Posted at https://www.publicnewsservice.org/2018-12-28/criminal-justice/for-those-with-criminal-records-new-year-can-bring-clean-slate/a65088-1 December 28, 2018 – Andrea Sears, Public News Service (PA) Play Audio in Browser Window Pennsylvania’s Clean Slate Act now allows records of some old criminal convictions to be sealed. (Activedia/Pixabay) HARRISBURG, Pa. – Many Pennsylvanians with … Continued
The religious composition of the 116th Congress WASHINGTON, D.C. (Jan. 3, 2019) – The new, 116th Congress includes the first two Muslim women ever to serve in the House of Representatives, and is, overall, slightly more religiously diverse than the … Continued
Posted at https://www.clasp.org/blog/what-shutdown-means-tanf By Elizabeth Lower-Basch UPDATE: On January 14, the House unanimously passed H.R. 430, the TANF Extension Act of 2019, which would extend funding for TANF through June 30. It is not yet known if the Senate will take this … Continued
Posted at https://www.clasp.org/blog/when-first-step-not-enough Recently, Congress passed the First Step Act with overwhelming bipartisan support in the House and Senate. The compromise bill is the first federal legislation in decades that attempts to address the nation’s unacceptable mass incarceration problem, while also providing … Continued
Washington Post By Tara Bahrampour January 15 at 12:18 PM A federal judge has ruled against the Trump administration’s addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. In the first major ruling on the question, Judge Jesse M. Furman of … Continued
From CLASP (http://www.clasp.org/): 93 percent of low-wage workers have zero access to paid family and medical leave. Most workers, especially those with low incomes, can’t afford to take leave without pay. This explainer discusses how paid family and medical leave … Continued
Posted at https://www.pogo.org/analysis/2019/01/a-closer-look-at-ethics-reforms-in-hr-1-the-for-the-people-act/ BY LIZ HEMPOWICZ | FILED UNDER ANALYSIS | JANUARY 04, 2019 (Illustration by POGO) On the first day of the 116th Congress, a group of House Democrats introduced a sweeping reform bill aimed in part at creating and strengthening ethics systems for all three … Continued
From the Coalition on Human Needs (http://www.chn.org): Call our Senators today: Tell them no other Senate votes until they vote on funding the government We are now in this government shutdown with no end in sight. Roughly 800,000 federal workers still … Continued
Posted at https://www.publicnewsservice.org/2018-12-20/disabilities/criminal-justice-reform-a-major-issue-for-people-with-disabilities/a65006-1 December 20, 2018 – Andrea Sears, Public News Service (PA) Play Audio in Browser Window The First Step Act will apply to many of the 180,000 people in federal prisons. (PublicDomainPictures) HARRISBURG, PA. – The criminal justice … Continued
Posted at https://www.publicnewsservice.org/2018-12-21/poverty-issues/proposed-snap-rules-an-end-run-around-congress/a65018-1 December 21, 2018 – Andrea Sears, Public News Service (PA) Play Audio in Browser Window In 2017, SNAP benefits kept 3.4 million Americans out of poverty. (U.S. Dept. of Agriculture/Flickr) HARRISBURG, Pa. – After failing to get … Continued