CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress – Legal Issues Related to the COVID-19 Outbreak: An Overview Updated March 30, 2020: “The COVID-19 outbreak has rapidly shifted the congressional agenda in recent weeks, while altering the daily lives of millions of American residents. Alongside the many medical, economic, social, and public policy… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Congress
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act—Tax Relief for Individuals and Businesses
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act—Tax Relief for Individuals and Businesses March 20, 2020 – March 31, 2020 R46279 – “Congress is considering a number of proposals that seek to mitigate the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. One such proposal, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (S. 3548),… Continue Reading
COVID-19 investment in museums and libraries
Federal Government Invests $50M in Museums, Libraries to Address Digital Divide: “The Institute of Museum and Library Services today announced that the President has signed the CARES Act, which designates $50 million in coronavirus response funding for IMLS. Following passage in the House of Representatives earlier today, both chambers of Congress approved of the Coronavirus… Continue Reading
CRS – Federal Reserve Emergency Lending
CRS Report – Federal Reserve: Emergency Lending, Updated March 27, 2020. “The 2007-2009 financial crisis led the Federal Reserve (Fed) to revive an obscure provision found in Section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act (12 U.S.C. 344) to extend credit to nonbank financial firms for the first time since the 1930s.” See also CRS Report… Continue Reading
COVID-19: State and Local Shut-Down Orders and Exemptions for Critical Infrastructure
EveryCRSReport – COVID-19: State and Local Shut-Down Orders and Exemptions for Critical Infrastructure, March 26, 2020 – “Since the onset of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the United States, public officials have issued numerous emergency directives closing non-essential businesses and facilities and instructing non-essential workers to stay home. However, these directives have generally… Continue Reading
Opinion – A Silent Spring Is Saying Something
Roger Cohen’s essay in the NYT: A Silent Spring Is Saying Something – The eerie inhumanity of Donald Trump. “This is the silent spring. The planet has gone quiet, so quiet you can almost hear it whirling around the sun, feel its smallness, picture for once the loneliness and fleetingness of being alive.This is the spring… Continue Reading
LC Coronavirus Resource Guide
Coronavirus Resource Guide – March 20, 2020 by Margaret Wood – “This is intended as a guide to laws, regulations and executive actions in the United States, at both the federal and the state level, and in various countries with respect to the new coronavirus and its spread. We are also including links to Congressional… Continue Reading
CRS – Federal Workforce Statistics Sources: OPM and OMB
Federal Workforce Statistics Sources: OPM and OMB – Julie Jennings, Senior Research Librarian; Jared C. NagelSenior Research Librarian – Updated March 25, 2020 – “This report describes online tools, reports, and data compilations created by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that contain statistics about federal employees… Continue Reading
WaPo Live Coronavirus Updates – US and around the world
Access to these Washington Post updates is free – Live updates: Confirmed coronavirus cases approach 500,000 worldwide; Senate passes stimulus, but new U.S. jobless claims shatter decades-old record – “Much of the world’s population is now living under some sort of coronavirus-related restrictions as the total number of confirmed cases worldwide approaches 500,000. In Washington,… Continue Reading
A case history in how Congress dealt with the Great Influenza
Roll Call: “In October 1918, during the depths of the influenza pandemic, Rep. Martin D. Foster, an Illinois Democrat, wanted to pass a bill to bolster the depleted ranks of doctors who could be called on to treat local outbreaks. It seemed like a good idea — tens of thousands of doctors were then serving… Continue Reading
CRS – National Emergency Powers
CRS Report – National Emergency Powers, Elaine Halchin, Specialist in American National Government, Updated March 23, 2020: “The President of the United States has available certain powers that may be exercised in the event that the nation is threatened by crisis, exigency, or emergency circumstances (other than natural disasters, war, or near-war situations). Such powers… Continue Reading
Congressional Staff: Duties, Qualifications, and Skills
EveryCRSReport.com – Congressional Staff: Duties, Qualifications, and Skills Identified by Members of Congress for Selected Positions, R. Eric Petersen, Specialist in American National Government, March 10, 2020: “The roles, duties, and activities of congressional staff are matters of ongoing interest to Members of Congress, congressional staff, and observers of Congress. Members of the House and Senate… Continue Reading
