Weekly Update 6/20/23

California

The first task force in the nation exploring how a state could make reparations to Black Americans hurt by slavery and discrimination is set to issue a nearly-1,000 page report to California’s legislature later this month…

On Wednesday, 6/14, Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that a San Jose-based developer and property manager must refund more than $331,000 to 20 tenants in overpaid rent…

Kool non-menthol cigarettes don’t violate California’s ban on flavored tobacco, according to a determination from state Attorney General Rob Bonta — a finding that could bode poorly for a federal menthol prohibition being considered by the Biden administration…

According to a study released by the University of California, San Francisco Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, homelessness in California is unequivocally linked to a shortage of affordable housing…

More than 100 environmental groups — including the Sierra Club of California and The Environmental Defense Center — are joining to fight a package Governor Newsom designed to make it easier to build infrastructure in California…

President and Administration

The White House has released the first-ever “U.S. National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence: Strategies for Action”…

On Thursday, 6/15, President Biden announced that several ticketing and travel companies are committing to get rid of hidden fees for buyers in the U.S…

SAMHSA has issued a new practical guide on trauma-informed approach (TIA)…

The Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) 2022 Findings on Drug-Related Emergency Related Visits presents national estimates of drug-related emergency department (ED) visits…

Congress

House Republicans’ latest plan to improve the student loan system focuses on helping defaulted borrowers get back on track and adjusting income-driven repayment plans…

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) unveiled a package of bills Wednesday, 6/14, that he and other Senate Republicans said would rein in the cost of a college education and address the root causes that are driving students to take on more loans…

Appropriations

House Republicans have decided to undercut the bipartisan compromise Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) struck with President Biden by limiting their spending bills to overall totals from fiscal 2022…

House Republicans are expected to approve their totals for a dozen appropriations bills tomorrow, 6/21, outlining how they propose to fund the government well below current levels and the totals set under the bipartisan budget deal…

A partisan rift over the distribution of earmarks in next year's appropriations bills spilled out into the open on Wednesday, 6/14, as House Democratic appropriators accused panel Republicans of sharing far more money with their own side of the aisle than is equitable…

The decision by House Republicans to write spending bills below the caps established in this month’s bipartisan debt ceiling deal sets the stage for a clash with Democrats in the Senate and White House — and heightens the odds of a government shutdown later in the year…

Education

According to a new Gallup poll, middle and high schoolers handed out just-okay marks to their own schools, assigning them a B-minus for average performance…

A former Democratic congressman who founded a network of Hebrew-language charter schools in Florida hopes to launch the second explicitly religious charter in the nation…

What do real-time job-openings data reveal about teacher hiring and shortages? Dan Goldhaber and a team of researchers at the University of Washington wanted to find out…

A new survey from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools found that the majority of public school teachers agree they don't want politics to affect their ability to teach…

Weekly Update 6/12/23

Debt Ceiling Package

COVID-19 and hurricanes have intensified the push for SNAP coverage for Puerto Rico…

Although federal spending on domestic programs will be flat in the upcoming fiscal year, higher education advocates say there’s still a chance to secure more money to increase the maximum Pell Grant award and to fund the Office of Federal Student Aid, among other priorities…

California

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library reading program is expanding in California. Five-year-olds across the state will be able to receive a free book in the mail each month, and California will be the first state to offer bilingual book options…

Since the year before the pandemic shutdown schools, the number of California kids being homeschooled has skyrocketed by 70 percent — and despite a return to in-person learning, many are not going back…

More than 100,000 California tenants whose applications for COVID-era rental assistance were denied or delayed by the state’s housing department will get another shot at relief, thanks to a new legal settlement between the state and a coalition of anti-poverty and tenant rights groups…

President and Administration

White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Rahul Gupta warned that 165,000 lives could be lost a year to the opioid crisis by 2025 if the government doesn’t intervene — a 55,000 increase in the number of overdose deaths last year…

President Biden has vetoed a measure that would have overturned his student debt relief plan, leaving the fate of the program before the Supreme Court…

The Supreme Court is set to announce major decisions affecting education in the coming weeks…

After more than three years, the federal government’s pandemic-related suspension of student loan payments and interest is officially coming to an end…

About 20 percent of student loan borrowers “have risk factors that suggest they could struggle when scheduled payments resume,” according to a new analysis of student loan borrowers released last week by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau…

On Thursday, 6/8, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy voiced support for adding a warning on social media platforms for the danger they pose to children — much like the existing labels on cigarettes…

The National Working Group on Advanced Education, a group convened by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, released a new report examining equity concerns in gifted education programs…

Congress

The payment pause for federal student loans will end in late August, after almost three and a half years…

Republicans and Democrats have launched an effort to reauthorize a five-year-old law that marked a bipartisan commitment to combat the opioid addiction crisis…

House Republican tax writers will take up bills tomorrow that would expand the standard deduction, pare back tax reporting for contractors and gig workers and revive expired incentives for businesses in the party's first major tax markup since taking back control of the chamber…

Appropriations

The House Appropriations Committee will mark up the first two of its 12 annual bills -- the Military Construction-VA and Agriculture bills…

Senators are moving slower than the House and don’t have markups scheduled yet, but key members said they expect to start committee work soon…

Education

Amid a crush of late-breaking business in Austin, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s proposal to grant education savings accounts (ESAs) to every family in Texas ran out of steam before the May 30 deadline…

Special education is notoriously fraught in many school systems, but the magnitude of the problem in the nation’s largest district, New York City, boggles…

According to a new report from EAB, one in five high school students who say they won’t enroll in college cite their doubts about its value, up from eight percent in 2019…

Public Safety and Justice Update: 6/9/23

Former President Donald Trump was charged in connection with the investigation into classified documents taken to his Mar-a-Lago home after he left the White House…

A new report from the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions analyzing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data revealed another record year for firearm fatalities…

Governor Gavin Newsom is seeking an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would restrict gun ownership in response to the wave of mass shootings, positioning California as the most aggressive state on gun control…

People who own and sell ghost guns are committing a crime — but there’s no law against making the deadly weapons…

On a two-block stretch of Brownsville, NY, the police stepped aside and let residents respond to 911 calls…

The Atlanta City Council approved ‘Cop City’ funding despite protests, approving $31M for the construction of a police and fire training complex, nicknamed by critics as “Cop City”…

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont this week signed the most wide-ranging state gun control bill since a 2013 law passed in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, sparking an immediate lawsuit by gun rights supporters seeking to block a ban on open carrying and other parts of the new law…

District attorney of Alameda County Pamela Price initiated a new review of several cases involving officer-involved fatalities in one of the most extensive re-examinations of police killings launched by progressive prosecutors…

Law enforcement officers from across the country are undergoing a peer support training class this week in South Mississippi…

After months of struggling to gain traction, a group of bipartisan lawmakers led by Republican Assemblymembers Diane Dixon, Juan Alanis and Joe Patterson have introduced a last-ditch effort to go after fentanyl dealers…

In the year since the Robb Elementary School massacre in Uvalde, TX., blame for law enforcement’s decision to wait over an hour to confront the gunman has centered on the former chief of the school district’s small police force…

The Supreme Court turned down a 2nd Amendment appeal from gun owners and let stand for now an Illinois law banning the sale of the rapid-fire assault weapons that have been used to carry out mass shootings across the country…

Weekly Update 6/6/23

Debt Ceiling Package

Moody's Investors Service, a credit-rating agency, has published an analysis of the bipartisan debt ceiling package's effects on the economy and the U.S. credit profile…

President Biden signed the bipartisan debt ceiling package on Saturday, 6/3, lifting the limit through January 2025 and teeing up yet another standoff over the borrowing cap in the months following the presidential election…

California

Governor Gavin Newsom and other top California officials cautioned school administrators against restricting what students read and learn about marginalized groups — marking their most forceful response to a spate of conservative-led book challenges to date…

California spent a record $17 billion combating homelessness in the past four fiscal years…

Officials were recently investigating whether Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis was behind a flight that picked up asylum-seekers on the Texas border and flew them — apparently without their knowledge — to California’s capital, as faith-based groups scrambled to find housing and food for them…

President and Administration

On Tuesday, 5/30, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) unveiled its latest fine-tuned data mapping out where broadband service exists across the country — a key step for the Commerce Department to divvy up more than $42 billion in broadband grants among the states and territories…

According to Medicare Director Meena Seshamani, the Biden administration wants Medicare patients and their caregivers to play a key role in drug price negotiations slated to begin this fall…

The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) recently sent warning letters to 30 retailers and one distributor for selling unauthorized, disposable e-cigarettes…

Mike Pence filed paperwork on Monday, 6/5, to run for president, setting up an unprecedented contest between a former vice president and a former president of his own party for the nomination…

Today, the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University Law Center released a new report suggesting how state and local governments can use recent opioid settlement dollars and other funds to address substance use disorder…

More than three years after the start of the pandemic, many COVID-19 survivors continue to struggle…

Congress

All the big policy bills that were on hold amid debt limit negotiations are now ready for summer action…

On Wednesday, 5/31, Senate lawmakers tried to find solutions to water delivery woes…

On Thursday, 6/1, the Senate voted to block President Biden’s plan to forgive up to $20,000 in federal student loans for eligible Americans…

Education

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, about 20 percent of applicants to California community colleges are scams, just designed to obtain student aid without enrolling. The scams grew during the COVID-19 pandemic…

Nine times since December, Marilyn Blanco has made the drive to her son’s school, Success Academy Harlem 2, because 911 was called on him by the school. Ian has been diagnosed with ADHD…

A new federal toolkit by the Department of Homeland Security seeks to improve bystander reporting when students believe a classmate might become violent…

The U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of Safe and Supportive Schools and its Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) Technical Assistance (TA) Center will host a webinar on Tuesday, June 13, 2023, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. ET…

In a move that civil rights groups have been demanding for two years, the Biden administration released a new and highly anticipated “Dear Colleague” letter late last week designed to combat persistent racial disparities in student suspensions…

As the pandemic exacerbated mental health challenges for schools nationwide, Sonny Thadani realized students and teachers weren’t the only ones in need of support…

Across the U.S., violence against teachers has ratcheted up since the widespread return to in-person learning in 2021, and in some areas the problem is worse than it was pre pandemic…

According to a new poll from the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, most Americans support affirmative action in college admissions and do not want the Supreme Court to ban it…

Oklahoma officials approved the nation’s first faith-based charter school Monday, 6/5, setting up what is sure to be a high-profile legal battle over the separation of church and state…

According to a report by Stanford University's Center for Research on Education Outcomes, Charter school students make more average progress in math and English than their counterparts in traditional public schools, including months of additional learning in some states…

Experts are recommending equipping students with essential knowledge and skills to address mental health in the classroom and to mitigate increased rates of anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts among young people…

Weekly Update 5/30/23

Debt Limit Negotiations

The debt ceiling deal that President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) struck late Saturday, 5/27, is a true meet-you-halfway compromise between the stark ultimatums the leaders have issued for months…

Lawmakers have returned to Washington for a vote on Speaker McCarthy’s bipartisan deal with President Biden to avert an economy-shattering default, with the legislation set to come to the floor on tomorrow…

California

A substantial majority of Californians feel that Sen. Dianne Feinstein is no longer fit for the job because of her recent declining health, and more voters believe she should resign than support her staying in office, according to a new UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll…

An estimated five million undocumented workers across the U.S. would be eligible for a pathway to citizenship under a new proposal by Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA)…

The risk of blackouts on California’s hottest summer days will be smaller this year than last year according to a recent state Energy Commission report. That could mean energy regulators won’t have to send another emergency text like last year’s September 6 request to reduce electricity use or face outages…

The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) predicts California revenues will fall $30 billion short of what’s needed to cover Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposed spending for the 2024 fiscal year, adding to its doubts about the administration's budget plan…

A state assemblymember from San Jose is pushing a novel proposal he believes could finally jump-start affordable housing development by allowing the state government to get into the homebuilding business…

A landmark agreement among Nevada, Arizona, and California to take less water from the Colorado River leaves California relatively unscathed…

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, California has only just begun to see a historic snowpack melt into streams and rivers, and the flows could be high for many weeks…

President and Administration

According to a federal report, more than two-thirds of public schools saw higher percentages of their students seeking mental health services in 2022 than before the COVID-19 pandemic — but only a slim majority believed they were able to meet children’s heightened psychological needs…

NASA and the U.S. Department of Education signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday, 5/4, strengthening the collaboration between the two agencies, including efforts to increase access to high-quality STEM and space education to students and schools across the nation…

Dr. Vivek Murthy, the U.S. surgeon general, recently published a public advisory warning of the risks of social media use for young people…

Last week, the Biden administration announced that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), alongside the Department of Commerce, will lead a Kids Online Health and Safety interagency task force to examine risks and benefits of social media and online platforms…

The Biden administration officially pushed back to October the release of new regulations regarding Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972…

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently announced the launch of a $1 million Children and Youth Resilience Challenge…

The Supreme Court on Thursday, 5/25, curtailed the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to police millions of acres of wetlands, delivering another setback to the agency’s ability to combat pollution…

The FDA recently approved a nasal spray that can reverse overdoses from powerful synthetic opioids like fentanyl…

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) doesn’t believe a law requiring Medicare to cover telehealth through 2024 applies to services offered by hospital-based physical and occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists, setting off a firestorm of protest from providers…

Invest in Kids, an organization that represents more than 5,000 police chiefs, sheriffs and prosecutors, urged lawmakers to prioritize funding for early care and education programs and juvenile justice programs…

Congress

House Republicans passed a resolution on Wednesday, 5/24, to overturn President Biden’s student debt relief plan that would give up to $20,000 in loan forgiveness to borrowers…

House Appropriations Chair Kay Granger (R-TX) announced on Tuesday, 5/23, that the committee will postpone markups on four fiscal 2024 spending measures amid debt ceiling negotiations with the White House…

The Senate is expected this week to take up House-passed legislation that would overturn President Biden’s student debt relief plan and nullify the pause on monthly student loan payments and interest…

Education

Voices from the Classroom 2023 explores teachers’ perceptions about the goals of K-12 education and how we should go about measuring its success; the content they are required to teach and the materials and guidance they are provided to deliver it; and their own profession, the union contracts that generally guide it, and what change is needed to make their job more viable…

From verbal harassment to physical assaults, a 74 data analysis finds that in both red states and blue, LGBTQ children are facing increased hostility at school…

Informal negotiations over how to expand the Pell Grant to job-training programs have begun, but lawmakers face an uphill challenge in getting a bill through Congress…

More high-school graduates are being diverted from college campuses by brighter prospects for blue-collar jobs in a historically strong labor market for less-educated workers…