th. The report was a negotiation of the House and Senate Fiscal Year 2019 appropriations bills. There are a couple of important items for school counselors.
1. The Nelson/Rubio amendment allocating $10 million to establish innovative partnerships between universities and school districts to combat the shortages of school counselors, school psychologists, and school social workers was accepted. This amendment was a joint effort with our colleagues at NASP and SSWAA as we worked closely with the offices of Senators Nelson and Rubio to expand the language of the Safe Schools National Program to highlight the priority of school-based mental health services.
2. The funding level for Title IV-A grants saw a $70 million increase, bringing the total to $1.17 billion.
3. ASCA and a number of other groups sent a joint letter to the conference committee earlier this morning urging them to create a legislative fix that would prohibit the use of federal dollars to purchase firearms or provide training to use firearms. Unfortunately, the conference report did not address this subject. A copy of the joint letter will be uploaded to the ASCA legislative affairs page on Friday, Sept. 14.
The conference report will be on the Senate floor for a vote during the last week of September. The measure would fund the government through Dec. 7, 2018. We do not expect any action will be needed from ASCA members for this vote.
On September 12, 2018, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Rep. Katherine Clark (D-MA) introduced S. 3427 and HR 6775, the Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Act. ASCA has been working with these congressional offices as well as our colleagues at NASP, SSWAA, and APA on this bill and its introduction. It is now time to take action!
Thanks for your help spreading the word and thanks in advance for contacting your members of Congress tomorrow or over the weekend to ask for their support on the new ESSC bill!

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