A Look At Legislation

                                                                             

 

Legislation

Here is a look at legislation for empowering women from domestic violence. We start with a defining look and help you, the readers, gain a better understanding of legislation, if you are not already aware. After all, we aren’t born knowing this information.

First, according to www.lawgovpol.com, Legislation is a law that has been made and enacted by a legislature, such as a parliament. A single piece of legislation is also known as an act of parliament or a statute, while legislation is broadly known as statutory law. Formulating new legislation and reviewing and amending existing legislation is the main business of Federal, State and Territory parliaments.

How A Bill Becomes A Law

1. A bill is introduced in either the House of Representatives or the Senate
2. The bill is assigned a number, labeled with the sponsor’s/sponsors’, and sent to the Government Printing Office
3. The bill is referred to the appropriate committees. Bills can be sent to more than one committee. The committee chair then assigns the bill to a subcommittee. If a committee refuses to consider a bill, it is effectively dead. The subcommittee reports back to the main committee. The main committee can amend the bill.
4. The committee reports the bill back to the House/Senate with comments, including whether the committee supports or opposes the bill.
5. The bill is placed on the calendar.
6. Legislators have the opportunity to debate the bill. Legislators can add amendments. In the House, a limited amount of time is allotted to debate. In the Senate, debate is unlimited. This can sometimes lead to a filibuster; Senators will continue talking and debating until a) the bill is dropped, because the Senators plan to keep talking until the end of the legislative session or b) cloture is invoked. 60 Senators must vote in favor of ending debate in order to invoke cloture.
7. The House/Senate votes on the bill.
8. The chamber that passed the bill sends it to the other chamber for consideration.
9. If the other chamber defeats the bill, it is dead. If both the House and Senate pass the same bill, it goes to the president for his/her signature. If the other chamber passes an amended bill, the bill goes to a conference committee to create a compromise bill, called a conference report. Each chamber then has to approve the conference report.
10. The president either signs the bill or vetoes it. If the president does not sign the bill within ten days, it de-facto becomes law. If the president vetoes it, it does not become law unless the congress overrides the veto; ⅔ of legislators in each chamber must vote to override the veto to block the bill from becoming law (www.ncadv.org).

Now a look through the years to present time…in a blog.

In 1994 (yeah, 24 years ago!), we have The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). So, what is VAWA? Here are some answers for that:  VAWA was passed not only to stem the tide of ever-increasing violence against women but also to encourage societal change. It has been reauthorized three times, chugging away at the bit- meaning, working a expanding for the good, even combating sex trafficking and some tribal courts jurisdiction over non-Native perpetrators who committed violence against women on tribal lands, authorized money to address the rape-kit processing backlog, established a nondiscrimination requirement for programs receiving VAWA grant money, and created a ‘rape shield’ law (www.ncadv.org).

This was established in the 1994 era. What else is there you may wonder?

The Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA)

The Victims of Crime Act (VOCA

In 1984, Congress passed, and President Reagan signed into law, the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA). VOCA established the Crime Victims Fund to assist and compensate victims/survivors of crime. 

Marsy’s Law for Oklahoma SQ 794 will give crime victims equal constitutional standing during criminal investigations, in court, and during the pardon and parole process and to make sure if you are a crime victim and you do not receive equal treatment, that you have recourse with the courts (https://marsyslaw.us/marsys-law-state-efforts/oklahoma/).

Reported to House with amendment(s) (12/05/2017)

Fix NICS Act of 2017

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to require each federal agency and department, including a federal court, to:

• certify whether it has provided to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) disqualifying records of persons prohibited from receiving or possessing a firearm, and
• establish and substantially comply with an implementation plan to maximize record submissions and verify their accuracy.

(Sec. 3) The bill amends the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 to modify the NICS Act Record Improvement Program (NARIP). Specifically, it:

• establishes a domestic abuse and violence prevention initiative as a priority area for NARIP grant funding, and
• creates a funding preference for states that establish an implementation plan and use grant funds to upload felony conviction and domestic violence records.

(Sec. 4) It amends the Crime Identification Technology Act of 1998 to modify the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP). Specifically, it:

• specifies that facilitating full participation in the NICS, as an allowable use of NCHIP grant funds, includes increasing efforts to pre-validate felony conviction and domestic violence records to expedite eligibility determinations; and
• permits the federal share of a grant to exceed 90% of program costs if a state complies with its implementation plan.

(Sec. 5) This section amends the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 to:

• direct the Department of Justice (DOJ), in coordination with each state or tribal government, to establish an implementation plan, including benchmarks, to maximize the automation and submission of mental health and criminal history records to the NICS;
• require DOJ to conduct, and publish the results of, compliance determinations for state and tribal governments;
• give preference to certain discretionary grant applicants that substantially comply with an implementation plan; and
• require the NICS to notify law enforcement agencies when a firearm is transferred to a person who is subsequently determined to be prohibited from receiving or possessing a firearm.

(Sec. 6) DOJ's Bureau of Justice Assistance must report to Congress on the use of bump stocks in the commission of crimes, including the number of instances and the types of firearms.

(Sec. 7) The bill authorizes appropriations for FY2018-FY2022 to carry out activities under this bill (https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/4477).

Work is definitely getting accomplished, however, more work is yet to be done. Be empowered to know of all of the changes, resources, and support throughout the United States.

Women Empowerment Solutions