Debt Limit Negotiations
The debt ceiling deal that President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) struck late Saturday, 5/27, is a true meet-you-halfway compromise between the stark ultimatums the leaders have issued for months…
Lawmakers have returned to Washington for a vote on Speaker McCarthy’s bipartisan deal with President Biden to avert an economy-shattering default, with the legislation set to come to the floor on tomorrow…
California
A substantial majority of Californians feel that Sen. Dianne Feinstein is no longer fit for the job because of her recent declining health, and more voters believe she should resign than support her staying in office, according to a new UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll…
An estimated five million undocumented workers across the U.S. would be eligible for a pathway to citizenship under a new proposal by Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA)…
The risk of blackouts on California’s hottest summer days will be smaller this year than last year according to a recent state Energy Commission report. That could mean energy regulators won’t have to send another emergency text like last year’s September 6 request to reduce electricity use or face outages…
The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) predicts California revenues will fall $30 billion short of what’s needed to cover Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposed spending for the 2024 fiscal year, adding to its doubts about the administration's budget plan…
A state assemblymember from San Jose is pushing a novel proposal he believes could finally jump-start affordable housing development by allowing the state government to get into the homebuilding business…
A landmark agreement among Nevada, Arizona, and California to take less water from the Colorado River leaves California relatively unscathed…
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, California has only just begun to see a historic snowpack melt into streams and rivers, and the flows could be high for many weeks…
President and Administration
According to a federal report, more than two-thirds of public schools saw higher percentages of their students seeking mental health services in 2022 than before the COVID-19 pandemic — but only a slim majority believed they were able to meet children’s heightened psychological needs…
NASA and the U.S. Department of Education signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday, 5/4, strengthening the collaboration between the two agencies, including efforts to increase access to high-quality STEM and space education to students and schools across the nation…
Dr. Vivek Murthy, the U.S. surgeon general, recently published a public advisory warning of the risks of social media use for young people…
Last week, the Biden administration announced that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), alongside the Department of Commerce, will lead a Kids Online Health and Safety interagency task force to examine risks and benefits of social media and online platforms…
The Biden administration officially pushed back to October the release of new regulations regarding Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972…
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently announced the launch of a $1 million Children and Youth Resilience Challenge…
The Supreme Court on Thursday, 5/25, curtailed the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to police millions of acres of wetlands, delivering another setback to the agency’s ability to combat pollution…
The FDA recently approved a nasal spray that can reverse overdoses from powerful synthetic opioids like fentanyl…
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) doesn’t believe a law requiring Medicare to cover telehealth through 2024 applies to services offered by hospital-based physical and occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists, setting off a firestorm of protest from providers…
Invest in Kids, an organization that represents more than 5,000 police chiefs, sheriffs and prosecutors, urged lawmakers to prioritize funding for early care and education programs and juvenile justice programs…
Congress
House Republicans passed a resolution on Wednesday, 5/24, to overturn President Biden’s student debt relief plan that would give up to $20,000 in loan forgiveness to borrowers…
House Appropriations Chair Kay Granger (R-TX) announced on Tuesday, 5/23, that the committee will postpone markups on four fiscal 2024 spending measures amid debt ceiling negotiations with the White House…
The Senate is expected this week to take up House-passed legislation that would overturn President Biden’s student debt relief plan and nullify the pause on monthly student loan payments and interest…
Education
Voices from the Classroom 2023 explores teachers’ perceptions about the goals of K-12 education and how we should go about measuring its success; the content they are required to teach and the materials and guidance they are provided to deliver it; and their own profession, the union contracts that generally guide it, and what change is needed to make their job more viable…
From verbal harassment to physical assaults, a 74 data analysis finds that in both red states and blue, LGBTQ children are facing increased hostility at school…
Informal negotiations over how to expand the Pell Grant to job-training programs have begun, but lawmakers face an uphill challenge in getting a bill through Congress…
More high-school graduates are being diverted from college campuses by brighter prospects for blue-collar jobs in a historically strong labor market for less-educated workers…