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USA Today
As early as next week, the Boy Scouts of America may announce it will allow gay Scouts and troop leaders, a spokesman for the group has told USA TODAY.If this policy shift is approved by the national board meeting next week, it will be a sharp reversal of the Scouts' decades' old national policy banning homosexuals.
"The policy change under discussion would allow the religious, civic or educational organizations that oversee and deliver Scouting to determine how to address this issue," BSA spokesman Deron Smith said in a statement to USA TODAY.
Only seven months ago, the Boy Scouts affirmed its ban on gays after a nearly two-year examination of the issue by a committee of volunteers convened by national leaders of the Boy Scouts of America, known as the BSA. However, local chapters and some members of the national board -- corporate CEO Randall Stephenson of AT&T and James Turley of Ernst & Young -- called for a reconsideration.
Talking Points Memo
The post-inauguration push for President Obama’s ambitious second term agenda kicks into high gear this week, with major action on Capitol Hill for two of Obama’s signature legislative goals: immigration reform and gun violence prevention.While most of the news Monday was dominated by a bipartisan call for comprehensive immigration reform in the Senate, the day also kicked off a big week for gun violence prevention. Recent days have included a push by Vice President Biden for the president’s gun control agenda — as well as signs that in the Senate at least, key parts of that agenda could be picking up steam.
Some things to watch over the next seven days:
• Senate Republicans
Last week brought stories of Republican Senators crossing the aisle to at least rhetorically endorse some of the president’s top goals on gun control. Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) is reportedly working with Democratic Senators on legislation to ban the trafficking of illegal guns. He’s also working “to find an amenable background-check proposal,” according to staff.