November 2019 Washington Letter

The NABE State Legislative Workshop

The ABA's ability to respond to emerging legislation on the federal or state level is improved by our relationships with our sister bars. These relationships do not begin or end with a given legislative session. They develop over time, and this month was the 34th year in a row that bar leaders met at the National Association of Bar Executives (NABE) State Legislative Workshop (the Workshop) to continue a collaboration that supports mutual success.

Legal Education

Mark up of the College Affordability Act

On October 30, 2019, the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor passed the amended College Affordability Act (CAA), H.R. 4674, and report to the full House of Representatives by a vote of 28-22. This legislation would reauthorize the Higher Education Act more than 10 years after its last reauthorization. The markup took two days, October 29 and 30, and considered sixty amendments.

Security for U.S. Supreme Court Justices

Legislation aimed at improving security for U.S. Supreme Court justices at home and abroad is ready for consideration by the House of Representatives and the Senate. H.R. 4258 (Stanton, D-AZ) and S. 2511 (Graham, R-SC) would permanently authorize security for Supreme Court Justices and their official guests when they are on the grounds of the Court and wherever they travel.

Public Health

Protecting Health Care Funding for Tribal Communities

After years of inaction, legislation that would protect tribal communities from funding disruptions has received a surprising boost in attention as a result of renewed concerns that there may be another government shutdown. P.L. 116-59, the FY 2020 stopgap funding measure, which was enacted on the last day of the 2019 fiscal year to keep the government running, is set to expire on November 21.

ABA Testifies on 'Remain in Mexico' Policy

On November 19, Laura Peña, pro bono counsel for the American Bar Association Commission on Immigration, testified before the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border Security, Facilitation, and Operations about the ABA’s concerns with the Remain in Mexico immigration policy, formally known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP).

Legal Fact Check

This spring, numerous candidates for president expressed support for either abolishing or changing the Electoral College, which ultimately picks the U.S. president. The National Archives reports that over the past 200 years more than 700 proposals have been introduced in Congress to reform or eliminate the Electoral College – without any becoming law.