California
Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers have worked out a $9.6 billion dollar COVID-19 relief package that will set aside $2 billion for small business and nonprofit grants and fee waivers, as well as another $2 billion for tax relief for small businesses….
Newsom conceded that he has not yet struck a school reopening deal after having said it could arrive last week…
On Thursday, 2/18, state legislation emerged requiring schools in the state’s red tier or better to open for kindergarteners through sixth graders, and would channel billions to schools willing to open by mid-April…
Coronavirus
The U.S. recorded its unfathomable 500,000th death from COVID-19 today, 2/22…
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the first of two volumes of a COVID-19 Handbook that has implementation guidance, strategies, and considerations for the education community…
Last week, as part of his national strategy for COVID-19 response, President Joe Biden announced a series of actions to expand COVID-19 testing, improve the availability of tests, and better prepare for the threat of variants…
On Friday, 2/19, President Biden announced during the virtual G7 summit that the U.S. would contribute up to $4 billion to COVAX, the World Health Organization-backed initiative aimed at ensuring equitable access to vaccines around the world…
President and Administration
A multimillion dollar advertising campaign is being led by the advocacy groups Judicial Crisis Network, Heritage Action for America, and Americans for Public Trust…
Vice President Kamala Harris said on Thursday, 2/18, that the 2.5 million women who have left the workforce during the pandemic constituted a “national emergency” to be addressed by the Biden administration’s COVID-19 relief plan…
When President Biden met with a group of mayors and governors last week, he bluntly told them to get ready for a legislative defeat: his proposed minimum wage hike was unlikely to happen, he said, at least in the near term…
President Biden last week reaffirmed his commitment to expanding registered apprenticeships to reward work, rebuild the middle-class, and connect a diverse workforce to family-supporting, living wage jobs by endorsing Congressman Bobby Scott’s (D-VA) bipartisan National Apprenticeship Act of 2021…
The Biden administration will give the nation’s smallest businesses exclusive access to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for two weeks as part of a broader effort to steer federal aid to the most vulnerable parts of the economy…
Congress
House Democrats renewed a push Friday, 2/19, for a federal hate crimes tracking law, amid an increase in assaults on members of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic…
The debate over reopening schools amid the ongoing pandemic is spilling into negotiations over billions of dollars in new money to help students without home internet access…
Democrats’ second major legislative initiative later this year is expected to include a massive infrastructure proposal—plus some extra provisions—but it’s unclear if they’ll look to add a corporate tax increase, an immigration plan, or debt limit measures to the package…
Democrats begin the final push for their $1.9 trillion stimulus bill this week, dropping any pretense of bipartisanship to quickly pass the package before an earlier round of benefits runs out….
Education
Student veterans are reporting increased need for support due to the COVID-19 pandemic, suggests a study from Operation College Promise and the Texas A&M University system…
The Center for Collegiate Mental Health (CCMH) concluded that the negative impacts of the pandemic are disproportionately higher “by students with minority identities”…
A survey of high school seniors by YouthTruth has found that their plans for the fall are fluid, especially for minority students…