Weekly Federal Update 5/31/22

President and Administration

President Joe Biden again tried to comfort a nation grieving after the mass shooting in Udalve, Texas, urging action against powerful gunmakers and repeatedly questioning why the country he leads lacks “the backbone” to stem the bloodshed…

The massacre in Texas cast a pall over confirmation hearings last week for Steven Dettelbach, President Biden’s pick to run the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, but it may have improved his chances of being confirmed…

In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, President Biden lays out “My Plan for Fighting Inflation”…

U.S. economic growth will exceed three percent in 2022, while roaring inflation has topped and will cool each month to around two percent by some point in 2024, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office…

Monkeypox, a viral illness that is only rarely detected outside of Africa, has been reported in recent weeks in at least 17 countries including the U.S…

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has updated its Statistical Briefing Book with a new Data Snapshot on youth victims of suicide and homicide…

The Supreme Court said on Thursday, 5/26, that it would allow the Biden administration to continue to take account of the costs of greenhouse gas emissions in regulatory actions, rejecting an emergency application from Louisiana and other Republican-led states to block the use of a formula that assigns a monetary value to changes in emissions…

Congress  

Top Republican senators negotiating the Bipartisan Innovation Act are frustrated with the pace of negotiation on the package…

Last week, Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) urged his fellow Democratic colleagues at a caucus lunch to include funding to expand care for older people and people with disabilities in any party-line reconciliation repackage that the caucus agrees to… 

Education

Enrollment across all sectors of higher education continued to decline this past semester, marking the fifth semester in a row of declining overall enrollment according to new data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center… 

A new report by the Center for American Progress examines barriers in higher education that contribute to the nation’s nursing shortages and how policy makers can help colleges and universities train more nurses…

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona plans to unveil his proposed Title IX rule  in June, a two-month delay from the original plan to release the rule in April…

Student Loans

Students and recent graduates with heavy debt loads worry that Biden’s plan will be too weak, after the president and his advisers signaled they are considering relief that could be far less than the $50,000-per-borrower sought by prominent Democrats…

The Federal Reserve Bank’s “Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2021” report found that Americans with at least a bachelor’s degree remain far likelier than their peers to describe themselves as “at least doing okay” financially, with those who have an associate or technical degree or who attended “some college” well behind and only a bit above those with just a high school degree…

According to a recent survey of 500 institutions by the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, 80 percent of respondents indicated that they were concerned about their financial aid offices’ ability to remain “administratively capable” in the future to reach Education Department requirements for Title IV programs, plus Pell Grants, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants and federal student loans…

Weekly CA-COVID Update 5/24/22

California

Being a California resident can save you a lot of money at the University of California - about $30,000 in tuition per year…

A diversion program in Los Angeles designed to keep mentally ill, addicted or homeless adults out of jail and instead provide treatment and housing is having little success, according to statistics provided by police officials…

Traffic deaths in California surged by 10.7 percent in 2021 relative to 2020, mirroring a grim upward trend observed nationwide, according to estimates released last week by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration…

Gov. Newsom threatened yesterday, 5/23, to impose mandatory water restrictions if residents don’t use less on their own as a drought worsens and the hotter summer months approach…

The undergrounding project, costing $3.75 million a mile, represents the beginning of a 10,000-mile-long effort by Pacific Gas and Electric to bury the state’s distribution lines to cope with the growing risk of winds and wildfires linked to global warming…

Gov. Newsom signed a bill yesterday, 5/23, to raise the amount of money that patients can receive in medical malpractice cases…

Coronavirus

The youngest children have been most affected by lockdowns and closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, with new research finding that the educational progress and social development of four- and five-year-olds suffered severely during their first year at school…

Pfizer-BioNTech’s new three-dose COVID-19 vaccine for children under five years old is 80 percent effective at staving off infection, including from the Omicron variant, the companies announced yesterday, 5/23…

Some COVID-19-positive patients who have completed treatment of the anti-COVID drug Paxlovid are rebounding into illness, and experts are urging people to be cautious if they develop COVID-like symptoms again and become infectious…

Weekly Federal Update 5/23/22

President and Administration

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is announcing its first-ever behavioral health Recovery Innovation Challenge… 

The goal for the United States Innovation and Competition Act (USICA) is to have all legislative items completed by Wednesday, 5/25…

The Federal Trade Commission announced ramped-up enforcement of education technology companies that sell student data for targeted advertising and that “illegally surveil children when they go online to learn,” in violation of federal student privacy rules…

The Statement Department estimates as many as 160,000 Afghans allies along with their immediate family members are eligible to come to the U.S. through a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV)…

The Biden administration officially launched the $45 billion “Internet for All Initiative" with three Notices of Funding Opportunity and a new website… 

Congress  

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), along with Sens. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), have introduced legislation that would require people trying to get a firearm to get a license from the Department of Justice before they can buy or receive a gun… 

 Mental Health

Public schools have received nearly $190 billion in three waves of federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds that can be used for a range of priorities, including school-based mental health supports…

The Education Department on Thursday, 5/19, urged colleges to use Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF) on mental health services on campus…

Education

Learning loss during the pandemic may have exceeded the damage inflicted on New Orleans students by Hurricane Katrina, according to a recently released study of standardized test scores… 

A study of more than 7,000 Chicago Public High School students who enrolled in a program meant to improve college graduation rates for low-income participants showed they had a 40 percent greater chance of earning a bachelor’s degree than their peers…

YouthTruth, a nonprofit, surveyed 22,000 members of the Class of 2022 and compared the results with a similar survey of the Class of 2019, the last high school class to predate the pandemic…

Young adults today need more time, education and work experience to secure what’s considered a “good job” than previous generations did, according to a pair of new reports from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW)…

Student Loans

The Education Department’s Office of Federal Student Aid announced a new plan Thursday, 5/19, to reform the student loan servicing system that oversees the 35 million borrowers with federal student loans…

The Department of Education will extend waivers for certain verification requirements on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid…

Weekly CA-COVID Update 5/18/22

California

Last week,  the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that California’s ban on the sale of semiautomatic rifles to adults younger than 21 was unconstitutional…

Despite expert predictions that local homelessness rates have soared due to the pandemic, new data released Monday, 5/16, showed that San Francisco’s unhoused population has fallen 3.5 percent since 2019, the first such decline the city has reported in years…

The superintendent of Hayward schools has emerged as the top pick for San Francisco’s new superintendent, ending a months-long national search for a leader to take over the struggling district as it emerges from more than two years of controversy and upheaval… 

California’s three systems of public higher education are set to get a big funding boost - but in exchange will need to meet comprehensive targets to improve access, affordability and equity under Gov. Newsom’s revised budget proposal unveiled Friday, 5/13…

This week, California will jumpstart a seven-year initiative to convert potentially thousands of schools into full-service, parent-focused community schools…

On Thursday, 5/12, Gov. Newsom’s office announced an $18 billion inflation relief package meant to offset rising costs that continue to burden Californians…

California’s new $300.6 billion budget was released on Friday, 5/13 - “No other state in American history has ever experienced a surplus as large as this” Gov Newsom announced…

The Legislative Analyst’s Office served up a much more pessimistic view of the state’s finances days after the governor touted California’s massive surplus and laid out his plan for spending a lot of it…

California’s minimum wage for all employers will rise to $15.50 an hour in January, advisors to Gov. Newsom said last week, the first time that rising inflation has triggered a provision of a six year old state law governing automatic pay increases… 

The suspect in a shooting that killed one person and injured five at a Taiwanese church in Laguna Woods on Sunday, 5/15, appeared to be motivated by political hatred of Taiwan, officials said Monday, 5/16… 

A landmark California law requiring corporate boards to include women resulted in California firms more than doubling the number of female company directors was overturned last week… 

Coronavirus

California’s positivity rate hit 5 percent today, 5/18, and hospitalizations are on the rise in what may become a familiar ebb-and-flow battle with the virus…

The Treasury Department is set to begin infusing states and local governments with about $105 billion of aid, the second installment of pandemic relief payments… 

The Biden administration issued a mask and COVID-19 vaccine mandate for the federal Head Start program last fall…

Yesterday, 5/17, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to children between the ages of 5 and 11, extending booster doses to the youngest age group yet…

Today, federal health officials warned that one third of Americans live in areas where the threat of infection from COVID-19 is now so high that they should consider wearing a mask in indoor public settings, whether local leaders require it or not…

The U.S. government will extend the COVID-19 public-health emergency past mid-July, continuing pandemic-era policies…

Widely used methods for counting COVID-19 hospitalizations can make vaccines appear less effective than they actually are, according to a group of Boston-based researchers… 

Just two months after the administration unveiled a nearly 100-page roadmap out of the crisis, doubts are growing about Congress’ willingness to fund the nation’s fight…

The White House said yesterday, 5/17, that Americans were now eligible for a third order of free, at-home COVID-19 tests shipped through the Postal Service, available at covidtests.gov…

 The Biden administration will consider giving schools up to 18 months of extra time - and perhaps even longer - to spend their federal COVID-19 relief aid on upgraded air-circulation systems or other infrastructure…

Weekly Federal Update 5/17/22

President and Administration

Disagreements over legislation designed to boost U.S. competitiveness against China are clouding its prospects in Congress, as lawmakers enter a period of make-or-break negotiations…

The White House has announced that 20 internet service providers have agreed to offer $30 high-speed internet plans to low-income families, effectively giving free service to households that qualify for a federal subsidy under the Affordable Connectivity Program…

Last week, Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced a proposal to allow the use of federal funding for Wi-Fi in school buses during a meeting of the National Coalition for Technology in Education & Training…

President Biden has unveiled a plan to help speed construction of projects funded under his $550 billion infrastructure law passed last year…

Yesterday, 5/16, the Supreme Court invited the Biden administration to share its views on whether Fairfax, VA, may be liable to a female high school student for its allegedly lacking response after learning a male student touched her sexually during a band class bus trip…

The Abbott Nutrition plant in Sturgis, MI, an infant formula plant, has been shut down over the death of two infants…

An Interior Department report released last week highlighted the abuse of many of the children at more than 400 government-run boarding schools that the federal government forced them to attend between 1819 and 1969, with instances of beatings, withholding of food and solitary confinement…

Yesterday, 5/16, the Biden administration announced a partial lifting of sanctions on Cuba, including expanding flights beyond Havana and restarting a program to reunify Cuban families in the United States, its first moves toward fulfilling President Biden’s campaign promise to reverse many of the sanctions imposed by his predecessor…

Congress  

Democrats are vowing to push through domestic terrorism legislation to improve intelligence sharing and coordination between law enforcement agencies following the mass shooting in Buffalo - despite growing Republican opposition that could scuttle even those modest efforts…

The House Education and Labor Committee's Democratic leadership unveiled legislation Thursday, 5/12, that would overhaul the government's workforce development system…

A congressional effort to crack down on Spanish language disinformation is expanding to include popular messaging platforms - including WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal…

A $40 billion aid package for Ukraine will likely head to the President’s desk by Thursday, 5/19…

A House subcommittee will hold the first public congressional hearing on UFOs in more than 50 years today, 5/17, with its chairman Andre Carson saying “Americans need to know more about these unexplained occurrences”…

Mental Health

Mental health disorders are surging among adolescents: In 2019, 13 percent of adolescents reported having a major depressive episode, a 60 percent increase from 2007…

Education

Yesterday, 5/16, the Department of Education announced plans for a first-of-its-kind virtual summit, Recovery to Thriving: Supporting Mental Health & Students with Disabilities, to highlight steps schools, colleges and communities can take to support students with disabilities and students with mental health needs…

The number of students in the United States who have attended college but left before receiving a credential, certificate or degree has risen to 39 million, from 36 million in 2019, according to a new report by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center…

High school grade point averages have been on an uphill climb since 2016…

The U.S. Government Accountability Office has released a report titled, “As Students Struggled to Learn, Teachers Reported Few Strategies as Particularly Helpful to Mitigate Learning Loss”…

Student Loans

The debate over canceling student loan debt has ebbed and flowed in Democratic politics since progressives seized on it as a go-to issue in the 2020 presidential campaign trail…

President Biden’s advisers are looking at ways to limit student loan forgiveness based on borrowers’ income to avoid sending benefits to higher-earning Americans…

While many wait to see what President Biden will do about forgiving student debts, the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators released a report yesterday, 5/16, on other ideas that it thinks are necessary…