Washington ( CNN ) -- Supporters of the Violence Against Women Act hope to revive the law in a new Congress after efforts to renew it failed in the last one . `` It is an early priority for us , '' House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi , D-California , told CNN as the 113th Congress convened Thursday . `` Since it passed the Senate last time , with two more Democrats in the Senate , we hope that it will have an easy path there and a doable path there -- and a successful one in the House . '' The Violence Against Women Act mostly provides support for organizations that serve domestic violence victims . Criminal prosecutions of abusers are generally the responsibility of local authorities , but the act stiffened sentences for stalking under federal law . Supporters credit the 1994 act with sharply reducing the number of lives lost to domestic violence over the past two decades . Baseball player charged after domestic dispute . The Senate voted to renew the act for a third time in April , barring agencies that receive funding under the law from discriminating against gays and lesbians , allowing immigrants who face domestic violence to seek legal status and giving tribal authorities new power to prosecute cases on Indian reservations . The Republican-led House passed its own bill , one that did n't include those provisions and that advocates said rolled back some protections in existing law . The White House threatened to veto it , and no resolution was reached before the clock ran out on lawmakers this week . The failure to reauthorize the act leaves people such as Nancy Neylon , executive director of the Ohio Domestic Violence Network , facing the prospect of layoffs at her organization and others that work with spousal abuse victims . Neylon said the act funds the paycheck of one of her group 's nine employees and others in towns around the state . `` We have no state money that supports domestic violence or sexual violence programs , '' Neylon said . The money already in the pipeline is running out , she said -- and without federal support , `` We have no services here . '' Granderson : Stop and think , Rihanna . The National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women says the failure to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act does n't mean the law is dead -- `` VAWA itself is very much alive and will continue in its 2005 version , '' it notes . But the programs it supports `` are certainly threatened because the budget crises at the local , state and national levels are always looming . '' The standoff over the so-called fiscal cliff put off across-the-board cuts to those programs , according to the task force , a coalition of civil rights groups other advocates . But without further action , it says nearly 200,000 people could lose help they now receive . Opinion : Do n't gut the VAWA . Neylon 's Columbus-based organization supports shelters and programs across Ohio . Federal money supports legal aid for victims facing custody , housing , employment or immigration problems and training for police , prosecutors and probation officers involved in domestic violence cases , she said . Other programs under the Violence Against Women Act pay for court programs aimed at curbing abuse . The existence of federal law `` drew incredible attention to the issue '' and spurred states to toughen their own laws on spousal abuse and sexual assault , Neylon said . It means protective orders cross state lines -- an important issue in a state where metropolitan areas such as Cincinnati and Toledo straddle the borders . Neylon said changes included in Senate bill `` bubbled up from the field '' based on years of experience by women 's advocates , prosecutors , judges and social workers -- `` literally thousands of people providing input into what the major problems were out here in the country . '' `` We 've now had a number of years to look at what the needs are , and the field was telling our federal legislators , 'This is what we need , ' `` she said . Opinion : House GOP failed women on Violence Against Women Act . The Senate bill passed 68-31 , with the support of 14 Republicans . The 222-205 vote on the House bill was more of a party-line affair , with only six Democrats supporting it and 23 Republicans voting against it . The House bill failed to extend the power of Native American tribes to prosecute offenses committed by non-Indians on tribal lands , which the National Congress of American Indians said allows abusers to `` game the system '' and avoid prosecution . Talks extended into late December , with Vice President Joe Biden -- the architect of the 1994 law -- and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor , R-Virginia , attempting unsuccessfully to reach a deal . Cantor spokeswoman Megan Whittemore told CNN the majority leader `` has been working with our members , Vice President Biden and groups who serve those directly affected by these crimes to seek common ground across party lines and put an end to violence against women . '' She pointed to a letter from the task force praising Cantor 's `` good-faith efforts '' to find a resolution . But the letter also said the task force remains committed to keeping the language involving tribal courts . And Pelosi said the House bill `` was really a step backward for women . '' CNN 's Dan Merica in Washington and Matt Smith in Atlanta contributed to this report .
Efforts to renew the Domestic Violence Against Women Act failed to survive the last Congress . Critics say the law sharply increased the number of domestic violence deaths . Senate wanted to extend protections for Native Americans , gays and lesbians . House bill did n't contain those rights , which critics say are necessary .