Culture & Society
As child poverty doubles, states launch or expand their own tax credits
The federal pandemic-era child tax credit expansion lifted millions of children out of poverty in the second half of 2021. But Congress allowed it to expire at the end of that year, and new U.S. census data shows the child poverty rate more than doubled in 2022, erasing the record gains that were made. “It wasn’t surprising […]
Maxwell Frost joins President Biden at WH announcement on Office of Gun Violence Prevention
Six months after Orlando freshman Democratic Congressman Maxwell Frost filed legislation to establish an Office of Gun Violence Prevention, President Joe Biden made that a reality on Friday as he announced the creation of that office during a ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House. Biden said that the office will have four […]
Biden administration to create new gun violence prevention office
WASHINGTON — The White House Thursday announced the formation of an Office of Gun Violence Prevention that will help states and local governments as they implement a gun safety legislative package President Joe Biden signed into law last year. Lacking additional action in Congress to curb gun violence, “the Office of Gun Violence Prevention along […]
Florida icon and Pulitzer Prize winner Lucy Morgan has died
Lucy Morgan, an icon in Florida politics and American journalism, has died. She was a Pulitzer Prize winner and chief of the St. Petersburg (now Tampa Bay) Times capital bureau in Tallahassee for 20 years, retiring in 2006 and serving as senior correspondent until 2013. She was inducted into the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame […]
USDA will extend SNAP food assistance to Idalia victims in Florida
Low-income residents in eleven Florida counties affected by Hurricane Idalia will be eligible for a new federal recovery program, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday. The USDA’s Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP) would give people in Citrus, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lafayette, Levy, Madison, Suwanee and Taylor counties access to SNAP benefits […]
A ‘disaster’ nears: Millions of federal workers’ paychecks would be on hold in a shutdown
WASHINGTON — More than 3.5 million federal employees and military personnel — many in the Washington, D.C., area but also scattered across the states and around the globe — are bracing for another partial government shutdown, as U.S. House Republicans struggle to produce a short-term plan to fund the government past the end of the […]
Former U.S. Capitol Police chief blames intelligence failures, not Trump, for Jan. 6 attack
The FBI and U.S. Department of Homeland Security failed to share intelligence with the U.S. Capitol Police ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, leaving the Capitol Police under-prepared for that day’s violence, the former chief of the Capitol Police told a U.S. House panel chaired by Georgia Republican Barry Loudermilk on Tuesday. But Democrats […]
Gerontocracy in U.S politics endangers the country
For the second time in two months, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell suffered some type of health crisis, stiffening and freezing up during a press conference. McConnell – one of the longtime political powerhouses of the U.S Senate – was unable to answer questions directed to him. In each case, he stood motionless at a […]
Tuberville opponents plant hundreds of signs outside U.S. Capitol in protest of blockade
WASHINGTON — More than 300 signs dotted the lawn outside the U.S. Senate Tuesday, each bearing the name of a military nominee blocked this year by Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama in protest of a Pentagon abortion policy. Multiple Democratic senators delivered comments Tuesday at the sign installation organized by the progressive VoteVets Political Action Committee, which […]
FL state workers see expansion of parental leave under new rules
Employees in three dozen Florida state agencies will see as much as nine weeks of paid maternal leave and two weeks leave for fathers under rules adopted this week by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Cabinet. Previously, new parents had to cobble together leave periods using their paid annual or sick leave. “Compared to […]
Michigan congresswoman pushes ‘Restaurant Workers Bill of Rights’
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat, re-introduced legislation Tuesday aimed at improving the lives of U.S. restaurant workers. The “Restaurant Workers Bill of Rights” would raise wages and improve work conditions for restaurant staff. Tlaib, who also pushed this legislation last year, held a press conference Tuesday alongside U.S. House colleagues and […]
Donald Trump claims credit for saving Ken Paxton
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump is claiming credit for Attorney General Ken Paxton’s acquittal. Posting on his Truth Social platform Monday, Trump claimed that his sporadic defenses on social media for his long-time ally helped sway the course of Paxton’s impeachment trial. “Yes, it is true that my intervention through TRUTH SOCIAL saved Texas […]