House Passes PRO Act and Looks to Reauthorize Violence Against Women Act

Congress has been extremely busy this week, juggling several crucial reform bills. The House didn’t waste a moment of their time yesterday while they were waiting on the Senate to send over the updated covid-19 relief bill. Instead, the House got to work passing a ground breaking piece of legislation titled the ‘Protecting the Right to Organize Act’, also known as the PRO Act. Its a labor laws focused bill that protects workers rights to unionize and prohibits certain anti-union actions by employers, including retaliation towards workers. The House also re-introduced a bill co-sponsored by President Biden in 1994 that expired in 2018. They’re looking to re-authorize the Violence Against Women Act of 2021′. It builds on the older one by providing more funds to various groups working on issues relating to sexual assault, domestic violence and prevention. It also eliminates impunity for non-native perpetrators of related offenses. But, this bill has a long way to go, with lawmakers from both sides accusing the other of playing politics with the act. Only one republican has voiced support for the bill so far.