California
In a press conference on Wednesday, 1/5, state Health and Human Services chief Mark Ghaly repeatedly vowed that California would marshal its resources to keep kids safely in classrooms…
The current mask mandate, initially set to expire 1/15, is now extended until 2/15, and any potential for lifting the mask mandate is dependent on the severity of COVID-19 on hospitals…
Gov. Newsom will be unveiling his budget proposal for the next fiscal year today, 1/10…
Despite daily hospitalization numbers being higher than last winter’s COVID-19 surge, hospitals are able to accommodate the demand, and most children are neither on ventilators nor in intensive care, officials announced…
Statewide assessment scores released Friday, 1/7, show less than half of students at or above grade level in English, only a third in math and less than a third in science, a step backward from modest gains before the pandemic in what already were troubling achievement levels…
A Treasury news release shows that $ 50.3 million has been distributed to CA state-owned rent relief programs…
Last week, Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge) unveiled a bill that would fund districts based on yearly enrollment rather than average daily attendance, a move that would deliver an estimated $3 billion extra to schools across the state…
Last week, former Rep. Harley Rouda said he will not run for a newly drawn Orange County congressional seat, averting a potentially bruising intraparty battle with Rep. Katie Porter, a fellow Democrat…
On Monday, 1/3, David Kim announced that he would be stepping down on Friday, 1/14, so that he could rejoin his family in Virginia…
Libertarian talk show host Larry Elder announced he is not running for governor this year, despite eclipsing his Republican competitors in the recall race…
Coronavirus
Updated K-12 guidance for quarantines and isolation was released Thursday, 1/6, and answers some questions…
On Wednesday, 1/5, the CDC endorsed booster shots of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 12 to 17, citing rising infections in teens and young adults and a troubling increase in pediatric hospitalizations…
The White House is finalizing details with the U.S. Postal Service to deliver 500 million COVID-19 test kits to households across the country, kick-starting a key part of President Biden’s response to Omicron…
The U.S. government doubled its order for Pfizer’s COVID-19 pills last week, a move expected to modestly increase the nation’s very limited supply of the treatment in the short term amid a record-setting surge in COVID-19 cases…
A new CDC study from University of Arizona researchers found Pfizer's vaccine is 92 percent effective at preventing COVID-19 in children ages 12 to 17…
President and Administration
President Biden is not expected to submit his FY’23 budget until sometime after his March 1, state of the Union Address…
A newly-released report from SAMHSA shows that in 2019, suicide was the 10th leading cause of death among persons over the age of 18 (adults); in that year, 45,861 adults died as a result of suicide, and an estimated 381,295 adults visited hospital emergency departments for nonfatal, self-inflicted injuries…
A poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that management of the pandemic, once an issue that strongly favored President Biden and his fellow Democrats, is beginning to recede in the minds of Americans…
Then-Vice President-elect Kamala Harris was inside Democratic National Committee headquarters on 1/6/21, when a pipe bomb was discovered outside the building…
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has launched the $14 billion Affordable Connectivity Program (previously named the Emergency Broadband Benefit)…
As of December 2021, the FCC has committed more than $3.8 billion to support more than 9,000 schools, 760 libraries and 100 consortia, providing nearly 8.3 million connected devices and over 4.4 million broadband connections so far…
Workers quit their jobs at a record rate in November while job openings stayed close to highest-ever levels, signs the U.S. labor market remained tight late last year…
The IRS on Wednesday, 1/5, released new guidance for businesses that claim a research and development tax credit…
Congress
The U.S. Innovation and Competitiveness Act, which started off as the Endless Frontiers Act, is aimed at combating the rise in technological and innovative prowess in China, remains stalled after passing the Senate with a big bipartisan margin…
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has vowed the Senate will tackle voting rights legislation and will vote on changing key Senate rules by Monday, 1/17, if Republicans once again block the Democrats’ elections bill - the Freedom to Vote Act, a bill backed by all 50 Senate Democrats…
The Build Back Better (BBB) bill is stalled in the Senate, where Sen. Manchin said last week there are “no discussions” going on about reviving it…
Several Senate Republicans - including Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), ranking Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee who isn’t running for reelection - have been pushing the idea that with the $1.7 trillion Build Back Back Act apparently stalled there is political room for leaders in both parties to reach a deal on a large-scale omnibus spending package…
Sens. Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) are discussing a possible pandemic relief package that would provide additional support for restaurants that are struggling amid a surge of COVID-19 cases…
Read one-on-one interviews with thirteen lawmakers from both chambers and both parties about the effects of Jan. 6 on each of them and on the legislative process…
Education
Over the Biden administration’s first year, administration and White House officials have sparred internally and externally over how to address the outstanding $1.7 trillion in student loan debt Americans carry…
A working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that state test scores dropped significantly in both reading and math during the pandemic…
Students who return to college and finish their bachelor’s degrees earn on average $4,294 more immediately after graduation and see extra income growth of $1,121 per year, on average, a new study from Kansas State University found…
The Departments of Transportation and Education announced that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is giving states the option of waiving the portion of the commercial driver’s license (CDL) skills test that requires applicants to identify the “under the hood” engine components…