Weekly Update 2/20/24

Appropriations

The top Democrat on the House Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee said there are a handful of sticking points holding up the Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration spending bill, which will likely need to be moved up to leadership-level negotiations…

The four appropriators in charge of the Transportation-HUD funding bill are done negotiating…

Congress-White House Border Discussions

A bipartisan group of lawmakers rolled out their alternative proposal to send military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan and secure the border on Friday, 2/16…

The Senate approved $95 billion in aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan aid by a 70-29 vote early on Tuesday morning (2/13), sending the bill to an uncertain fate in the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson is giving the legislation a frosty reception…

California

Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff, Katie Porter, Barbara Lee and Republican former baseball star Steve Garvey will take the stage again tonight, this time for a debate co-moderated by NBC4 and Telemundo 52…

Sen. Bill Dodd, a Democrat from fire-ravaged Napa County, proposed legislation on Wednesday, 2/14, to streamline brush clearing in the name of wildfire prevention…

Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-CA) told MSNBC's Jen Psaki over the weekend that she's keeping an open mind about running for political office after her Senate appointment ends…

California's projected budget deficit has ballooned to $73 billion as tax revenue has fallen since November, the non-partisan Legislative Analyst's Office said today…

On Thursday, 2/15, the California Legislative Analyst’s Office advised legislators to reject a Newsom administration plan to shield schools from near-term funding cuts through a novel budget maneuver, calling it “bad fiscal policy”…

The American Civil Liberties Union will oppose a sweeping mental health ballot measure backed by Gov. Newsom, which would restructure mental health care funding in the state and authorize a $6.4 billion bond…

Tenant advocates in several Bay Area cities are calling for new rent control measures, potentially reining in housing costs for tens of thousands of renters in one of California’s most expensive rental markets…

President and Administration

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had awarded about $23.4 billion in Public Assistance to Puerto Rico's permanent recovery work related to hurricanes Irma and Maria and the 2019 and 2020 earthquakes, as of June 2023…

School buses on rural roads can soon be outfitted with internet access using E-Rate dollars…

On Tuesday, 2/13, the Labor Department said the Consumer Price Index in January was up by 3.1 percent from a year earlier…

On Thursday, 2/15, the White House unveiled a significant expansion of its plans to cancel student debt as President Biden looks to run on the issue during this year’s election…

Congress

House Republicans impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday, 2/13, making him the first Cabinet secretary since 1876 to be impeached by the House…

If Congress lets a key Federal Communications Commission broadband aid program lapse this spring, consumers may have a hard time trusting and signing up for any successor effort later on, Commissioner Anna Gomez said on Monday, 2/12…

Public Safety and Justice Update: 2/16/24

Two juveniles have been detained on gun-related and resisting arrest charges in connection with the shooting after the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebration…

President Joe Biden renewed his calls for Congress to pass gun violence prevention legislation after Wednesday’s deadly shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl parade…

Parents of gun violence victims used artificial intelligence (AI) to recreate their children’s voices in calls to urge lawmakers to change U.S. gun laws as part of a new campaign launched on the sixth anniversary of the Parkland, FL, shooting…

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s highly-touted bid to crack down on crime by flooding the streets with 120 California Highway Patrol (CHP) officers has ended after only five days…

Assembly Democrats want to crack down on retail theft by creating a new classification for those who steal and resell inventory…

Weekly Update 2/12/24

Appropriations

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) said Tuesday, 2/6, that appropriators are making “very, very positive” progress toward meeting the March 1 and March 8 shutdown deadlines…

Congress-White House Border Discussions

Donald Trump spent last weekend telling senators they should not pass more unconditional U.S. foreign aid…

California

Bay Area Democrats have found common cause with prosecutors hoping to crack down on drug and property crimes…

California state Superintendent Tony Thurmond backed new legislation that would require high school students to take a computer science course — the third additional graduation requirement he has supported during his tenure…

President and Administration

A final HHS rule released Tuesday, 2/6, strengthens the availability of health care programs for older adults who want to stay in their homes as they age…

Teenagers with suspected substance use problems say they turn to drugs because of a crushing need to relax and escape worries, according to research recently published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said last weekend that it’s time for the federal government to “get back to putting a priority on fiscal sustainability,” noting that debt held by the public is growing faster than the economy…

Former President Donald Trump — and indeed any other former president — may be prosecuted for alleged crimes they committed while in office, a federal appeals court panel ruled Tuesday, 2/6…

A surge of immigration that will expand the labor force is expected to boost GDP by about $7 trillion and raise federal revenue by $1 trillion above where they would be otherwise from 2023 to 2034, the Congressional Budget Office reported Wednesday, 2/7…

Puerto Rico’s allies on Capitol Hill hope this is the year President Biden fulfills a campaign promise to fix the island’s low Medicare Advantage rates, which they say contribute to its health care system’s deterioration…

The Drug Enforcement Administration has released the digital copy of an updated Prescription for Disaster: How Teens Misuse Medicine…

Congress

Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Tom Carper (D-DE) announced new legislation on Thursday, 2/8, to keep extending and expanding at-home care for patients who would otherwise be in a hospital by creating a CMS pilot program for acute care at home, including common observation services…

Republican-backed legislation to temporarily boost the cap on state and local tax deductions cleared a key hurdle on Thursday, 2/8, but the House Rules Committee vote portends tough sledding for GOP leaders to get the bill on the floor…

Over three dozen senators and more than 130 House lawmakers are pushing congressional leaders and appropriators for “robust” child care funding in any forthcoming government funding deal, or subsequent emergency spending package…

Border security isn’t the only policy area getting derailed by dysfunction and politics…

Education

The rise of AI chatbot tools caused panic among high school teachers and administrators nationwide — but researchers say the frequency of students cheating on assignments remained “surprisingly” stagnant…

Enrollment in U.S. schools was fairly steady between 2021 and 2022, but the number of K-12 students remained below pre-pandemic levels, according to new federal data released Monday, 2/5…

Weekly Update 2/5/24

Appropriations

Funding for a portion of the federal government dries up in less than four weeks, but appropriators are feeling positive about heading off the first of two shutdown deadlines on March 1…

Congress-White House Border Discussions

Senators in both parties finalized a deal on stricter border and immigration policies that is headed toward an uncertain floor vote in the coming days…

On Saturday, 2/3, Speaker Mike Johnson warned that the House won’t rush to pass a Senate border-foreign aid deal and will instead take up a stand-alone bill for Israel aid this week…

California

California state lawmakers introduced a slate of reparations bills on Wednesday, 1/31, including a proposal to restore property taken by “race-based” cases of eminent domain…

California State Sen. Nancy Skinner and Assemblymember Buffy Wicks are introducing two new bills, backed by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, to protect kids' safety and privacy on social media…

Revenue from California income tax withholding in January came in $1 billion short of the state's most recent projections — the ones the Newsom administration used to estimate a $38 billion state budget deficit…

The halting effort to overhaul California’s recall system got a jolt of momentum on Thursday, 2/1, as the State Senate advanced a constitutional amendment…

California’s snowpack is still below average as what is expected to be the largest storm of the year is about to hit the state…

A major pandemic learning loss lawsuit brought by families against the state of California has been settled out of court and will prompt new legislation aimed at helping students still experiencing setbacks from school closures…

President and Administration

The Education Department recently sent its long-awaited Title IX rule to the White House for final approval, a key procedural step before it can be made public…

he Department of Health and Human Services has finalized rules that will permanently allow buprenorphine — a treatment for opioid use disorder — to be prescribed through telehealth without an in-person visit…

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Feb. 26 in two cases that could determine the future of how social media companies moderate content online…

The Department of Education will hold another rule-making meeting over its alternative student loan forgiveness plan…

A new amicus brief was recently filed with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in support of the legality of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program…

Congress

On Wednesday, 1/31, the House passed bipartisan tax legislation that would expand the Child Tax Credit and restore several business tax breaks…

During a hostile Senate hearing Wednesday (1/31) that sometimes devolved into bickering, lawmakers from across the political spectrum accused social media companies of failing to protect young people online…

On Tuesday, 1/30, the House Homeland Security Committee moved closer to approving articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas…

In a letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration on Tuesday, 1/30, 12 Senate Democrats urged the Biden administration to ease federal restrictions on marijuana…

Lawmakers are feeling pressure from voters to take action on housing as Americans are increasingly being priced out of the market…

Education

The rate of students chronically missing school got so bad during the pandemic that it will likely be 2030 before classrooms return to pre-COVID norms, a new report says…

Charter schools will be barred from hundreds of Los Angeles Unified District school campuses under a new policy that is among the most restrictive of its kind…

Indiana lawmakers filed legislation this session aimed at fixing systemic problems for students with disabilities, including the use and oversight of restraint and seclusion in schools…

Nearly 70 percent of Black single mothers of school-aged children believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, a new survey shows…

Weekly Update 1/29/24

Congress-White House Border Discussions

Congress: Bipartisan border talks are “largely done” and have advanced to the Senate Appropriations Committee — signaling talks are entering a potential final phase — according to lead Democratic negotiator Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT)…

White House: President Biden is not backing away from negotiations over a border deal, even as Donald Trump moves to scuttle those talks…

President and Administration

SAMHSA’s recently released consumer guide titled How Can a Peer Specialist Support My Recovery From Problematic Substance Use? offers people…

The Biden administration is calling on the nation’s school principals to promote safe gun storage among parents and staff as part of its effort to prevent school shootings…

According to a recent Commerce Department report, the economy is growing at a faster rate than expected, all while inflation continues to drop…

On Tuesday, 1/23, Former President Donald Trump won the Republican primary contest in New Hampshire (54.4%)…

Congress

Today, Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) are rolling out bipartisan legislation to expand the number of mental health professionals in schools…

Education

Seven and a half million American students, or roughly 15 percent of them, have disabilities that qualify them for special instruction, what's known as individual education plans…