Stop the Green New Deal v. 02 - Jan. 2019

Welcome to FreedomWorks Foundation’s fourth regulatory review of 2019! Our Regulatory Action Center proudly updates you with our favorite tidbits from the swamp. We want to smash barriers between bureaucracy and the American people by delivering regulatory news straight to FreedomWorks activists. Check back in two weeks for the next edition.

As Congress reflects on its success in passing the First Step Act at the end of 2018, it must look toward ways to build on the existing momentum. The First Step Act was constructed to shift our justice system toward ensuring that we are incarcerating the right people for the right amount of time and that while people are incarcerated, our correctional system is using resources wisely to rehabilitate inmates. It makes steps toward reentry initiatives following incarceration by reauthorizing the Second Chance Act but leaves much still to be done in the space of breaking down barriers to reentry to allow rehabilitated inmates to be successful in society.

On Wednesday, FreedomWorks sent a coalition letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Minority Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Senate Majority Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) signed by representatives from more than 30 organizations against H.R. 1. This legislation would have the effect of nationalizing elections, make the Federal Elections Commission a partisan entity, and have a chilling effect on political speech. Signers to the letter include Adam Brandon of FreedomWorks, Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform, Pete Sepp of the National Taxpayers Union, Tim Chapman of Heritage Action, and David McIntosh of the Club for Growth. The text of the letter is below and a PDF of the letter and the signers can be found here.

On behalf of our activist community, I urge you to contact your representative and senators and ask them to cosponsor the Student Empowerment Act, H.R. 621 and S. 157. Introduced by Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas),. the Student Empowerment Act would further expand 529 education savings accounts to include K-12 elementary and secondary school expenses for public, private, and religious schools, including homeschool students.

The Supreme Court issued an opinion on Wednesday that is a shot across the bow of defenders of civil asset forfeiture. In a unanimous judgment, the justices incorporated the Excessive Fines Clause of the Eighth Amendment to the states. The Court didn’t rule on the dubious constitutionality of civil asset forfeiture, leaving that issue for another day.