News
Twisted Jurisprudence: “Religious Freedom” threatens birth control, PrEP and more
by John Riley
03.24.16 What if a court's decision on female birth control led to an HIV-positive individual being denied access to lifesaving drugs? Or a gay man being denied PrEP? Or a rape victim prevented from accessing emergency contraception or PEP? Far from hypothetical, these are just some of the potential outcomes of a case being argued before the Supreme Court this week. The case, Zubik v. Burwell, challenges a part of the federal health care law requiring that preventative care, including contraception, be … Continue Reading
When Tipping Doesn't Make the Difference
by Kimberly Freeman Brown and Marc Bayard
02.15.16 For more than a decade, Jessica Wynter Martin has earned a living in one of the most demanding and lowest paying industries in America-food service. The African American, 26-year-old, University of California - Berkeley graduate, currently lives and works in Washington, D.C. and has done every imaginable job in the restaurant business, including working as a busser, food runner, food preparer, cook and host. The business is in Martin's blood. Her father is a chef and her mother, who raised her … Continue Reading
Rep. Ellison holds working families forum
by Camille Williams
01.19.16 MINNEAPOLIS - Higher wages, family medical leave, wage theft, and equal pay are just a few of the issues affecting working families. Representative Keith Ellison and Representative Bobby Scott of Virginia, the ranking member on the Committee on Education and Workforce, held a forum in Minneapolis Tuesday to listen to these issues facing Minnesotans. A driving instructor from Richfield told the Congressmen he would like to see higher wages. "I make $21,600 a year. I really like my job. It's im… Continue Reading
Congress approves rewrite of K-12 education law
by Mary Troyan
12.09.15 WASHINGTON - The Senate voted Wednesday to send President Obama a bill that dramatically overhauls K-12 education policy and ends more than a decade of strict federal control over schools. The Every Student Succeeds Act focuses less on standardized testing than the No Child Left Behind law it replaces, and it makes states once again responsible for fixing under-performing schools. The Senate vote was 85-12 to pass the compromise measure, which won plaudits from conservatives and liberals alike… Continue Reading
U.S. Lawmakers Call for More Oversight of Workers’ Comp
by Michael Grabell
10.21.15 Ten prominent Democratic lawmakers, including presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, are urging the U.S. secretary of labor to come up with a plan to ensure that state workers' compensation programs are properly caring for injured workers. The lawmakers' letter, sent Tuesday, was prompted by an investigation by ProPublica and NPR, which found that more than 30 states have cut benefits to injured workers, created daunting hurdles to getting medical care or made it more difficult for workers… Continue Reading
Lawmakers Seek Federal 'Oversight' Of Workers' Comp As States Limit Benefits
by Howard Berkes
10.21.15 Ten ranking Democrats on key Senate and House committees are urging the Labor Department to respond to a "pattern of detrimental changes in state workers' compensation laws" that have reduced protections and benefits for injured workers over the past decade. In a letter to Labor Secretary Thomas Perez, the lawmakers cited an investigation byNPR and ProPublica, which found that 33 states have cut workers' comp benefits, made it more difficult to qualify for benefits or given employers more contr… Continue Reading
A Prescription for More Black Doctors
by NIKOLE HANNAH-JONES
09.09.15 Johnson's experience is depressingly familiar to Francis. While many students at Xavier and other historically black colleges come from middle-class homes, have gone to good schools and have parents who graduated from college, too many do not. ''I used to say there was no relationship between being poor and being bright. I watched all of my life young people who were poor and very bright. But research shows if you are black and born poor, you are going to live in a poor neighborhood, going … Continue Reading