Weekly Update 9/9/24

Appropriations

The Senate approved its bipartisan Water Resources Development Act Thursday afternoon (8/1)…

President and Administration

The Biden Administration requires raises for some of the nation’s early childhood educators, but teachers may not see the pay bump for several years…

States and districts with spending extensions have an extra 14 months beyond the spending deadline to liquidate their allocations…

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris floated expanding the child tax credit Friday (8/16) as part of her first stab at crystallizing her economic vision…

JD Vance has floated the idea of more than doubling the child tax credit…

New preliminary data from major U.S. cities shows a sharp drop in violent crime in the first half of the year — more than 25 percent in some communities — as the COVID-era crime wave recedes…

Since 2008, Congress, with bipartisan support, has spent billions on rental aid for unhoused veterans…

The White House is taking new steps to fight lead contamination in school drinking water…

The Biden Administration is finalizing a sweeping expansion of regulations that require insurers to cover mental health and addiction care on the same terms as other care…

The Administration announced new actions to improve student academic success…

The Biden Administration in August released results of the first Medicare drug price negotiations…

The FDA on Thursday (8/22) approved and authorized messenger RNA Covid vaccines to target a specific virus strain as the fall respiratory illness season approaches…

American parents need a bailout….

The Supreme Court in August denied the Biden Administration’s request to allow its new Title IX rule to be partially implemented in 10 states…

With kids back in school, there is promising news about teen mental health: Girls seem to be feeling a little better…

A study in JAMA found that a tailored text messaging intervention program aimed at youth using e-cigarettes successfully got more than a third of users to quit…

Social media’s effects on the mental health of young people are not well understood…

The Texas Attorney General’s Office sent a letter in August (8/10) urging the Supreme Court to weigh in on a lawsuit regarding the Biden Administration's loan repayment plan, known as SAVE…

Depression and suicidal activity have decreased slightly for teens since 2021…

The 988 mental health crisis hotline is seeing steadily increasing usage two years after its launch despite low public awareness of the service…

Tim Walz gave his nod of approval to CBS News’ invitation to debate JD VANCE on Oct. 1 in New York City in a post on X Wednesday (8/14) afternoon…

Cannabis use among young adults remains near all-time highs recorded in 2021 and 2022…'

Youth vaping in the U.S. hit its lowest level in a decade this year, the FDA and CDC said…

On Wednesday, 9/4, a 14-year-old used an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle to kill two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School in Georgia…

Congress

The Senate killed a once-promising $78 billion tax package (8/1) in the chamber’s last vote before lawmakers headed out of Washington for the August recess…

California

California state superintendent Tony Thurmond is pushing school districts to build affordable housing for teachers as well as the students they enroll…

With the fentanyl crisis continuing to spiral across California and the nation, Gov. Newsom and state lawmakers want to stop another potent drug before it reaches a similar trajectory…

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration is hedging its bets on how it cooperates with the federal government on water ahead of a potential second Trump term…

California put hundreds of millions of homelessness dollars at risk because of its “disorganized” and “chaotic” anti-fraud policies…

A 2022 law signed by Newsom aimed at protecting young people online likely violates the First Amendment of the Constitution…

The California Assembly sent legislation to Newsom to ban legacy admissions at private universities…

Newsom vetoed a bill on Friday (9/6) that would have made some undocumented immigrants eligible for up to $150,000 in state-backed home loans…

California public school enrollment reached 6.4 million students in 2004…

Two key California reparations proposals will not receive Assembly votes on the final day of the state’s legislative session…

A California bill that attempted to penalize social media companies for harming young users is dead for the year…

Education

In the interview hosted by the Pioneer Institute of Public Policy Research,  Starlee Coleman…

English language learners in four major school districts in California are now more likely to be chronically absent than their peers…

Amid the ongoing youth mental health crisis and rising rates of chronic absenteeism…

An early look at new special education datasets reveals massive inconsistencies in how states identify children as needing services…

Three in 10 LGBTQ youth have at least one formal disability diagnosis, according to a new report from the Human Rights Campaign…

A contract founding the nation’s first religious charter school is now void, but it could be reestablished if the U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of the school…

A new study of charter schools in Massachusetts has identified strikingly positive academic results…

In this special summer episode, Michael and Diane are joined by David Yeager…