Four ways Biden’s plan for families would affect schools, children
President Joe Biden proposed a massive package of policies Wednesday designed to reduce child poverty rates and make preschool and higher education more accessible.
Federal Government
Articles
$28.6B federal relief program for restaurants launches this week
The Restaurant Revitalization Fund will provide up to $10 million per recipient to qualifying restaurants, bars, food trucks, caterers, and other eligible recipients based on their pandemic-related revenue losses.
Biden to propose free preschool for 5 million children
Funding the initiative would be a tax increase on the rich, most notably a near doubling of the capital gains tax rate on incomes above $1 million, to 39.6%.
U.S. releases $8B in push to modernize nation’s electric grid
The president wants the nation to produce 100% clean energy by 2035. But that goal faces massive hurdles. Those include an electric grid that needs enormous expansion to carry electricity from renewable energy sources to densely populated regions.
U.S. marks slowest population growth since Great Depression
The population figures, known as the apportionment count, determine distribution of $1.5 trillion in federal spending each year. They also mark the official beginning of once-a-decade redistricting battles.
NCAA’s second in command tapped by Biden for Veterans Affairs
Donald Remy is the NCAA’s chief operating officer and chief legal officer, reporting directly to president Mark Emmert. The Army veteran has been with the NCAA since March 2011.
U.S. expanding summer food program for 34M schoolchildren
Families of eligible children would receive $6.82 per child each weekday. That adds up to $375 per child over the summer months.
$16 billion grant program for performance venues set to reopen for applications
The federal grant program, part of a larger pandemic relief effort, officially launched April 8, but its application portal crashed within hours because of technical problems. The portal is set to reopen Saturday.
D.C. statehood approved by House as Senate fight looms
A decades-long movement to reshape the American political map took a further step Thursday as the House of Representatives approved a bill to make the nation’s capital the 51st state.
U.S. takes new aim at ransomware after costly year for attacks
Last year was the worst to date in terms of the economic toll from ransomware, with demands to victims averaging more than $100,000 and in some cases totaling tens of millions of dollars.
White House to offer new tax credit to help spur vaccinations
The tax change would provide a credit of up to $511 per day per employee for businesses with fewer than 500 workers to ensure that those workers or businesses don’t suffer a penalty by getting vaccinated.
Biden to pledge cutting greenhouse gases in half by 2030, sources say
The proposal would require dramatic changes in the power and transportation sectors, including significant increases in renewable energy such as wind and solar power and steep cuts in emissions from fossil fuels such as coal and oil.
Performance venues say federal grants should help them survive
Businesses are looking for the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program, which had its launch derailed last week because of technical problems with the application portal, to reopen soon.
Guitarist from Indiana first suspect to plead guilty in Capitol riot
Jon Schaffer of Columbus was accused of storming the U.S. Capitol in the Jan. 6 insurrection and spraying police officers with bear spray. He pleaded guilty Friday in a deal with prosecutors.
Equal pay bill passed by House, but faces long odds in Senate
The bill would make it easier to sue employers over pay discrimination, curb the ability of companies to retaliate and include a requirement that businesses submit detailed pay data to the federal government for use in policing pay discrimination laws.
Buttigieg casts transportation spending as down payment on infrastructure
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg presented his department’s budget to lawmakers Thursday as a miniature version of the administration’s mammoth infrastructure plan, with new money for transit, rail and racial justice.
March retail sales, boosted by stimulus checks, soar 9.8%
Newly vaccinated and armed with $1,400 stimulus checks, Americans went on a spending spree last month, buying new clothes and going out to eat again.
Biden’s spin on J&J pause: Government putting safety first
Even without the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, the U.S. is still on pace to meet its vaccination goals. Perhaps more concerning is the potential blow to public confidence in all of the vaccines.
U.S. recommends ‘pause’ for J&J vaccine over clot reports
The CDC and FDA said Tuesday they were investigating clots in six women that occurred 6 to 13 days after vaccination.
White House gives Indiana C- in state-by-state infrastructure report
The Biden White House is amplifying the push for its $2.3 trillion infrastructure package with the release of state-by-state breakdowns that show the dire shape of roads, bridges, the power grid and housing affordability.