Politics
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 -
A recent report from the Zinn Education Project comprehensively assesses educational standards for the teaching of Reconstruction history in all 50 states and finds vast room for improvement. The study urges policymakers, teachers, parents, and students to press for more attention to this history in grades K–12 as the era has assumed greater relevance amid ongoing fights for racial justice and historical accuracy.
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.
February 11, 2022 -
In December, the Food and Drug Administration permanently allowed the drugs for medication abortions to be delivered to patients by mail — but most Southern states require such abortions be done in the presence of a doctor. And now Republican state lawmakers in Georgia and South Carolina are considering bills that target that safe form of abortion care and would give patients disinformation about it.
February 9, 2022 -
The president has pledged to nominate the first Black woman to the highest court in the land to replace retiring liberal Justice Stephen Breyer. A few of the potential justices are judges or judicial nominees from Southern states, including two with extensive experience as voting rights lawyers.
February 4, 2022 -
The expanded child tax credit lifted millions of children out of poverty but expired because the closely divided U.S. Senate failed to renew it as part of the Build Back Better Act, which was opposed by Republicans and Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia. As talks continue, Manchin has signaled he might be open to renewing the expanded credit with more limited eligibility and a work requirement, but anti-poverty advocates oppose those conditions.
