HOME SCHOOL LEGAL DEFENSE ASSN for HOME SCHOOL LEGAL DEFENSE ASSN

Taxation/Internal Revenue Code TAX

Support of expanding the Coverdell Education Savings Account to include homeschool expenses, and also to expand 529 Plans to include k-12 homeschool expenses. Support of expanding the Child Tax Credit. Support of H.R. 2624, the Military Child Educational Freedom Act, introduced by Congressman Joe Wilson, which will expand Coverdell Education Savings Accounts for military families who homeschool their children. Support of H.R.1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, due to its doubling of the Child Tax Credit. HSLDA strongly supported the Ted Cruz Amendment which would have expanded 529 plans to homeschool expenses. Meetings with Congressional staff, White House staff, staff to the Vice President, and Department of Education staff to oppose language such as in H.R. 610 which would give federal vouchers to homeschoolers. HSLDA opposes this because it could lead to future regulations on homeschoolers.

Contacted: U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom; Executive Office of the President (EOP); HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; Education, Dept of; Office of the Vice President of the United States; White House Office; State, Dept of (DOS); SENATE

Bills named: H.R. 610 (115th), H.R. 2624 (115th), H.R. 1 (115th)

Family issues/Abortion/Adoption FAM

Meeting with Members of Congress and their staff about the Parental Rights Amendment to the US Constitution, which would enshrine parental rights as a fundamental right into the text of the US Constitution. Meetings with Members of Congress and their staff in support of the Parental Rights Amendment, which is S.J.Res. 48 in the Senate and H.J. Res. 121 in the House. Seeking cosponsors of the the Parental Rights Amendment. Urging staff for the President and Vice President to withdraw the United States as a signatory from the UN Disabilities Treaty and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, as both of these treaties threaten US sovereignty and parental rights. Meetings with Members of Congress and their staff about the need to amend CAPTA (the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act) and ASFA (the Adoption and Safe Families Act) to better protect family integrity and Constitutional rights of innocent families.

Contacted: Education, Dept of; State, Dept of (DOS); Executive Office of the President (EOP); White House Office; Office of the Vice President of the United States; U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom; SENATE; HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Bills named: H.J.Res. 121 (115th), S.J.Res. 48 (115th)

Immigration IMM

Alerting Members of Congress and their staff and the Executive Branch about the threat to homeschool freedom internationally. Meetings with USCIRF on this issue. Urging the US to grant asylum to persecuted homeschoolers in Cuba, or to put sanctions on Cuba, for that nation's persecution of homeschooling. Support of H.R. 391 which includes HSLDA's language to grant up to 500 individuals per year asylum in the United States, if they are facing persecution overseas because of their decision to homeschool, or be homeschooled. Urging Congress and the Administration to help Pastor Ramon and Adya Rigal, homeschool parents in Cuba who were sentenced to prison for choosing to homeschool their children.

Foreign entity interest: Pastor Ramon and Adya Rigal, homeschool parents in Cuba, and their children.

Contacted: State, Dept of (DOS); SENATE; Executive Office of the President (EOP); Education, Dept of; Office of the Vice President of the United States; HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom; White House Office

Bills named: H.R. 391 (115th)

Education EDU

Protection of home education from government regulation - meetings with Members of Congress and their staff, White House staff, and staff for the U.S. Department of Education to talk about general homeschool success and to ask the federal government to "leave us alone." HSLDA strongly opposes any federal government involvement in k-12 education, as well as early education, including any federal money for homeschooling. Meetings with Congressional and White House staff to oppose H.R. 610, a bill which would give federal vouchers to homeschoolers. Meetings with Members of Congress and their staff on improvements to the Higher Education Act to clarify that homeschool graduates are considered to be high school graduates for the purposes of federal student aid, and to oppose any attempts to overturn the federal student unit database ban. Meetings with Members of Congress and their staff to oppose H.R. 2434, a bill which would increase federal control and use of student data. H.R. 2434 would also overturn the federal student unit database ban, which would pose a grave threat to student privacy.

Contacted: U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom; White House Office; HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; Education, Dept of; SENATE; Executive Office of the President (EOP); State, Dept of (DOS); Office of the Vice President of the United States

Bills named: H.R. 2434 (115th), H.R. 610 (115th)