U.S. Senator Alex Padilla has proposed legislation that would provide individuals who worked as essential workers during the pandemic with a pathway for citizenship, though the bill does not provide any timeline for the plan.
The declaration that the COVID-19 public health emergency is over doesn’t mean the end of its impact, or of the virus itself. What comes now?
Mayor Michelle Wu’s administration has announced that on May 11, city employees will no longer be required to get the vaccine or test for the virus. An estimated 95 percent of employees previously submitted proof of vaccination.
The state’s Office of Public Advocacy is required to provide guardianship services for vulnerable adults, but recent turnover has increased workloads to approximately 1,600 cases per staff member. The agency wants it down to 60 each.
An after-action analysis of the nation’s pandemic response would go a long way toward better preparing us for the public health challenges and other emergencies to come.
Between 2019 and 2022 the state’s GDP grew by 5.7 percent, which is just slightly above the nation’s growth of 5.1 percent. Idaho, by contrast, saw its business output grow by 13.3 percent; Utah’s rose 11.6 percent.
The L.A. school district implemented four “acceleration days” for their students that aimed to fill the gaps in student learning, exacerbated by the pandemic. But less than 8 percent attended and the overall cost of these sessions remains unclear.
More than $1.73 billion will go to 603 Community Development Financial Institutions nationwide, with three in San Diego County receiving funds. Much of the money will go to small-business lending in low-income regions.
Pandemic expansion of Medicaid benefits ended on March 31. A former Medicaid deputy director offers thoughts on what lies ahead.
The proposal would bar governments from being able to mandate a COVID-19 vaccine or future potential medical technologies and it would require private employers, health facilities to provide vaccine exemptions for religious beliefs.
Our resident humanities scholar laments that we thought we were immune to the human condition. We were wrong.
Since March 2020, more than 1 million people across the nation have died from COVID and there are still approximately 40,000 cases each day. Experts expect this won’t be the last pandemic; are we prepared for the next?
Though the Auditor of State hasn’t identified any government in Ohio that is improperly spending its pandemic funds, debates have sparked about whether the funds can be appropriately used on things like a new jail or improved baseball stadium.
Pandemic assistance to families at risk of food insecurity has ended. As a “hunger cliff” looms, programs in public libraries can fill gaps.
The state’s employment office will review the cases of 136,000 residents who collectively received $1.2 billion in “overpayments.” Only approximately 21,000 residents can expect to have their repayments waived.
After the pandemic, the labor force is approximately 3 million short as many workers retired early, immigration slowed and long COVID forced other workers to stay home.
