Weekly Update 4/3/23

California

California’s reparations task force is months away from releasing a report on how much Black residents should be compensated for the harms of slavery and racism, but the group recently drew international headlines over a staggering dollar figure included in research it commissioned…

The University of California has proposed, for the first time, a guaranteed admission plan for all qualified community college students, but the plan applies to the UC system, not individual campuses…

Millions of Californians who get their insurance through work could lose access to free lung and colorectal cancer screenings, HIV testing and prevention and some tobacco cessation programs under a court ruling this week…

During the first three months of this year, legislators have introduced 574 bills around the country, including two in California, that target gender identity and sexuality, according to suicide prevention organization The Trevor Project…

In 2019, just 34 percent of Black households in the nine-county Bay Area owned their homes, down from 41 percent in 2000, according to researchers with the Bay Area Equity Atlas…

President and Administration

According to a new report from the Health Resources and Services (HRSA) advisory committee, expanding a popular program into rural America could improve access for older adults…

The National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services' report offered recommendations to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra…

On Wednesday, 3/29, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first nonprescription, “over-the-counter” (OTC) naloxone nasal spray, Narcan…

 The FDA is expected to unveil its long-awaited nationwide ban on menthol cigarettes in August…

The Education Department has sent its proposed Title IX rule on athletics participation to the White House Office of Management and Budget, a key procedural step to unveiling the policy that's expected to safeguard transgender students' right to play on sports teams consistent with their gender identity…

About two dozen governors described teenage mental health as a crisis during their state of the state addresses this year and proposed budgets that would expand treatment options…

According to a new report from the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, counties with better access to civic infrastructure like parks, schools and libraries and higher civic participation are, on average, healthier than those with less access…

Congress 

Rep. Norma Torres (D-CA) and 20 of her colleagues sent a letter to the heads of the Labor-HHS-Education spending panel, asking for the appropriations leaders to continue growing funding for Basic Needs Grants, a relatively new assistance pipeline that was first funded in fiscal 2021…

The Senate has moved forward with debate on its six-page bill to reauthorize federal fire safety programs, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) two firefighter grant programs and the agency’s hub for fire data, education, research and training…

The latest statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveal that nearly 60 percent of teenage girls report feelings of persistent sadness or hopelessness…

Education

On Monday, 3/28, Florida became the nation’s biggest K–12 marketplace when Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation that offers school vouchers and education savings accounts to every family in the state…

A bill moving through the Minnesota Legislature would curtail a popular path to a teaching credential, potentially removing hundreds of educators in high-needs areas from classrooms and throwing up roadblocks for future teachers…

Public Safety and Justice Update: 3/31/23

A former student of the Christian grade school Covenant School in Nashville killed three nine-year-olds and three adults on Monday, 3/27, and authorities continue to confirm a motive…

Protesters rallied at the Tennessee State Capitol on Thursday, 3/30, demanding lawmakers take action on gun violence as they mourned victims of Monday’s tragic school shooting that killed six…

The gun at the center of many firearm legislation debates is the AR-15 - the apparent gun of choice for mass shooters…

More than 80 percent of police and other first responders experience traumatic events on the job…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the sale of opioid treatment Narcan without a prescription, a major step forward in the nation’s fight against the deadly fentanyl crisis that claimed nearly 6,000 lives in California in 2021…

The Office of the United States Attorney has filed a federal criminal complaint charging Joanne Marian Segovia with attempt to illegally import a controlled substance in connection with a scheme to bring synthetic opioids into the country and distribute them throughout the United States, announced United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey and Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Tatum King…

D.C. officials were peppered with questions about crime and policing in D.C. Wednesday, 3/29, during House Republicans’ first oversight hearing of the year targeting the city, before a committee voted to advance a measure to block D.C.’s major police accountability legislation…

As D.C. grapples with rising crime and increasing attention from federal lawmakers over public safety issues, a startling statistic emerged in recent weeks. Last year, federal prosecutors in the District’s U.S. attorney’s office chose not to prosecute 67 percent of those arrested by police officers in cases that would have been tried in D.C. Superior Court…

Infrastructure and Transportation Update - March 2023

The Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program (CFI Program), offered through the Federal Highway Administration, is a new competitive grant program created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to deploy publicly available electric vehicle charging and alternative fuel infrastructure…

The Local Transportation Climate Adaptation Program is a state grant opportunity designed to fund local and regional transportation projects that are at risk due to climate change…

The California Department of Housing and Community Development has released a NOFO for the Local Housing Trust Fund program…

The Clean California Local Grant Program will be closing on April 28…

Technical assistance resources and grant opportunities are available through the Thriving Communities Network, a partnership between federal agencies to assist in community development…

On March 23, The Hill hosted their interview program, On the Record, with guest Representative Sam Graves (R-MO), the Chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee…

On March 17th, the White House released the Readout of the President’s National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIAC) Quarterly Meeting…

Representatives Salud Carbajal (D-CA) and Garret Graves (R-LA) have introduced a new bill, named the Intelligent Transportation Integration Act, which will utilize existing data to manage traffic flow and to better plan efficient roads…

On March 21, 2023, Secretary Buttigieg announced the release of over $94 million for 59 projects for the first cycle of the Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART) Grants Program…

General Motors subsidiary, Cruise, is hoping to expand their autonomous vehicle testing throughout California…

Weekly Update 3/27/23

California

On Wednesday, 3/22, the state Senate Education Committee advanced some of the closest-watched education proposals to emerge so far this year…

Governor Gavin Newsom, whose administration is struggling to contain a worsening homelessness crisis despite record spending, is trying to tap into federal healthcare funding to cover rent for homeless people and those at risk of losing their housing…

President and Administration

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona is concerned that schools throughout the country are moving too slowly toward spending the funding provided by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (S.2938)…

Internet access is increasingly recognized as a “super determinant” of health. It plays a role in health care outcomes and influences more traditionally recognized social determinants of health, such as education, employment, and healthcare access…

The Biden administration is sending out the first round of cash from the $1 billion spending pot the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law created for helping bolster fire resilience…

The Biden administration’s decision to end the COVID-19 public health emergency in May will institute sweeping changes across the healthcare system that go far beyond many people having to pay more for covid tests…

 In a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), researchers found that male babies exposed to COVID in the uterus were more likely to be diagnosed with neurodevelopmental issues during their first year…

Many schools across the country have installed metal detectors and fortified their entrances in response to the threat of school shootings…

School districts across the country are increasingly taking on social media, filing lawsuits that argue that Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube have helped create the nation’s surging youth mental health crisis and should be held accountable…

A new survey of college students and the parents of college students found big disparities in their perceptions of student mental health struggles…

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is creating an office to prevent domestic violence and assist victims…

Many lower-income Americans who left the workforce when the pandemic began three years ago are staying on the sidelines because of a lack of child care, a factor contributing to worker shortages and historically low unemployment…

Congress - Student Loans

Republicans are charting a new path to take on President Joe Biden’s student debt relief plan even as it remains in limbo at the Supreme Court…

Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT), who chairs the House Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee, focused his first hearing of the new Congress on examining the implications of the Biden administration’s student loan policies for students and taxpayers…

Education

As demand continues to grow for colleges and universities to serve students with intellectual disabilities, a recently formed accreditation council is focused on ensuring that programs meet quality standards…

On Friday, 3/24, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona sent a letter to Governors, Chief State School Officers, and School District and School Leaders and urged them to end corporal punishment in schools—the practice of paddling, spanking, or otherwise imposing physical punishment on students…

On Thursday, 3/23, the U.S. Department of Education announced that it will hold virtual public hearings on April 11, 12, and 13 to receive stakeholder feedback on potential issues for future rulemaking sessions…

On Tuesday, 3/21, the Education Department (ED) announced that the new and simplified 2024-25 FAFSA application form will not be released until sometime in December…

According to a new report from Gallup and the Lumina Foundation, nearly two-thirds of people who have never enrolled in higher education cite emotional stress as a key deterrent…

A new research initiative seeks to expand access to clear, precise data about minority-serving institutions…

A new report, Examining Disparities in Unexcused Absences Across California Schools, shows how overuse of the “unexcused” label for student absences could be deepening education inequities and interfering with efforts to improve attendance…

As federal funding expires later this year, the extra counselors brought on by schools may be let go…

On Tuesday, 3/21, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Miguel Luna Perez, a deaf man, can sue his former school district in Michigan for monetary damages because he was denied appropriate services and left unable to communicate in school…

Tens of thousands of documents containing personal information of special education students within New York City's public school system were held in an unsecured database exposed to the internet…

Public Safety and Justice Update: 3/24/23

According to data from Gun Violence Archive, the U.S. has had over 90 mass shootings since January. In that time, more than 7,000 people have been killed by firearms, including more than 3,000 people who died by homicide and more than 4,000 who died by suicide…

On Monday, 3/20, a federal judge blocked California from enforcing a state law requiring new semi-automatic handguns to have certain safety features, finding it violates the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution…

According to a recent survey, more than two-thirds of parents worry a shooting could happen at their children’s school,, but home is proving to be dangerous for kids as well…

On Wednesday, 3/22, the Michigan Republican party compared gun laws proposed in the state legislature to restrictions imposed in Nazi Germany, in a social media post that drew bipartisan condemnation…

Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability and House Judiciary Committee met with Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta this month to discuss the status of police reform…

A group of former police chiefs wants cities like Chicago to rethink their approach to policing…

In a rare move and rebuke to District Attorney Pamela Price, Judge Mark McCannon decided against accepting an agreement that would have given a reputed Oakland gang member 15 years in prison for three 2008 slayings…

A Los Angeles hot spot policing model received a “Promising” evidence rating by the National Institute of Justice…