congress

April 8, 2022 - The U.S. is home to over 730 billionaires, with over 140 living in Southern states. The new budget proposal from President Biden calls on Congress to pass what's being called a "Billionaire Minimum Income Tax" that would levy annual gains in stocks and other assets held by the richest .01% — assets that are not taxed at all now unless they're sold.

February 22, 2022 - Following several recent scandals involving ethically questionable stock trades by U.S. senators from Georgia and North Carolina, momentum is building in Congress for legislation that would more strictly regulate stock trading by members.

February 17, 2022 - The House Natural Resources Committee held a hearing this week on the Environmental Justice for All Act, which would strengthen protections for vulnerable communities from environmental health threats. We share the official testimony of Amy Laura Cahn, director of the Environmental Justice Clinic at the Vermont Law School, who discussed waste dumping in Alabama and pipeline construction in Virginia in making a case for the bill's transformative power.

February 11, 2022 - Public support for labor unions in the U.S. is at an all-time high, but the latest federal data on union membership shows the share of workers belonging to unions declined in 2021. The downturn, which was especially dramatic in the South, appears to be driven by several factors.

December 10, 2021 - In its first lawsuit to come out of the latest round of redistricting, the U.S. Department of Justice has taken aim at Texas, arguing that the GOP legislature's new election district maps violate the Voting Rights Act by discriminating against voters by race or color. We look at some of the numbers cited in the lawsuit, which faces an uphill fight in the new legal landscape created by the Supreme Court's 2013 decision gutting the landmark civil rights-era law.

September 24, 2021 - Earlier this year, Congress approved expanding the child tax credit and paying it out in advance as part of the American Rescue Plan economic stimulus bill. As Democrats discuss extending the credit, advocates argue that making it permanent would slash child poverty rates, which are especially high across the South.

June 3, 2021 - Black farmers will start receiving their first payments this month under the Emergency Relief for Farmers of Color Act. Sponsored by Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia, it was part of the latest COVID-19 stimulus and has been called the most significant legislation for Black farmers since the Civil Rights Act of 1964. But the Texas agriculture commissioner and former Trump adviser Stephen Miller are among those involved in lawsuits to halt the payments, arguing they're unfair to whites.