Who says hard things can't be fun? Well, I don't really know if home buying is hard, but I do know the next incredible duo of Lindsay sitkoff And Matt Windsor, licensed real estate agents in the DMV, make home buying fun. They're kind, talented and walk their clients through every step from the first inkling of wanting to purchase to signing on the dotted line and everything in between. Lindsey And Matt, listen to your every need and help you find that perfect next home. For listeners of the your good news podcast. They'd love to help you. Head to Lindsay and matt.com. That's LYNDSI and M A. T t.com. To learn more about this duo, head to the shownotes to reach out and mention my name Catherine from New York, good news podcast when you do. Hi, and welcome to the your good news podcast with me your host, Katherine Getty. Each Thursday, I'll give you the scoop on the good news coming out of Washington, and how you can get involved with this thing called democracy. Welcome back to another episode of The your good news podcast. Let's set the stage for this week. The house is out of session meaning members are back in their districts. The Senate is in and of course the administration led by President Biden continue they're offered so on abroad or know what's happening in Washington, I wanted to give you a quick update on two things. One, the latest bank collapse. And then I want to pivot to talk more about some key a key committee. And this is going to continue into a series this summer. So let's talk about the most recent bank collapse early on Monday. So earlier this week, federal regulators sees the trouble bank, first republic Bank, which is a regional bank, making it the second largest bank failure in all of US history. It's the third midsize bank to fail in less than two months. So I've covered Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in Episode 85. If you haven't listened for that, when regulators took control all of its deposits and most of its assets, JP Morgan Chase bought in a bid to end the turmoil. And it raised questions about the greater health continues to raise questions about the greater health of the US banking system. The only larger bank failure in US history was Washington Mutual, and that was back in 2008. And I think everyone can remember that 2008 financial crisis was not good. efforts like fixing or helping save. This most recent bank first republic bank is in a line as we've seen with Silicon Valley and Signature Bank to stave off concerns that bankers in America have that people that put their money in banks have real concerns about what's happening. I will say Jamie Dimon who is the Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, you probably seen him on TV. He is always asked about asked when there are things happening in the economy may be fed raising or lowering or an interest point may be something broader about what's happening in the economy. People go to him. So Jamie Dimon said our government invited us and others who step up and we did. I don't know what's going to happen next. Banking is not my forte, I continue to keep you updated. Because I want you to understand, what are the different features that are out there? And how do you fight federal regulators that are directed by Congress through laws? How are they handling this banking crisis? We learned a lot in 2008. But obviously, there are some serious problems that are happening. So hopefully, things like JPMorgan Chase, buying first republic or buying up all those assets and insuring them is going to help. Time will tell. So more to come. And let's go to the heart of the episode. I said at the outset that I wanted to start giving you kind of more insights on committees across Congress at the beginning of this year, I dived into what is leadership and what do staff do. And, you know, I think it's really important to understand the committees because committees are really an opportunity for Congress to do the heart of their work. When you see a bill getting passed on the floor, a lot has happened for it to get there. So today I want to highlight the Senate HELP Committee. My goal always with this podcast is to give you a glimpse to help give you context that you may not see in the news. And I think it's important to understand kind of this context because it will inform what members are on this committee and why are they viewing it this way? When it comes down to ratios on committees you'll see in the Senate Senate has 51 Democrats 49 Republicans, that means that the committee's are that razor thin too. though, and so the dynamics on committees changed, but I'm giving you a call balls and strikes, I'm giving you the insights on what are these committees actually doing? So first, the Senate Health Committee, it is the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. And it generally works on issues like this. I know groundbait breaking given the name of the committee, but wall currently known as the HELP Committee, which is the acronym the committee was originally founded in 1869. I had to do some history became a history buff this this week, and it was the committee on education. It started as a committee of education. And then it was, it grew to the Committee on Education and Labor in 1870. The committee's jurisdiction at the end of the 19th and 20th and early 20th centuries, really, for the large, large part because it was Education and Labor, focus on federal employees working conditions, which, if you remember, the early 1900s, was in great, and federal education aid. So those are kind of the main baileywick of what the committee was working on. By 1944. The Public Health Service, the jurisdiction of the Public Health Service, was added to the Committee of the Committee on Education and Labor, thus adding the health portfolio. Then, during President Lyndon B. Johnson's era, they took a leading role on Johnson's War on Poverty, resulting in the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. Fast forward to 1992, the committee's jurisdiction was updated to include all of the areas I've mentioned, the committee was given its current name, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, later in 1999, so it was moving towards it, and I need to buy 99 had the full name. So why am I giving you this history lesson? Why do I always give you these history lessons? Because it's twofold. I think, understanding what a committee does in what their jurisdiction so what they are able to work on, and Congress helps you understand why issues come out the way they do sometimes, you know, I think there's often an understanding or thought that leadership decides everything. And that takes away a lot of what these regular members that are doing the committee work, that are being the voice for their constituents do on a daily basis. So understanding their jurisdiction, understanding their history, what was added, what was taken away, will help you understand what's gonna come out of that committee. Help, is currently led by Chairman Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders, as many of us know, ran for president is a progressive member, he's an independent from Vermont, he really focuses a lot on drug pricing. So you can see that woven through the agenda of what's going to happen and help. The ranking member is a doctor, Dr. Bill Cassidy, from Louisiana, he's going to come with his own view. So understanding what the jurisdiction is, and understanding what these committees are going to work on, will help you understand, okay, if I have x issue, and it's outside of, you know, the state that I live in, who's going to be working on it, and you can Google that and find out a little bit more. I also my also, my hope is that when you see these big bills, you know, help has education policy has all of the labor considerations. You know, when you're thinking through things that really touch your heart are important to you. Like I said, you're able to understand who do you need to go to? My hope with this podcast is always giving you the tools to engage with our government. And so this is going to be a new series. I'm going to ping pong between the House and the Senate. If there's a committee that you're interested in, in learning a little bit more, let me know I'd love to highlight it sooner rather than later. I so appreciate you listening to this week's episode of The Orca news podcast. If you haven't already. Go ahead and hit subscribe where you listen to podcasts so that each Thursday, your dose of Good News, the news coming out of Washington will be where you listen to podcasts. Also, leave a review. It helps so much in letting this podcast and getting this podcast to grow. As always, follow me on Instagram at Katherine Getty and then tune in next week to another episode of The Your