California
Governor Gavin Newsom has proposed a $196.8 billion general-fund budget for the next fiscal year as he plans to plow an unprecedented tax-revenue windfall back into the state’s economy…
A Sacramento-area resident has challenged the legitimacy of the recall drive against Gov. Newsom, telling the 3rd District Court of Appeals in San Francisco that Sacramento County Superior Court Judge James Arguelles violated the California constitution when he gave recall proponents more time to gather voter signatures…
Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) standing among California voters has plummeted this year after liberals in the state have soured on Feinstein’s centrist approach, according to a new poll…
California Attorney General Rob Bonta launched the Racial Justice Bureau last week within the California Department of Justice and announced plans for a virtual convening against hate crime with California’s Big City Mayors…
Coronavirus
Last week, President Biden announced that Uber and Lyft, two of the country’s largest ride-sharing services, would provide free rides to vaccination sites beginning 5/24 and ending on 7/4…
The judge who threw out a national moratorium on evictions agreed to keep the protection in place to avoid further spread of COVID-19 while the Biden administration appeals the ruling, even though she said the government isn’t likely to win…
President Biden will offer states $7.4 billion to recruit and hire public health workers to respond to COVID-19 while also preparing for future health crises, the White House said on Thursday, 5/13…
The Biden administration will begin updating its guidance for travel and other sectors - likely further relaxing rules across the U.S. largely lifted its mask mandate for vaccinated people…
The Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Isabella Guzman said the agency is considering creating a direct lending channel to underserved businesses that have had trouble accessing capital at banks…
President and Administration
The Federal Communications Commission, in partnership with the Department of Education, has launched the Emergency Broadband Benefit program a nationwide program providing discounted internet access to all families with children participating in the free or reduced-price lunch or school breakfast program and Pell Grant recipients for the 2020-21 award year…
About 39 million U.S. households will begin receiving monthly child tax-credit payments in mid-July, most of them automatically, as part of the COVID-19 recovery bill in March, administration officials said…
States seeking a slice of the $350 billion in funding available under the latest relief law received some guidelines from the Treasury Department on what they can and can’t do with the money…
Last week, President Joe Biden stepped up defense of his $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan after Republicans blamed the shockingly weak gain in April employment on federal benefit payments persuading those out of work to hold off on getting a job…
The Department of Labor (DOL) lacks a single Senate-confirmed leader other than Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, posing challenges for the Biden administration as it attempts to advance a robust agenda geared toward a post-pandemic workforce…
President Biden is expected to release his full fiscal 2022 budget request on 5/27…
Last week, the Biden administration said it would provide protections against discrimination in health care based on gender identity and sexual orientation…
Last week, the Biden administration announced that 1 million Americans have signed up for health coverage through the Affordable Care Act during the special enrollment period the administration launched in February…
Colonial Pipeline Co. paid nearly $5 million to Eastern European hackers last week…
President Biden on Wednesday, 5/12, signed an executive order intended to strengthen U.S. cybersecurity by improving information sharing about attacks with the private sector and adopting better safety practices throughout the government…
Congress
A bipartisan group of House lawmakers proposed a $500 million Department of Homeland Security annual grant program that would run for five years to address cybersecurity vulnerabilities of state and local government networks…
More than 300 House members took advantage of Democrats’ decision to allow local project funding proposals for fiscal 2022, sending 2,887 requests totaling nearly $5.9 billion, according to a list released by the House Appropriations Committee…
Senate Republicans are set to deliver a revised offer of an infrastructure package that includes roads, public transportation and airports to the White House as early as today, 5/17…
The House passed stronger protections for pregnant workers in a 315-101 vote on Friday, 5/14, highlighting widespread support for one of the few labor measures that could break through the Senate’s partisan logjam…
Senate Republicans dramatically changed their party rules to take a hard line on the debt limit in the coming months…
The White House on Thursday, 5/13, launched an effort to increase the number of American workers belonging to unions, address income inequality and redress a power imbalance that favors employers…
The Senate confirmed the No. 2’s at the Health and Human Services (HHS) and Education Departments last week…
Education
The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has announced a virtual public hearing to be held from 6/7 to 6/11, to gather information for improving enforcement of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972…
Legislation to permanently extend college students’ eligibility for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) was introduced in Congress last week…
A new report has found that parents and caregivers took greater responsibility for school decision-making during the pandemic…
International students and those without legal immigration status will be eligible for COVID-19 aid meant to help pay for expenses like food, housing, and child care during the COVID-19 pandemic, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said, in a reversal from the Trump administration…
The U.S. loses out on hundreds of billions of dollars each year because of racial and socioeconomic inequities in higher education attainment, according to a new report by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce…
Last week, the Senate voted 54-44 to confirm San Diego Unified School District Superintendent Cynthia Marten to be Deputy Secretary of Education…
On Thursday, 5/13, President Biden announced his intention to nominate Catherine Lhamon for Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the Education Department…
Mental Health
Youth vape and e-cigarette use has dropped precipitously during the pandemic, according to a recent study — reversing a years-long explosion in teen use…
College students who were at risk for failing and who spent more time with therapy dogs over the course of a four-week academic stress management program were more likely to experience improvements in their executive functioning skills, such as time management and coping techniques, than students who spent less time interacting with the dogs, found a recently published study…