Summary
A number of national policies are discussed and aired daily on mass media platforms and newspapers. The three national policy issues that I found interesting are sourced from these three newspaper articles:-
The Associated Press. (2016, May 14). Reyes banned through May under MLB domestic violence policy. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2016/05/13/reyes-banned-thru-may-31-under-mlb-domestic-violence-policy/84344426/
Reuters. (2016, June 11). California Governor Signs Bill Letting Undocumented Immigrants Buy Insurance. New York Times [New York]. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2016/06/11/us/11reuters-california-insurance.html?_r=0
Shear, M. D., & Lichtblau, E. (2016, January 4). Obama to Expand Gun Background Checks and Tighten Enforcement. New York Times [New York]. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/05/us/politics/obama-says-he-will-act-on-gun-control-in-coming-days.html
Gun Violence Research Act
This is a bill amending public safety due to injuries arising from gun violence as a subject of research.
Point missed – a clear public health research on the gun violence
Effective way to bridge the gap between data
Policy topic – Firearms control, and falls under health in the policy area.
Sponsor(s) of the Bill – Rep. Honda, Michael M. [D-CA-17]
Committee Assignment – The committees assigned are House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on health.
Latest status of the bill – This bill is a relatively new one and has just been introduced
Immigration and National Act
Points missed – addressing the availability of undocumented immigrants
Treating political refugees and economic refugees equally.
Policy Topic – Immigration and Nationality Act
Sponsor(s) of Bill – Rep. Collins, Doug [R-GA-9]
Committee – House - Rules
Latest Status of the Bill – Passed to the house. Upon agreeing to the resolution with a 243 – 174 yeas to Nays votes the bill was passed.
One of the newly signed federal law by the U.S. government is the Transnational Drug Trafficking Act of 2015. This federal Act, with Senator Feinstein, Dianne [D-CA] as its sponsor, falls under the following committees Senate - Finance; Judiciary | House - Judiciary; Energy and Commerce. This act became a law on May 16, 2016. The main aim of this act was to provide the justice department with adequate facilities to counteract the extraterritorial activity of trafficking drugs, but also served other purposes.
The act, now a law, holds that it is illegal for any citizen to manufacture or distribute a listed chemical with the knowledge that the chemical is used to manufacture a controlled substance. In addition to that, it will be unlawful if one intends to import such substances into the U.S. The law also points out that trafficking such substances by use of counterfeit goods or services is considered unlawful. This is in line with the Federal Food, Cosmetic and Drug ACT (21 U.S.C. 321) as stated in section 201 of the constitution.
This bill was passed into law after it was clear that there was rising cases of drug trafficking activities in the U.S. The southern United States border was the core cause of the problem. Drug cartels, especially from South America continent (Mexico, Colombia, and Peru) were devising ways to traffic, illegal narcotics into the United States. Since these drugs cartels keep on evolving continuously, it was necessary that the legislation ensured their federal laws dealing with criminal act were at par. Hence, from just a bill introduced by Senator Feinstein Dianne, the legislation found it essential to pass the bill into law; in order to combat the issue of drug trafficking and crack down these cartels who ship these illegal narcotics into the country.
Florida, one of the southeastern states o the U.S., is one of the states that experiences issues in some of its policies. Some of Florida’s hot legislative issues include gambling, pot, and guns (Florida today). Far from the hot legislative issues, the state of Florida has an unspeakable climate change issue (the guardian). In addition to that, there is also the health policy issue where the MEDICAID issue arises.
Medicaid Managed Care
Points missed – providing adequate organizational priority to prevent the control and prevention of STD.
Developing legally binding provisions and stronger incentive in Medicaid Contracts.
Policy Topic – Health Policy
Sponsor of Bill – introduced into the Senate by Senator Joyner
Committee Assignment – The Senate Committee references for this bill include health policy and appropriations subcommittee on Health and Human Services.
Latest Status of the Bill – introduced
(Questions 7-8)
Some of the non-profit, non-governmental advocacy organizations that advocate on behalf of MEDICAID Managed Care include Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The policy brief chosen to be considered one that is related to Medicaid Managed care, and questions who’s covered and who is not on considering the state of children’s health insurance: A primer for state legislators. (See attached document on this). This brief also talks on some of the reasons why children need health insurance and how different states can ensure that their kids are covered.
Lesson learnt
During this exercise, I learned a few lessons: from federal national policy issues, the introduction of a bill related, to the policy issue and finally the amendment of the Bill into law. The first lesson learned was the policy management process. The process of policy management encompasses finding the policy players to sponsor the policy itself, then conducting a flexible and open policy dialogue with the right timing, and finally communicating the policy information effectively. On the other hand, another lesson learned was how to work with the policy process. This includes stages such as designing the policy, implementing the policy and finally evaluating it.
References
Auslen, M., & Wallace, J. (2016, January 11). The Florida Legislature's 2016 Session: 5 issues to watch and 5 people to watch. Tampa Bay Times.
Congress.gov. (n.d.). H.R.3926 - 114th Congress (2015-2016): Gun Violence Research Act | Congress.gov | Library of Congress. Retrieved from https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/3926?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22Gun+Violence+Research+Act%22%5D%7D&resultIndex=1
Congress.gov. (n.d.). H.Res.370 - 114th Congress (2015-2016): Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 3009) to amend section 241(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to deny assistance under such section to a State or political subdivision of a State that prohibits its officials from taking certain actions with respect to immigration. | Congress.gov | Library of Congress. Retrieved from https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-resolution/370?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22immigration%22%5D%7D&resultIndex=2
Congress.gov. (n.d.). Text - S.32 - 114th Congress (2015-2016): Transnational Drug Trafficking Act of 2015 | Congress.gov | Library of Congress. Retrieved from https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/32/text
Cotterell, B. (205, March 2). Florida's hot legislative issues: Guns, gambling, pot. Florida Today.
Krueger, K. (2015, March 23). Florida's unspeakable issue leaves climate change official tongue-tied. The Guardian.
National Conference of State Legislatures. (n.d.). THE STATE OF CHILDREN’S HEALTH INSURANCE: A PRIMER FOR STATE LEGISLATORS. Retrieved from www.ncsl.org/print/health/herman.pdf
Reuters. (2016, June 11). California Governor Signs Bill Letting Undocumented Immigrants Buy Insurance. New York Times [New York]. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2016/06/11/us/11reuters-california-insurance.html?_r=0
Shear, M. D., & Lichtblau, E. (2016, January 4). Obama to Expand Gun Background Checks and Tighten Enforcement. New York Times [New York]. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/05/us/politics/obama-says-he-will-act-on-gun-control-in-coming-days.html
The Associated Press. (2016, May 14). Reyes banned through May under MLB domestic violence policy. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2016/05/13/reyes-banned-thru-may-31-under-mlb-domestic-violence-policy/84344426/
