Weekly Update 5/6/24

California

In California, an estimated 28 percent of adults have such poor English literacy that they struggle to do anything more complicated…

 In Merced County, Sheriff Vern Warnke increasingly finds himself the only law enforcement officer available to answer a call for help…

Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price will face a recall election…

As California tries to claw its way out of its housing affordability crisis, policymakers have been asking the wrong question…

Families of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities say Gov. Gavin Newsom is backtracking on a scheduled raise…

On Thursday, 5/1, the California Legislative Analyst’s Office increased its forecast of state revenue by $5 billion…

On Monday, 4/29, the California Department of Finance directed agency secretaries and department heads to freeze spending…

According to a study conducted by the California Department of Public Health, the state saw a 20% increase in suicides for young people ages 10 to 18 after the pandemic…

President and Administration

On Thursday, 5/2, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration released Behavioral Health among Older Adults: Results from the 2021 and 2022 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health…

Four out of every 10 LGBTQ youth seriously considered suicide in the last year, and 12 percent attempted it…

On Friday, 5/3, President Biden announced a final rule that will open up Obamacare plans to tens of thousands of immigrants who came to the United States…

On Tuesday, 4/30, Attorney General Merrick Garland recommended loosening restrictions on marijuana…

TikTok owner ByteDance would prefer to shut down its loss-making app rather than sell it if the Chinese company exhausts…

Education

A new study finds strong evidence that private schooling is associated with better civic outcomes than public education…

Lena Gestel has a packed schedule for anyone, let alone a 15-year-old. In addition to her academic studies…

A new report from the National Center for Education Statistics found that about 40 percent of high school graduates who enrolled in college…

When students returned to school during the pandemic, educators quickly saw a change in their cell phone habits…

A year and a half into ChatGPT’s life, the AI program’s impacts on education in Colorado and beyond are irrefutable…

 Students’ well-being — including social and emotional wellness, relationships with peers and adults, and engagement in school…

A lack of state standards and professional development has led to inequitable access to media literacy instruction as educators are left to teach themselves…

Weekly Update 4/29/24

Appropriations

Fresh off a government funding fight that lasted almost half the ensuing fiscal year, the annual appropriations season is accelerating on schedule for fiscal 2025 — at least, for now…

Congress included about $15.3 billion in earmarks, spanning 7,234 projects, as part of fiscal 2023 government funding…

California

On Wednesday, 4/24, Governor Newsom announced that he’ll send California Highway Patrol to Bakersfield to provide additional law enforcement presence…

A proposal to provide extra education funding to schools based on their enrollment of Black students is unconstitutional…

On Thursday, 4/25, the Federal Communications Commission revived net neutrality rules that were repealed during the Trump administration…

Maybe California is not such a high tax state after all — at least for lower income families…

Kern County Supervisor Zack Scrivner, once seen as a rising star in Republican circles, is under investigation over allegations that he sexually assaulted a child…

California revenues fell $243 million short of projections for March and are now $5.8 billion below projections for the entire fiscal year…

Supporters of a proposal to roll back parts of Proposition 47 have shown they’re for real, submitting more than 900,000 signatures two weeks ago…

California city leaders were in Sacramento on Tuesday, 4/23, to ask the state for more funding to provide housing and services to combat homelessness…

The United States is juggling multiple — sometimes competing — goals when it comes to providing clean, safe and affordable drinking water to Americans…

President and Administration

On April 28-30, 2024, the Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI) will host the 34th Annual National Fire and Emergency Services Symposium and Dinner in Washington, DC…

A rise in bloodstream infections among people who inject drugs observed at a medical center in Vermont coincided with the rise of the illicit use of xylazine, a horse tranquilizer…

On Monday, 4/22, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority sounded highly skeptical about lower court rulings that held an Oregon city’s ordinance…

On Monday, 4/22, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge to the Biden administration’s crackdown on the sale of do-it-yourself “ghost gun” kits…

On Tuesday, 4/23, the Biden-Harris Administration released the 2024 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (National Strategy) and accomp to address the overdose and mental health crises…

A proposed ban on menthol cigarettes in the U.S. “will take significantly more time,” U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement…

President Biden is scrambling to fund his cancer moonshot and its ambitious goal of cutting the death rate by half…

The Biden administration finalized regulations to boost safeguards in federally funded health programs for LGBTQ+ patients and people seeking abortions…

Congress

The Senate passed a $95 billion foreign aid package for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan to the president's desk Tuesday (4/23) and the President signed it on Wednesday (4/24)…

Hours after President Biden signed a bill that could potentially ban the popular social media app TikTok in the United States, Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-CA) was warning…

The $95 billion foreign aid bill President Biden signed into law Wednesday, 4/24, doesn’t include the $1.2 billion he requested last year…

Education

Access Academies is a nonprofit initiative that provides hundreds of St. Louis-area students with after-school activities, high school and postsecondary counseling, and financial assistance…

Students in rural America still lack access to high-speed internet at home despite government efforts during the pandemic to fill the void…

To gauge the magnitude of global learning loss during the pandemic, a team at the World Bank examined data from the Program for International Student Assessment…

GreatSchools wanted to dig deeper to understand how districts were communicating with parents post-pandemic and how parents were looking for schools in an era of exploration and increasing disengagement…

Afterschool program providers are “very concerned about their future sustainability” as federal pandemic relief funds begin to expire…

A new report from Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation surveyed more than 1,000 Gen Z students between the ages of 12 to 18…

Weekly Update 4/22/24

California

Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price will face a recall vote in the latest test for a national movement to overhaul the criminal justice system…

On Friday, 4/19, hundreds of city leaders were in Sacramento to unite over common concerns…

A ballot measure being pushed by business groups could place strict new limits on the ability of state and local governments to raise taxes…

Governor Gavin Newsom has cracked down on cities that fall short on housing…

The U.S. Supreme Court is taking up a case this morning with monumental consequences for how California cities address encampments…

President and Administration

On Thursday, 4/4, Biden-Harris Administration announced substantial updates to the Office of Management and Budget’s Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance…

Understaffed nursing homes across the country could be required to hire thousands of additional caregivers under a new rule from the Biden administration…

On Tuesday, 4/16, the Education Department unveiled a draft proposal to broadly cancel swaths of student loan debt for millions of borrowers…

After months of tending to foreign policy conflagrations, sticky inflation numbers, and various other pop-up crises, the White House is zeroing back in on a key part of its domestic agenda: gun violence…

The federal government hasn't done enough to tackle illicit fentanyl, Anne Milgram, the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, said Thursday, 4/18…

On Friday, 4/19, the U.S. Department of Education restored protections for students against sexual harassment and assault that many advocates argued were lost under the previous administration…

Education

The Oakland REACH and the Oakland Unified School District have teamed up to pilot a math tutoring program that has shown early positive results and is modeled after one that has already delivered significant student gains in reading…

Minnesota is soon expected to enact a first-of-its-kind law promoting teacher training on ableism and the history of the disability justice movement…

The sixth-graders learning about ancient Greek vases in their classroom at John Street School looked like students in nearly any other social studies class in the country…

Weekly Update 4/15/24

Appropriations

On Wednesday, 4/10, House Republicans selected Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) as chair of the powerful Appropriations Committee…

California

As California becomes the first state to publicly grapple with the complexities of reparations, a conflict has emerged between reparations advocates and some lawmakers…

Central Valley residents are more likely to avoid getting health care due to cost and have more medical debt than other Californians…

Legislation that will reduce California’s budget deficit by $17.3 billion through spending cuts, deferrals and other measures is headed for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk…

On Monday, 4/8, mayors from major cities across California were at the state Capitol to testify about the exceptionally slow recovery of downtowns across the Golden State…

President and Administration

The Federal Communications Commission plans to vote later this month on a draft order to classify "broadband Internet access service as a telecommunications service," arguing that is the best reading…

Many clinicians who work with young patients with mental health issues agree they lack enough resources to treat kids and that patients are worse off now than before the pandemic…

In a move lauded by activists as one of the most significant steps on gun regulation in decades, the Justice Department on Thursday (4/11) finalized rules aimed at closing a loophole that allowed individuals to sell guns…

Education

Seeking to shed additional light on how K–12 schools are being targeted by social media–based threats…

Teachers are routinely forced to hide in their classrooms, and most fear a shooting could unfold at their workplace…

When Steve and Jenny Balbaugh’s daughter turned 5, they were hesitant to enroll her in the Fort Wayne, Indiana, schools…

Infrastructure and Transportation Update - March 2024

Appropriations

The Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act provides a total discretionary allocation of $89.484 billion…

California

On Monday, 3/4, Caltrans launched an equity tool designed to help all Californians benefit from transportation projects and identify communities most negatively impacted…

Dozens of autonomous vehicle companies, business groups and disability rights organizations are opposing a California bill that would give local governments…

Train passengers traveling in Northern California and the Central Valley will be able to enjoy a more comfortable and modern ride…

Seventeen months after a third-grader was hit and killed in a crosswalk on his way to school, parents, educators and a state lawmaker gathered…

President and Administration

U.S. traffic deaths fell 3.6 percent last year, but still, almost 41,000 people were killed on the nation’s roadways…

The National League of Cities (NLC) has released a new resource, the Civic Mapping Initiative, to help local governments and transit planners…

A second federal judge has ruled that the Transportation Department overstepped when it issued a rule requiring states…

Transit agencies should continually interact with their riders and community members to ensure services meet their needs…

The Environmental Protection Agency recently issued new light- and medium-duty vehicle regulations that mandate phased-in cuts…

On March 26, the nearly 1,000-foot-long Singapore-flagged container ship Dali reportedly lost power while sailing out of Baltimore Harbor…

Congress

On Wednesday, 3/6, Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AR) rolled out his campaign for chair of the House Transportation Committee…