Bill S.4550 titled “A bill to provide enhanced funding for family planning services” was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health Education Labor and Pensions by the Senate. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Tina Smith with Tammy Baldwin, Michael Bennet, Richard Blumenthal, Cory Booker, Sherrod Brown, Catherine Cortez Masto, Tammy Duckworth, Richard Durbin, Kirsten Gillibrand, Maggie Hassan, John Hickenlooper, Mazie Hirono, Timothy Kaine, Mark Kelly, Angus King, Amy Klobuchar, Ben Lujan, Edward Markey, Robert Menendez, Jeff Merkley, Christopher Murphy, Patty Murray, Alex Padilla, John Reed, Jacklyn Rosen, Bernard Sanders, Brian Schatz, Jeanne Shaheen, Kyrsten Sinema, Debbie Stabenow, Chris Van Hollen, Mark Warner, Raphael Warnock, Elizabeth Warren, Sheldon Whitehouse, Ron Wyden as cosponsors.
Bill S.4557 titled “A bill to protect a person's ability to access contraceptives and to engage in contraception, and to protect a health care provider's ability to provide contraceptives, contraception, and information related to contraception” was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health Education Labor and Pensions by the Senate. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Edward Markey with Tammy Baldwin, Richard Blumenthal, Cory Booker, Sherrod Brown, Maria Cantwell, Thomas Carper, Tammy Duckworth, Dianne Feinstein, Kirsten Gillibrand, Martin Heinrich, John Hickenlooper, Mazie Hirono, Timothy Kaine, Amy Klobuchar, Ben Lujan, Robert Menendez, Jeff Merkley, Christopher Murphy, Alex Padilla, John Reed, Jacklyn Rosen, Bernard Sanders, Jeanne Shaheen, Tina Smith, Debbie Stabenow, Chris Van Hollen, Mark Warner, Elizabeth Warren, Sheldon Whitehouse as cosponsors.
The Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee moves forward in some way on one bill per day.
Most bills have a hearing where those involved explain why they are for or against the bill. Roughly 8,000 bills are addressed by committees each year but only about 800 make it to the floor of Congress, according to ushistory.org.
A 2019 report from the Brookings Institute argued committees aren’t capable of delving fully into the issues they address and are forced to rely on lobbyists.
| Bill Name | Sponsor | Action |
|---|---|---|
| A bill to provide enhanced funding for family planning services. | Sen. Smith, Tina | Senate |
| A bill to protect a person's ability to access contraceptives and to engage in contraception, and to protect a health care provider's ability to provide contraceptives, contraception, and information related to contraception. | Sen. Markey, Edward J. | Senate |
