Here is why they voted against it https://republicans-edlabor.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=408614 Foxx Opposes Democrats’ H.R. 7780—a Blatant Power Grab WASHINGTON, D.C., September 29, 2022 Today, Education and Labor Committee Republican Leader Virginia Foxx (R-NC) spoke on the House floor in opposition to H.R. 7780, the Mental Health Matters Act, due to its attack on job creators and its failure to address the nation's mental health situation: “H.R. 7780, the Mental Health Matters Act, is a package of bills our country would be better off without. “For example, Title VI of the bill, the Strengthening Behavioral Health Benefits Act contains dangerous policy which would threaten access to critical workplace benefits. “How would this legislation drive employers to drop benefits? H.R. 7780 allows the Department of Labor (DOL) to level civil monetary penalties against plans and employers for ambiguous mental health parity violations. Employers who offer mental health benefits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) do so voluntarily. They should not be penalized for violating standards that are unclear and vague. “Republicans and Democrats alike support mental health parity, which is why Congress has passed multiple laws to ensure employers are able to meet mental health parity requirements. Yet, despite receiving explicit direction from Congress outlining what DOL must provide to plans, the Department has yet to issue guidance. “Employers and plans have been asking the Department for years to comply with the law and provide examples which illustrate compliance and noncompliance, recommendations to advance compliance, and clarifying information on how plans may demonstrate compliance. However, instead of helping plans comply, DOL has blamed them for not being able to read the minds of Washington bureaucrats. Providing DOL with the authority to level civil monetary penalties against plans and increase their risk of litigation will only force plans to drop mental health coverage. “This legislation would also increase DOL’s budget for mental health parity enforcement by an additional $275 million over 10 years—a sure sign DOL wants to double down on its aggression towards employers. This money would be better spent on compliance assistance instead of targeting employers based on ambiguous standards. “Additionally, Title VII, the Employee and Retiree Access to Justice Act, gets rid of arbitration clauses, class action waivers, and discretionary clauses in employee benefit plans. This opens the door to increased litigation against plan sponsors which could drastically increase the cost of administering these plans. “Democrats are treating ERISA arbitration like a treacherous backroom deal, but in reality, arbitration settles disputes more quickly and more often in favor of claimants than litigation. The only people who benefit from months and years in litigation are trial lawyers. “This bill also contains provisions regarding the youth mental health situation. There is bipartisan agreement that addressing the mental health of youth matters. “However, we can’t ignore the fact that Democrats exacerbated the youth mental health situation by prolonging school shutdowns. At the behest of teachers unions, Democrat politicians from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to school district administrators kept classrooms shuttered, despite knowing that schools were not major vectors of spread and that children were suffering from this forced isolation. The results have been catastrophic. “In 2021, more than one-third of high school students reported they experienced poor mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to one study, from February to March of 2021, the number of ER visits by young girls for suspected suicide attempts was up by more than 50 percent compared to 2019. “School closures failed students. “Which is why we should be spending our time addressing the massive learning loss students suffered because of these shutdowns. This is a problem that cannot be neglected, especially if we want to see these young people have as bright a future as possible. “Lastly, H.R. 7780 includes the Respond, Innovate, Succeed, and Empower (RISE) Act, the intent of which Republicans support. While I agree that students with disabilities shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to obtain accommodations at school, this legislation will have unintended consequences as currently drafted. “For example, this legislation forces colleges and universities to accept outdated documentation from students who are claiming disability status but who do not in fact have a disability. This legislation should have been debated with stakeholders before being rushed to the House floor—but as usual Democrats took a shortcut. “I would encourage my colleagues to work across the aisle and utilize the deliberative process to form more commonsense and targeted legislation if they actually want to address our country’s mental health situation. “H.R. 7780 is a bill that tries to do too much—and none of it well. I urge my colleagues to vote no on this legislation.”
There are others that need to resign or sent packing as well. Clearing out the police and administrators in the Uvalde school system responsible for the poor response in this tradegy is a good start. Uvalde schools superintendent steps down https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/3681789-uvalde-schools-superintendent-steps-down/
You think she read the bill too? I read the bill and not sure she did based on her quotes on RISE. But below shows her true feeling of supporting anything someone from the other party proposed. This bill also contains provisions regarding the youth mental health situation. There is bipartisan agreement that addressing the mental health of youth matters. “However, we can’t ignore the fact that Democrats exacerbated the youth mental health situation by prolonging school shutdowns. At the behest of teachers unions, Democrat politicians from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to school district administrators kept classrooms shuttered, despite knowing that schools were not major vectors of spread and that children were suffering from this forced isolation. The results have been catastrophic. “In 2021, more than one-third of high school students reported they experienced poor mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to one study, from February to March of 2021, the number of ER visits by young girls for suspected suicide attempts was up by more than 50 percent compared to 2019. “School closures failed students. “Which is why we should be spending our time addressing the massive learning loss students suffered because of these shutdowns. This is a problem that cannot be neglected, especially if we want to see these young people have as bright a future as possible. This is totally not relevant to the bill. She says the bill has provisions regarding mental health situations for the youth and then just blames democrats for the problem...but happily voted no on the bill that provides youth mental health services... She gives zero fucks about the subject matter of the bill, one party will simply not vote for the bill of the other party and I doubt she read the bill either. She was fed talking points. If GOP proposed the bill, DEms would say no because it did not go far enough. Right now a slightly flawed bipartisan attempt is better than Congress making speeches like she did above.
All of you simply take whatever a politician feeds you and believe it as fact. You think she read the bill and made a review to deliver her comments. Every bill has certain flaws because they are adding amendments to existing law to update or change or fix them. But her comments are basically partisan talking points because voting yes on the other party's bill is suicide now. Please all my lawyers here.... below is the section she criticized... her comments make no sense....just bullshit fed to her to say on the floor ....
And plenty of others need to be fired as well. First Texas state law enforcement officer fired amid probe into Uvalde school shooting response The Texas DPS trooper was among the first to arrive at Robb Elementary School during the shooting https://www.foxnews.com/us/first-te...ed-amid-probe-uvalde-school-shooting-response
The police officials who deliberately defamed this teacher to divert attention from their own criminal negligence should be held financially liable and lose their jobs. 'I am suffering mentally,' Uvalde educator says on false blame for events leading to shooting: Exclusive Emilia "Amy" Marin said she felt vilified and hired a lawyer to fight back. https://abcnews.go.com/US/suffering...-false-blame-events-leading/story?id=91977619 Emilia "Amy" Marin, faced with a gunman heading toward a Texas elementary school in May, said she tried frantically to save the lives of students. She closed an exterior door, called 911 and shouted to alert people inside Robb Elementary School. At home three days later, Marin heard the top police official in Texas blame her for allowing the killer to get inside the building. A retraction would be issued within days, but Marin's life would never be the same, she said. "I am suffering mentally, of course, emotionally," Marin told ABC News correspondent John Quiñones in her first interview since the May 24 shooting. "I still don't sleep." Marin, an afterschool program coordinator, had only worked at Robb Elementary for a month when the shooting occurred. But the trauma of that day has endured; she now has a stutter and suffers from a tremor. Her friends and family say she is a changed woman. On the morning of the shooting, she said she saw the gunman crash his vehicle and watched him jump the school fence with his rifle. She heard shots fired. Quickly, Marin said she kicked out a rock that she had used to prop open the school's door. It slammed shut behind her. On the phone with 911, she said, "I cannot see him… the kids are running!" Three days after the rampage, Col. Steven McCraw, the director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, told a news conference that a "teacher" propped open the door and that's how the killer got in. Nineteen students and two of their teachers died in the massacre. "The teacher runs to the room, 132, to retrieve a phone, and that same teacher walks back to the exit door and the door remains propped open," McCraw said. Marin said she felt vilified and hired a lawyer to fight back. Within days, DPS admitted that McCraw's comments were wrong. On Sunday, a DPS spokesman told ABC News, "DPS corrected this error in public announcements and testimony and apologizes to the teacher and her family for the additional grief this has caused to an already horrific situation." Marin told Quiñones she believed she was being made a "scapegoat."
Sadly... another week, another school shooting. At least it appears the police responded quickly in this one -- unlike Uvalde. Three dead including teen and suspect in shooting at St. Louis high school, police say https://www.kansascity.com/news/state/missouri/article267778852.html A gunman opened fire on a St. Louis high school before being struck and killed by responding officers, Missouri police say. The shooting at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School occurred around 10:10 a.m. ET, according to St. Louis Interim Police Commissioner Michael Sack. Officers arrived within minutes of the shooting and “ran to the gunfire,” Sack said during a news conference. Police found the suspect armed with a “long gun” and officers exchanged shots with him. The suspect was fatally shot. “The officers arrived quickly, made entry with no hesitation. Went directly to the sound of gunfire, which is the expectation, not only to the department but to the community as well,” Sack said. A woman died after being taken to a hospital and a teenage girl was pronounced dead inside the school, the interim police commissioner said. Their names have not been released. Seven more people were injured. Injuries ranged from gunshot wounds to shrapnel injuries. “This is a heartbreaking day for all of us,” Sack said. “While on paper we may have nine victims... we have hundreds of others.” Officials said the “quick action” from officers likely “saved lives.” Police have not identified the shooter, who was said to be around 20 years old. The school was secure as of 11:45 a.m. ET, police said. Some students and teachers initially believed the shooting was a drill, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I heard one big one, and then there were so many I stopped counting,” 16-year-old Ja’Miah Hampton told the publication. “I’m confused why people are so cruel.” Dakota Willard, a 14-year-old who attends the Collegiate School of Medicine and Bio science inside the CVPA building, called what he saw “traumatizing,” according to the Post-Dispatch. Adrianne Bolden told KSDK he heard glass shattering from gunshots as he, his classmates and their teacher moved lockers over their classroom doors so the gunman could not enter the room. The students escaped the classroom by jumping out of the window, Bolden said. KTVI reported that children were seen running from the school, and officers could be seen helping them scale fences and buildings. “Help us Jesus,” St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones tweeted Monday morning as news of the shooting was being reported. This is a developing story and will be updated.
'What I saw was traumatizing': Gunman wounds at least five in St. Louis school shooting At least six people, including the shooter, were hospitalized after a gunman opened fire at a St. Louis high school. The principal at Central Visual & Performing Arts High School came over the loudspeaker Monday at 9 a.m. and announced the code word for a school shooter, and teachers and students said they heard multiple gunshots as the gunman tried to gain access to classrooms, reported the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "You are all going to (expletive) die," the shooter said, according to teacher David Williams, who added that the gunman shot out the window on the door to his classroom. The gunman was captured inside the school and taken into custody, and he's among those taken to nearby hospitals for injuries ranging from gunshot wounds to cardiac arrest, and one student reported seeing a girl lying on the floor in a hallway between CVPA and Collegiate School of Medicine and Bioscience.
Months too late. Acting police chief on day of Uvalde school massacre resigns from department, mayor tells CNN https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/17/us/uvalde-mariano-pargas-resigns/index.html Lt. Mariano Pargas has resigned from the Uvalde Police Department, Mayor Don McLaughlin tells CNN Thursday afternoon. Pargas’ resignation comes ahead of a rare Saturday “special meeting” that was called by the city to decide his fate. Pargas’ resignation is effective immediately, according to McLaughlin. Pargas, the acting police chief on the day of the Robb Elementary School massacre, was expected to be terminated during that Saturday meeting, if he wasn’t terminated by then, CNN previously reported.