Coronavirus
Gov. Gavin Newsom is ending the COVID-19 state of emergency on 2/28/23 nearly three years to the day after he first declared it on March 4, 2020…
Low-income children should be able to receive COVID-19 vaccinations at no cost under the federal Vaccines for Children Program, according to a panel of U.S. health advisors…
California
California has less than a quarter of the therapists it needs to care for the state’s population, and the majority specialize in treating adults, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation…
Fentanyl overdoses killed about 4,000 people in California in 2020 – more than double the previous year…
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in California, behind only heart disease…
As applications for CalFresh surge at California colleges, college staff warn that the application process remains cumbersome and bureaucratic…
President and Administration
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has provided more than $456 million in disaster assistance to Puerto Rico in the month since Hurricane Fiona devastated the island…
Many state Medicaid offices are stymieing the use of remote patient care, refusing coverage for low-income residents who suffer from chronic diseases at higher rates than Americans with private insurance…
President Biden said that his administration would prevail in lawsuits challenging his student debt relief plan and predicted that applicants would start getting checks within two weeks…
The Education Department said that many borrowers who are eligible to receive retroactive credit towards Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PLSF) under temporary rules expiring 10/31 will instead be able to obtain that credit under a separate policy by 7/1/23…
A Government Accountability Office (GAO) review released Thursday, 10/27, said the department has “not yet clearly communicated time frames and performance measures” for a vision Secretary Cardona detailed in June to address teacher recruitment and support…
Today, 10/31, the Department of Education released final regulations that streamline and improve the rules for major targeted debt relief programs…
On 10/26, Vice President Harris provided a six-month progress report on the Biden-Harris Action Plan for Building Better School Infrastructure…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued marketing denial orders on Wednesday, 10/26, for Logic's menthol vape capsules that work with Logic's currently authorized e-cigarettes…
The Department of Justice took legal action against six e-cigarette manufacturers on Wednesday, 10/24, seeking permanent injunctions against the manufacturers on behalf of the FDA…
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) needs more extensive data on the extent to which compounds known as forever chemicals are impacting drinking water in communities of color and other disadvantaged areas…
Federal agencies need to improve how they work together on cybersecurity for K-12 schools across the country amid an increase in cyberattacks against educational institutions, a congressional watchdog says…
The U.S. National Science Foundation has selected James L. Moore III to head the Directorate for Education and Human Resources…
Learn how the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) can help homeowners save on solar energy in the updated homeowner’s guide to the federal solar tax credit…
The number of Black and Latino Americans covered through Healthcare.gov has risen significantly since 2020, according to a new report from HHS released Tuesday, 10/25…
Millions of people with hearing loss can now purchase hearing aids without prescriptions or medical exams from Walgreens, CVS and Best Buy…
Congress
The Senate’s fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act is finally being debated…
A GOP super PAC will spend another $1.9 million in Rep. Katie Porter’s (D-CA) district…
On Wednesday, 10/26, the Congressional Tri-Caucus - which includes the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus…
Two years after Congress offered a fix to struggling rural hospitals, the overwhelming majority are taking a pass…
Education
After years of lobbying, the so-called 90-10 loophole that advocates argued encouraged some for-profit institutions to aggressively recruit military service members and veterans is closing under final regulations effective 7/1/2023 that were announced Thursday, 10/27…
Northern Virginia school systems grant fewer than 1 percent of requests from parents of children with disabilities seeking enrollment in schools that better accommodate their needs, according to data submitted in a civil rights lawsuit…
Just 33 percent of teens said they felt supported extremely or very well by their school, 38 percent by teachers, 56 percent by parents, and 65 percent by friends…
School shootings have hit close to home for many U.S. parents…
The vast majority of LGBTQ students who attended school in person during the 2020-21 academic year experienced some form of harassment or assault, according to the most recent National School Climate Survey…
Total undergraduate and graduate enrollment continued to decline in the fall 2022 semester as colleges saw a 1.1 percent decline compared to the prior year, according to a new report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center…
A POLITICO/Morning Consult poll found that 39 percent of voters said the advantages of race-based affirmative action in education for “minority groups” are more important than the disadvantages for others…
National testing data released on Monday, 10/24, reveals severe damage inflicted on student math and reading performance, reaffirming COVID-19’s ongoing educational toll….
Students who learned to read during the pandemic are still performing below those who were in early grades before schools closed - in some cases, well below, new data shows…