Appropriations
Funding for a portion of the federal government dries up in less than four weeks, but appropriators are feeling positive about heading off the first of two shutdown deadlines on March 1…
Congress-White House Border Discussions
Senators in both parties finalized a deal on stricter border and immigration policies that is headed toward an uncertain floor vote in the coming days…
On Saturday, 2/3, Speaker Mike Johnson warned that the House won’t rush to pass a Senate border-foreign aid deal and will instead take up a stand-alone bill for Israel aid this week…
California
California state lawmakers introduced a slate of reparations bills on Wednesday, 1/31, including a proposal to restore property taken by “race-based” cases of eminent domain…
California State Sen. Nancy Skinner and Assemblymember Buffy Wicks are introducing two new bills, backed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, to protect kids' safety and privacy on social media…
Revenue from California income tax withholding in January came in $1 billion short of the state's most recent projections — the ones the Newsom administration used to estimate a $38 billion state budget deficit…
The halting effort to overhaul California’s recall system got a jolt of momentum on Thursday, 2/1, as the State Senate advanced a constitutional amendment…
California’s snowpack is still below average as what is expected to be the largest storm of the year is about to hit the state…
A major pandemic learning loss lawsuit brought by families against the state of California has been settled out of court and will prompt new legislation aimed at helping students still experiencing setbacks from school closures…
President and Administration
The Education Department recently sent its long-awaited Title IX rule to the White House for final approval, a key procedural step before it can be made public…
he Department of Health and Human Services has finalized rules that will permanently allow buprenorphine — a treatment for opioid use disorder — to be prescribed through telehealth without an in-person visit…
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Feb. 26 in two cases that could determine the future of how social media companies moderate content online…
The Department of Education will hold another rule-making meeting over its alternative student loan forgiveness plan…
A new amicus brief was recently filed with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the legality of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program…
Congress
On Wednesday, 1/31, the House passed bipartisan tax legislation that would expand the Child Tax Credit and restore several business tax breaks…
During a hostile Senate hearing Wednesday (1/31) that sometimes devolved into bickering, lawmakers from across the political spectrum accused social media companies of failing to protect young people online…
On Tuesday, 1/30, the House Homeland Security Committee moved closer to approving articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas…
In a letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration on Tuesday, 1/30, 12 Senate Democrats urged the Biden administration to ease federal restrictions on marijuana…
Lawmakers are feeling pressure from voters to take action on housing as Americans are increasingly being priced out of the market…
Education
The rate of students chronically missing school got so bad during the pandemic that it will likely be 2030 before classrooms return to pre-COVID norms, a new report says…
Charter schools will be barred from hundreds of Los Angeles Unified District school campuses under a new policy that is among the most restrictive of its kind…
Indiana lawmakers filed legislation this session aimed at fixing systemic problems for students with disabilities, including the use and oversight of restraint and seclusion in schools…
Nearly 70 percent of Black single mothers of school-aged children believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, a new survey shows…