[CLOSED] Senate Appropriators Pass 8% Increase for Shelter Funding
August 5, 2010 – On July 29, 2010, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee passed the Labor, Health and Human Services (LHHS) funding bill which funds the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA), the National Domestic Violence Hotline, the Rape Prevention and Education Programs and other violence against women programs. Thanks to the many phone calls and emails, they included $140 million in funding for FVPSA – a $10 million increase over FY ’10 funding!
In addition, last week the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee passed their Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations bill with increases to important Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) programs.
This is a tough budget year and these bills contain many important programs, so these funding increases for domestic violence services are a significant victory!
Call your Senator today and thank them for supporting services for domestic violence victims! Below is a list of the members of the Senate Appropriations committee who voted for the bills and need to be thanked.
What is happening now?
Congress has heard from you that funding for FVPSA, VAWA and VOCA is important for your community! The Senate Appropriations Committee passed their FY ’11 LHHS and CJS bills with increased funding for these critical programs.
Now, the Senate LHHS and CJS appropriations bills may move to the floor where they will be voted on by all Senators. The House Appropriations committee is also working on their bills. Later, the House and the Senate will negotiate their final spending bills.
We will keep you updated on opportunities to advocate for preserving or increasing funding for these programs as the process moves forward. For now, we need to thank the Senate Appropriators for their hard work on behalf of victims of domestic violence!
What can you do now?
If your Senator is on the Appropriations Committee and voted for the bill (see list below), call today to thank him/her for his/her support of funding for VAWA and FVPSA programs!
Call today and say:
- Your name and the city and state you live in.
- “Thank you so much for supporting increased funding for the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) program in the Labor, Health and Human Services (LHHS) Appropriations bill. FVPSA funding will help domestic violence programs in our community provide lifesaving emergency shelter and services for victims and their families.”
- [If you haven’t already called to thank them for VAWA and VOCA funding in the CJS bill last week.]”Thank you so much for supporting increased funding for the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) in the Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations bill. Domestic and sexual violence victims in our community will be safer with these desperately needed resources.”
- “We urge you to work to preserve these increases in the final bill.”
Call the Capitol Hill Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to your Senator’s office. Your call will be answered by a receptionist who will take a message.
Do calls make a difference? – YES!
It’s only thanks to YOUR CALLS that we’ve had such strong support for FVPSA, VAWA and VOCA funding! Thank you for taking action to support this critical funding for victims of domestic violence!
Senate Appropriations Committee Members who voted for funding increases
(* indicates LHHS Subcommittee member)
(# indicates CJS Subcommittee member)
AR Sen. Mark Pryor * #
CA Sen. Dianne Feinstein #
HI Sen. Daniel Inouye (Chairman, Full Committee) * #
IL Sen. Richard Durbin *
IA Sen. Tom Harkin (Chairman, LHHS Subcommittee) *
LA Sen. Mary Landrieu *
MD Sen. Barbara Mikulski (Chairwoman, CJS Subcommittee) #
MT Sen. John Tester
NE Sen. Ben Nelson #
NJ Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg #
ND Sen. Byron Dorgan #
OH Sen. Sherrod Brown
PA Sen. Arlen Specter *
RI Sen. Jack Reed * #
SD Sen. Tim Johnson
VT Sen. Patrick Leahy #
WI Sen. Herb Kohl * #
WA Sen. Patty Murray *