California
Last week, Gov. Newsom said that he will seek “exponentially” more money to combat retail theft after a series of seemingly orchestrated smash-and-grab crimes in the Bay Area over the weekend…
About one million Californians who got unemployment payments from the pandemic-related federal benefit program now have to prove to the state they had a prior work history – or face paying back benefits…
A federal appeals court on Friday, 11/26, temporarily blocked an order that all California prison workers must be vaccinated against COVID-19 or have a religious or medical exemption…
Last week, Newsom named Alice Reynolds to lead the California Public Utilities Commission…
Coronavirus
Countries around the world reported their first cases of the Omicron variant over the weekend and some imposed new travel restrictions…
Around 95 percent of the 3.5 million federal employees covered by President Biden’s vaccine mandate for government workers had complied with the requirement ahead of its 11/22 deadline, according to the White House…
President and Administration
In fiscal year 2020, SAMHSA’s Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH) grantees enrolled 60,000 individuals and connected nearly 40,000 to community mental health services…
The United States won’t meet the Biden administration’s goal of widespread electric-vehicle adoption without urgent investment in domestic semiconductor manufacturing, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said…
After months of discord and delay, the House will soon be moving ahead on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) China-targeted $250 billion U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, bolstered by a bipartisan consensus that the U.S. government needs to act decisively to better compete with China…
Today marks the 46th anniversary of the enactment of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act…
The Justice Department will pay about $130 million to 40 survivors and families of victims of the 2018 massacre at a high school in Parkland, FL, over the F.B.I.’s failure to properly investigate two tips in the months before the shooting that suggested the gunman might open fire at a school…
President Biden announced on Wednesday, 11/24, that he will nominate Shalanda Young to be director of the Office of Management and Budget, along with Nani Coloretti as deputy director…
Last week, President Biden announced that he will reappoint Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell as head of the U.S. central bank, opting for continuity in the government’s most powerful economic post as the specter of rising inflation looms in an election year…
The White House has launched a new energy division of its Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and appointed Sally Benson, a well-known energy expert at Stanford University, to a high-level position to contribute to climate change policy…
Congress
Government funding runs out this Friday, 12/3…
Senate Democratic aides will huddle informally today, 11/29, with the Parliamentarian’s office over Byrd Rule issues, with more formal bipartisan sessions expected this week…
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told congressional leaders last month that she has a “high degree of confidence” that the federal government can pay its bills through 12/15, but what happens after that date is unclear…
The Senate is currently debating the National Defense Authorization Act, and there’s a cloture vote on a substitute bill offered by Armed Services Committee Chair Jack Reed (D-RI) scheduled for today, 11/29…
Education
The Education Department recently conducted a two-part webinar series on Using American Rescue Plan Funds and Other Federal Supports to Address State and Local Teacher and School Staff Labor Shortages…
Borrowers are less than three months away from having to resume making payments on their student loans, and although loan servicers are well into the process of executing the Education Department’s transition plan, a huge majority of borrowers say they aren’t financially prepared for repayment to begin…
Professional training programs have exploded over the last dozen years - by one count, there are now more than 500,000 of them…
Last week, the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) submitted to the Federal Register for public comment a proposed Civil Rights Data Collection information collection request package for the 2021-22 school year…
A report published in May inspired the introduction of bipartisan legislation this month that would improve access to public transportation for college students, an investment that is widely supported by higher education advocates…