California
Last week, both chambers of the California legislature approved Gov. Gavin Newsom's plan to send additional $600 stimulus checks to residents across the state, sending the legislation to the governor's desk…
Californians legally bought a record 686,435 handguns in 2020 - a nearly 66% increase from the year before - while annual long-gun sales reached their second-highest total with 480,401 legal purchases, according to data Attorney General Rob Bonta released Thursday, 7/2…
The gubernatorial recall election is set for 9/14…
San Jose officials have passed the first law in the nation that requires gun owners to carry liability insurance and pay a fee to cover taxpayers’ costs associated with gun violence…
California broadly reopened its economy barely two weeks ago and since then an especially contagious COVID-19 variant has spread among the unvaccinated, a development that has health officials on edge and already has prompted Los Angeles County to strongly recommend everyone resume wearing masks inside…
Coronavirus
Last week, the Supreme Court voted 5 to 4 to leave in place the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) ban on evictions, imposed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and prevent homelessness…
The Biden administration on Thursday, 7/1, announced the formation of “surge response” teams intended to combat the fast-moving delta variant by deploying additional expertise and supplies to hot spots…
FEMA has changed its pandemic funeral assistance policy to allow family members of those who died from COVID-19 between 1/20/20 and 5/16/20 to submit for reimbursement even if the death certificate does not identify the illness as the cause of death…
The highly contagious delta variant quickly spreading through the U.S. may force schools to double down on mitigation measures in order to reopen safely later this summer and into the fall, health experts say…
President and Administration
State and local officials responsible for doling out more than $46 billion in federal rental assistance had distributed just $1.5 billion as of the end of May, according to new Treasury Department data that illustrated a severe bottleneck in the aid…
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is ordering car manufacturers to disclose crashes involving automated driving systems - ranging from fully autonomous to those that can perform driver tasks such as steering, changing speeds and switching lanes - as part of an effort to monitor the safety of new technologies being used on the nation’s roads…
The U.S. will no longer require Americans applying for passports or consular reports of birth abroad to undergo a medical certification if their self-selected gender doesn’t match the gender listed on other citizenship or identity documents, the State Department announced…
Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday, 7/1, issued a moratorium on federal executions, ordering a review of death penalty policy changes made under former President Trump…
Congress
The House passed two bills last week that are expected to form the core of legislation in the chamber designed to boost U.S. research and development in response to China’s challenge to U.S. economic supremacy…
A rare show of bipartisan unity over tax policy unfolded last week, with 18 lawmakers making their case on why House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) should include an expansion of the state and local tax (SALT) deduction in upcoming legislation…
Every child whose parent or guardian earns less than $100,000 per year would be granted a savings account under a bill introduced by Sens. Bob Casey (D-PA), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY)…
Last week, the House voted to create a new select committee that will investigate the deadly 1/6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, in a vote falling mostly along party lines that signals the political fight to come over the panel's examination of the insurrection…
Education
Data released last week revealed a startling decline in the number of American children attending public schools: Total K-12 enrollment dropped by roughly 3% in 2020-21 compared with the previous school year - which amounts to a drop of roughly 1.5 million pupils…
Last week, the Supreme Court declined to hear a high-profile feud over the rights of transgender youth in public schools, letting stand a lower court victory for a Virginia student whose school barred him from using the boys’ restroom…
On Thursday, 7/1, the Education Department released more than $3 billion in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds to states to support infants, toddlers, children, and youth with disabilities…