Policies & Impacts

Senate Republicans Caution Against Rushed Federal Involvement in Childcare Crisis

Senate Republicans encouraged lawmakers to “think” before they act when considering what action the federal government should take in their involvement with American childcare.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee convened on May 31 to discuss the childcare crisis being experienced by some Americans and the potential solutions to meet the needs of working families and childcare workers.
The hearing saw lawmakers from both sides of the aisle presenting their perspectives on the matter, with HELP Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) pushing for more federal funding for childcare and Ranking Member Sen. Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.) telling his fellow lawmakers that they should not “just do something—think.”…

Facing Sweltering Summers, California’s Newsom Floats Plan for State to Buy Energy

SACRAMENTO—For most of the year, California’s quest to rid itself of fossil fuels seems on track: Electric cars populate highways while energy from wind, solar, and water provides much of the power for homes and businesses.
Then it gets hot, and everyone in the nation’s most populous state turns on their air conditioners at the same time. That’s when California has come close to running out of power in recent years, especially in the early evenings when electricity from solar is not as abundant.
Now, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to buy massive amounts of renewable energy to help keep the lights on. The idea is to use the state’s purchasing power to convince private companies to build large-scale power plants that run off of heat from underground sites and strong winds blowing off the coast—the kinds of power that utility companies have not been buying because it’s too expensive and would take too long to build….