In The News
“On more than one occasion, I’ve been walking in the Annapolis 4th of July Parade, and people have yelled out to me, ‘No Child Left Inside,’” said Rep. John Sarbanes of Maryland, who became one of the cause’s earliest champions in Congress. “So it definitely hit a nerve out there.”
In December, the work paid off. Congress replaced No Child Left Behind with the new Every Student Succeeds Act.
Although other agencies, such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency have long had environmental education programs, the new law is the first time a bill covering primary and secondary education even mentioned environmental education.
“It seemed to me to be a grand omission,” Sarbanes said. “Those other agency’s involvement is fine and good and important, but educators look to the Department of Education. They are in large part driven by the grant opportunities that are available from the Department of Education.”
Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.), a leading House advocate for campaign finance reforms, said in an interview that the spending deal was, on the whole, a win for opponents of big-money politics — more because of what it did not include than what it did include.
Not only did they manage to keep out the rider to expand party spending, but they also headed off an effort to hamstring the longstanding system of public financing for presidential campaigns.
“Washington increasingly seems to be captured by big money donors and special interests, and the public wants us to draw the line,” Sarbanes said. “And I think we were able to do that in a significant way by keeping those riders out. Obviously we would have like to have the other two riders excluded as well. … We’ll continue to fight that battle.”
"We have begun, wisely, to turn our healthcare system in the direction of prevention and primary care and delivery of care at the community level and that all make sense. But if you don't have enough caregivers, physicians in place to deliver those services then you aren't going to make progress on that overall vision," Sarbanes said in a recent phone interview.
Sarbanes, who led this year's effort to beat back the McConnell rider, says that Democrats who oppose efforts to roll back campaign finance limits learned from the 2014 episode. He made sure Democrats were prepared to voice their opposition to these amendments and that leadership would actively work to exclude them from a bill.
"The difference between this year and last year is we got organized and got organized early," Sarbanes said.
At the federal level, we’re also advancing real solutions that put everyday people back in charge of our democracy. That’s the idea behind H.R. 20, the Government By the People Act, a reform that would create a new way for candidates to fund their campaigns.
Under this proposal, Americans would receive a “My Voice” tax credit for small-donor political contributions, enabling them to support a candidate running for Congress. Then, if that candidate agrees to voluntary contribution limits, H.R. 20 would boost each small donation using a “Freedom From Influence” matching fund. The combination of the tax credit, which allows more Americans to participate in the political process, and the matching fund, which amplifies the power of each voter’s donation, would empower the voices of everyday citizens against the special interests that dominate the political process.
Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.) reintroduced a bill Thursday that would help train doctors who have stopped practicing return to the profession at a veterans' center, school or community center.
The Primary Care Physician Reentry Act was introduced last year but stalled mostly because of partisan politics. The team is working now to get co-sponsors, including Republicans. There isn't much opposition to the act, a Sarbanes staffer said.
Congressman John Sarbanes (D-Md.) recently introduced the Primary Care Physician Reentry Act, which would tackle America’s shortage of primary care physicians by supporting programs that retrain doctors to work in health centers that serve veterans, local communities and schools.
Rep. John Sarbanes reintroduced a measure aimed at combating the shortage of primary care physicians by supporting programs that retrain doctors who have left the profession. Participating doctors would be retrained and credentialed to work at VA medical centers, community health centers and school-based health centers.
The biggest campaign finance rider under discussion would relax limits on coordination between political parties and their candidates. Progressive groups and Democratic lawmakers, as well as conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus, are fighting the language.
Rep. John Sarbanes, D-Md., who has been leading the effort against the rider, said if enacted the provision would allow big-money donors a new avenue — through the party committees — to give large sums to help their favored candidates.
A letter from 110 House Democrats to House and Senate party leaders last week urged them not to include the provision about the party committees in the omnibus.
"This change would be a travesty," said the letter spearheaded by Reps. John Sarbanes of Maryland and Ted Deutch of Florida. "This change in the law would only further surrender the party apparatus to the influence of millionaires and billionaires."