On the day of his inauguration for a second term, Donald Trump issued a flurry of Executive Orders targeting the LGBTQ community, civil rights protections, and immigrant communities. Meanwhile, Congress is echoing the new administration’s attacks on immigrant communities with a proposal to punish whole cities or states if they choose not to join in the attack.
The No Bailout for Sanctuary Cities Act would force cities and state governments across the country to participate in mass deportation actions or potentially risk losing money for programs such as:
Cutting funding for these programs would take away critical care for tens of thousands of people. This would disproportionately impact low-income and marginalized Black and Brown communities, further deepening poverty and widening inequality.
This overreach by the federal government would be devastating to community programs and set a dangerous precedent on how cities and states are allowed to operate autonomously. We must stop this overreach before it can be implemented.
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The not everyone back to school edition. It’s September, and our children really should be back at school. But millions are missing – described as chronically absent. Why? Part of the explanation may be academic disengagement during the pandemic. Another part is the nation’s youth mental health crisis – the two causes are probably related, although the youth mental health crisis existed before the pandemic began.
When expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) payments ended in December 2021, many families had a harder time paying bills and putting food on the table, and their levels of financial stress increased. That’s one of many findings of a recently released survey of more than 1,000 households that received in the benefits in the continental U.S., and another 500 households in Puerto Rico.
A key provision to reduce prices for seniors came closer to reality Tuesday as the Biden Administration announced the first ten prescription drugs that will be subject to price negotiations between pharmaceutical companies and Medicare. Under the Inflation Reduction Act, Medicare now has the power to directly negotiate drug prices with manufacturers for the first time in the federal program’s nearly 60-year history.
The clean energy and infrastructure edition. Two of President Biden’s most formidable and far-reaching accomplishments while in office include passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal. Last week, we celebrated the one-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act; November will mark the second anniversary of the infrastructure law.
Sixty years after the historic March on Washington, which featured Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech, civil rights, faith, and labor activists will return this weekend for another march. Among those speaking at the event will be Rev. King’s eldest son, Martin Luther King III; his spouse, Arndrea Waters King; and Rev. Al Sharpton, President and Founder of the National Action Network.
Pharmaceutical companies are scrambling to prevent Medicare from negotiating prescription drug prices, a key element of the Inflation Reduction Act that Congress passed and President Biden signed into law just over a year ago. By September 1, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is expected to announce the first ten drugs that will be subject to price negotiations. But since June, at least seven lawsuits have been announced in six different federal courts.
From the White House to the West Coast, advocates on Wednesday celebrated the one-year anniversary of passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The (literally) groundbreaking legislation made historic investments in clean energy, lowered health care costs for millions of Americans, and advanced tax fairness by raising taxes on wealthy corporations while giving the IRS the resources it needs to pursue tax cheats.
Advocates for tax fairness this week delivered a petition – signed by more than 65,000 people – to the IRS in support of a free IRS Direct File option. Along with the petition delivery, advocates, many of whom make up the Coalition for Free and Fair Filing, held a briefing to push for the need for Direct File and to commemorate this week’s one year anniversary of passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) – which included needed resources for the IRS, offset by making the wealthy and corporations pay more of their fair share in taxes.
Next Wednesday marks the one-year anniversary of passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, an ambitious legislative package that will boost clean energy, lower prescription drug costs, and increase tax fairness by giving the IRS more resources to pursue wealthy tax cheats. Already, millions of Americans with diabetes on Medicare are saving money on insulin, which, in most cases, was capped at $35 beginning this year. And by September 1, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will announce the selection of 10 prescription drugs whose prices will be negotiated between the federal government and pharmaceutical companies.
When I was born into poverty, the deck was stacked against me in all aspects of life — from educational opportunities and health care to the future earnings I could expect. Now I’ve graduated from college and I’m poised to start my first post-college job. What made the difference? Hard work, yes — but also public investment. Public programs helped keep me fed, healthy, and learning as I grew up. Kids growing up today deserve the same chance.
On June 1, after a 10-hour trek from Chicago, I reached the nation’s capital, where I would spend the most of my summer as an Intern for the Coalition on Human Needs. I drove down Massachusetts Ave., through Embassy Row, as I entered D.C. proper. I was enamored of the various embassies and how each house indicates that country’s culture: the Mexican embassy has a clay hacienda-style exterior, the South African embassy features a staggering statue of the anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela, and the impressive Brazilian embassy boasts a mix of modernity with a traditional look.
The threat of hunger edition. Back in the 1970s, Sens. Robert Dole (R-KS) and George McGovern (D-S.D.) worked together to advance the cause of nutrition assistance for low-income Americans. First, they cosponsored a bill that comprehensively reformed and improved food stamps. Then they came together again to help create the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). Finally, they stepped in to protect and expand the National School Lunch Program.