WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats introduced a bill Wednesday to extend funding for five years for a pandemic-era childcare subsidy program set to expire at the end of the month.

The legislation would extend the child care stabilization grant program, which Congress established in 2021 to help childcare providers meet additional costs during the pandemic. The bill would provide $16 billion in mandatory funding each year for the next five years.

Congress initially provided $24 billion for the program as part of Democrats’ massive COVID-19 relief bill in 2021.

Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat and the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined by congressional colleagues, childcare providers, and advocates, called on Congress to act before this “lifeline” is cut off on Sept. 30, noting its economy-wide impact.

“When I say we need to act more urgently before things get worse — I don’t just mean parents are going to feel the pain or child care workers are going to feel the pain,” Murray said. “I mean, the entire U.S. economy is going to feel this.”

If this childcare funding ends, childcare providers may raise costs or not be able to continue serving families, Murray said, and parents may also be forced to leave their jobs to take care of their kids.

Too many people are forced to choose between their careers and caring for their children, said Rep. Bobby Scott, a Virginia Democrat and ranking member on the House Education and the Workforce Committee.

The bill attracted 35 co-sponsors in the Senate and 78 in the House. All the co-sponsors are Democrats except U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with the party.

“Over 3 million kids will be in danger of losing quality child care they have today” if Congress does not take action, said Sanders, the chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. “Over 230,000 childcare workers will be in danger of losing their jobs, and over 70,000 childcare facilities all over America will likely be shut down.”

Sanders said the country’s workforce crisis would only be worsened if childcare relief is cut off.

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, said about 80,000 children could lose childcare spots in Virginia, while nearly 2,800 early childhood education workers could see layoffs.

“We know if child care is accessible and it’s affordable, parents and our children survive,” said U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the leading Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee. “So we need to keep up those investments to help parents. That is what our obligation is in this time of difficulty and struggle for people in the economy.”

Without a strong childcare industry, the economy will “cease to function,” DeLauro said.

Cynthia Davis, the founder and CEO of Kings and Queens Childcare Center in Washington, D.C., spoke at the press conference to explain how her business could be affected by a loss of funding.

Davis said that if relief runs out at the end of the month, her business could see layoffs, increased rates, or have to “drop out of the public child care program and start serving private families only.” Or her doors could close permanently, she said.

“This will devastate low-income and single-parent households and parents experiencing homelessness who hope to enroll their children in my program,” Davis said. “All children, no matter their family’s income level, deserve an equal chance at the start of their lives.”

U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat from New Jersey, recalled her experiences as a mother searching for affordable child care for her now 17-year-old daughter.

“I can remember it like it was yesterday,” Sherrill said. “That horrible feeling as I tried to find a place that I was comfortable leaving my baby girl and also could afford. And there were times when I paid my entire paycheck towards affording that quality child care.”

This is an issue that disproportionately affects women, said U.S. Rep. Jimmy Gomez, a California Democrat.

U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a New York Democrat and former middle school principal, said it is important to recognize the impact of quality child care on the individual lives of children. Without access to quality child care, he said, “children are more likely to be exposed to toxic stress and chronic trauma,” which can affect their brain development.

A disproportionate number of children with trauma are then placed in special education classes, as well as “being caught up in something we call the school-to-prison pipeline,” Bowman said.

“We do not and will not have a healthy democracy, a healthy society, and a healthy human race without investing in child care,” Bowman said.

by Samantha Dietel, Virginia Mercury

Virginia Mercury is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sarah Vogelsong for questions: info@virginiamercury.com. Follow Virginia Mercury on Facebook and Twitter.

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WASHINGTON  — Gov. Wes Moore fended off questions Tuesday on whether he’ll run in the 2024 Democratic presidential primary during an interview with global news organization Semafor, saying he had no interest in higher office and turning the subject to his nontraditional political background.

“I think it’s really important for people to remember that I am probably the most improbable governor in this country,” Moore said in answer to the first question from Semafor Cofounder and Editor-at-large Steve Clemons. “I’m a person who has never come from a political lineage.”

Moore, an author, nonprofit executive, and former Army officer, had not held political office before winning the governor’s election in 2022.

Moore turned his focus to Maryland, discussing plans to revive the state’s economy through targeted investments in its assets and better serve constituents with a data-driven approach to policy changes.

Moore often defines Maryland as “asset-rich and strategy-poor” and cites the contrast presented by the state’s high concentration of prominent institutions of higher education, military facilities, and government agencies, such as the National Security Agency, with its sluggish economic growth rate of .2% in the past 4 years. The current economic strategy of spreading funding across numerous projects “doesn’t make sense,” he said, explaining he’ll use a more focused approach.

In June, Moore established the Maryland Economic Council, charging it with creating economic recommendations by the next legislative session in January. After the General Assembly passed numerous measures to affect systemic budgetary changes during the last session, a report from the Department of Legislative Services predicted a $418 million structural deficit for fiscal year 2025.

Moore said his administration will use data to drive policy decisions, especially when looking to minimize socioeconomic disparities, and he used environmental injustice in Baltimore as an example.

“You can’t understand what these disparities look like if we aren’t able to fully appreciate the measure of intentionality that very much existed in the creation of that and the lack of intentionality when it comes to how we’re going to address it.”

The administration must consider the root causes of poverty, investing in transit, the public education system, and programs to combat the teacher shortage, Moore said, to jumpstart economic growth.

Creating new opportunities for young people to succeed in different areas will help fight juvenile crime and keep violence out of communities, Moore said. Using data and technology in innovative ways can also help ensure that solutions to crime are predictive rather than reactive.

Increasing public safety is his top priority, Moore said, highlighting the need for “appropriate intensity, absolute integrity, and full accountability” in the policing system as well as a need for crisis intervention teams to shift the response of mental health calls away from police officers. Over $100 million was invested directly in behavioral health, Moore said.

Moore noted that police officers respond to all situations, and many times, they are met with circumstances they cannot fix. He called for change, saying that public safety is partly a matter of creating a better livelihood for people.

Moore said his administration invested $122 million in local law enforcement, $17.5 million of which went to Baltimore City, where the police department has been under a federal agreement to make reforms since 2016. Moore also invested in intelligence sharing through the Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center and organized crime units.

In Baltimore, other reform means combating gun trafficking, filling the police shortage with well-trained officers, and developing more intentional solutions, said Moore, who places special importance on these issues as a Baltimore native.

“I love my state, all 24 jurisdictions. But I’m a Baltimorean,” Moore said. “That’s who I am. Can’t understand me if you don’t understand Baltimore.”

By KIERSTEN HACKER

Capital News Service

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RICHMOND, Va. — Journalists could have more federal protections if a reintroduced shield law bill can pass Congress this term.

The PRESS Act would protect journalists, including citizen journalists, from federal court-ordered disclosure of information about a source. There are a handful of limitations such as information that could prevent an act of terrorism against the U.S., according to the bill.

The bill would also prevent important data on a reporter’s personal device from being seized without notice. The same would apply to data held by a covered service provider like a telecommunications company.

Both the House and Senate versions of the bill have bipartisan support. U.S. Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va, is a co-sponsor of the current iteration of the House bill. The House passed the original resolution introduced in 2021, but it failed to advance from a Senate committee. The Senate bill also did not advance last term.

Virginia is one of 10 states without a formal shield law, according to the legal group Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Currently, Virginia courts recognize a reporter’s privilege, meaning the right not to be compelled to testify or disclose sources and information in court. The proposed federal law may provide a model or incentive for a shield law at the state level, according to Mechelle Hankerson, president of the Society of Professional Journalists Virginia Pro Chapter.

“We’re sort of at the mercy of the courts’ whims and interpretations of situations and the First Amendment when we don’t have a shield law,” Hankerson said. “Even though the courts have ruled favorably for us as journalists, there’s no guarantee that that will continue.”

The national SPJ organization has advocated for a federal shield law for the past two decades, Hankerson said. One of the reasons it has been a slow process at both the federal and state levels is because many courts have ruled in favor of protecting journalists, which obscures the need for shield laws.

Del. Danica Roem, D-Prince William, attempted three times to establish a state shield law. A version that passed in 2020 was amended to apply protections in a criminal proceeding. The bill has specific parameters for the definition of a working journalist that are not found in the PRESS Act, such as that they must belong to a news organization.

“I don’t think that there is anything on the horizon or that has happened super recently in Virginia that makes us feel like we’re in danger if we don’t get a shield law on the books,” Hankerson said. “But it is something, the longer it’s not there, the more vulnerable we are as journalists.”

Protections given by shield laws such as the PRESS Act allow journalists and news organizations to establish trusted relationships with sources, according to Lin Weeks, a senior staff attorney at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

The organization provides free counsel and legal resources to journalists to protect First Amendment freedoms and newsgathering rights, according to its website.

“If the government for courts or civil litigants can compel journalists to reveal the subjects of those conversations of their unpublished work product, that undermines journalists’ ability to do their job,” Weeks said.

The PRESS Act would codify some of the guardrails the Department of Justice has in place through its updated news media guidelines, which limit access to journalists’ records.

“With something like the DOJ guidelines, those can be changed without a legislative vote from administration to administration,” Weeks said. “Whereas, the PRESS Act would last through multiple administrations.”

The bill shields both professional and citizen journalists from being forced to disclose their sources by broadly defining a journalist to include any person who regularly gathers or records information with the intention of public dissemination.

Genelle Belmas holds a doctorate in mass communication and is a professor of media law at the University of Kansas. A broad definition is a good thing, Belmas said. Any individual who gathers and organizes information to disseminate it to the public should be protected in the same way as a journalist with a major or local news organization.

“The bigger question, as some people have suggested, is: ‘Are you committing acts of journalism?’” Belmas said.

The First Amendment doesn’t make those distinctions, she said.

A number of trade organizations have endorsed the bill, including the News/Media Alliance, Radio Television Digital News Association, and the National Association of Broadcasters. Two international journalism educator organizations recently announced support.

The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication stated the bill “empowers the media to play its essential role as a watchdog holding our government accountable.”

AEJMC and ASJMC announced to their members that they plan to lobby to support the bill.

By Emily Richardson
Capital News Service

Capital News Service is a program of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Robertson School of Media and Culture. Students in the program provide state government coverage for a variety of media outlets in Virginia.

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved the latest round of COVID-19 boosters as public health officials brace for another cold and flu season.

by Jennifer Shutt, Virginia Mercury

Virginia Mercury is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sarah Vogelsong for questions: info@virginiamercury.com. Follow Virginia Mercury on Facebook and Twitter.

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A New Chapter in International Space Collaboration and Scientific Research.

In the early morning hours off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft plunged through Earth’s atmosphere to deliver four astronauts back to solid ground. The event marked the end of NASA’s sixth commercial crew rotation mission to the International Space Station (ISS), which spanned 186 days, involved extensive scientific experimentation, and demonstrated the global collaborative effort behind contemporary space exploration.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, left, NASA astronaut Warren “Woody” Hoburg, second from left, NASA astronaut Stephen Bowen, second from right, and UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, right, are seen inside the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship MEGAN shortly after having landed in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, Monday, Sept. 4, 2023. Bowen, Hoburg, Alneyadi, and Fedyaev are returning after nearly six months in space as part of Expedition 69 aboard the International Space Station. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg, Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, and the UAE’s first long-duration astronaut, Sultan Alneyadi, touched down safely at 12:17 a.m. EDT. Within hours, teams aboard SpaceX recovery vessels retrieved the spacecraft and its crew for transportation to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

During their time on the ISS, the Crew-6 mission traveled approximately 78,875,292 miles, completed 2,976 orbits around Earth, and conducted hundreds of scientific experiments. Their impressive journey began on March 2, 2023, when a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Dragon spacecraft docked with the ISS the following day, where the team later prepared the station for the arrival of new solar arrays and participated in a myriad of scientific investigations.

The significance of Crew-6’s mission transcends mere numbers and statistics. Beyond its duration and mileage, the international team conducted groundbreaking research and participated in advanced technology demonstrations. Stephen Bowen led three spacewalks, with Hoburg joining for two and Alneyadi for one. They installed two new IROSAs (International Space Station Roll-Out Solar Arrays) to augment the station’s power generation capabilities.

Moreover, the crew contributed to experiments that will have a lasting impact both in space and on Earth. These ranged from plant genetic adaptations in space to human health monitoring in microgravity. They even assisted in a student robotic challenge and launched Saskatchewan’s first satellite, aimed at testing a new radiation detection and protection system based on melanin.

Crew-6’s mission was part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, an initiative designed to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective means of transportation to and from the ISS. The Dragon spacecraft, aptly named “Endeavour,” will now return to SpaceX’s refurbishing facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for inspection, analysis, and preparation for its next mission.

The success of Crew-6 paves the way for future international collaborations in space exploration, including NASA’s ambitious Artemis program to return humans to the Moon and beyond. As Administrator Bill Nelson aptly noted, this mission “demonstrated humanity’s shared ambition to reach new cosmic shores.”

The safe return of Crew-6 not only marks a significant milestone for NASA and SpaceX but also sets a precedent for what international collaboration can achieve in the final frontier. As we continue to look to the skies, missions like these remind us that the quest for knowledge and exploration is a journey best undertaken together.

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Construction workers who work on federal projects are poised to receive better wages and worker protections under a Department of Labor rule touted by Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday.

Speaking at a union hall in Philadelphia, Harris praised the Biden administration’s economic agenda and pointed out that the new rule would be the first update in more than 40 years to the Davis-Bacon Act, which requires paying prevailing wages on public works projects. The Reagan administration changed the definition of prevailing wages in 1983.

“Let’s agree these workers deserve our recognition and appreciation, and they deserve something more,” Harris said. “They deserve a raise. … Many workers are paid much less than they deserve, much less than the value of their work … in some cases by thousands of dollars a year, and that is wrong and completely unacceptable.”

The final rule transforms how prevailing wages, or the hourly rate of wages paid to workers in a given area, are calculated. It would base wages off of at least 30% of workers instead of 50% of workers in a trade in a certain locality, which the Biden administration said will help ensure workers’ prevailing wages aren’t dragged down by employers who pay low wages.

The regulation also makes it easier for the agency to withhold funds from contractors to ensure workers are paid properly and protects workers from employer retaliation, Biden administration officials have stated.

The rule will be effective in about two months and would affect an estimated 1.2 million workers.

Harris praised the work of union leaders during her speech. She called Sean McGarvey, president of North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU), who was present at the speech, “a partner” and thanked Jimmy Williams, the general president of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades. After the speech, she planned to tour Interstate 95. In June, part of I-95 collapsed when a gasoline tanker exploded, and the man driving the vehicle died. Harris applauded the swift rebuild of the section, which took only 12 days. The rebuilding effort received federal funding.

Sharita Gruberg, vice president for economic justice at the National Partnership for Women and Families, said that the original formula for wage standards was supposed to make sure that federal contracts are paying workers a competitive wage, but the Reagan administration’s changes in the 1980s weakened the rules.

“There’s just been all of these artificial barriers constructed since the ’80s that weaken this really strong rule that’s supposed to protect the local economy and protect workers,” Gruberg said. She added that the idea was “to make sure that these local economies are not subject to a large influx of federal dollars going to construction companies that are paying less than market rate and creating a race to the bottom.”

The administration is prioritizing these changes after it has invested billions in manufacturing facilities and repairing roads through the CHIPS and Science Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Gruberg said the administration is trying to make the most out of those investments by making these reforms.

“There are two paths here,” she said. “One, we update these rules and make sure that these investments are reaching their full potential for communities, or we don’t and lose workers a lot of money.”

Progressive think tanks have argued that such changes will make it easier for workers to receive higher pay and better benefits. In its comment on the proposed rule in May 2022, the Economic Policy Institute said research has established that prevailing wage laws increase worker pay, help more workers get pension plans, and improve workers’ health care coverage as well as make the construction industry more equitable for women and workers of color.

The Laborers’ International Union of North America also supports the change and said it will protect many LIUNA members.

“With massive investments in infrastructure through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs with prevailing wage rules, construction workers across the nation will benefit from the strengthened wage floor,” LIUNA stated.

There is still opposition to the rule from the Associated Builders and Contractors, a non-union trade group, which has said it will take legal action in response to the rule. The trade association said there’s no timeline yet for when they will bring a lawsuit.

Ben Brubeck, vice president of regulatory, labor, and state affairs at the Associated Builders and Contractors, called the rule a “handout to organized labor on the backs of taxpayers, small businesses, and the free market” and said the regulation is “unnecessary, costly and burdensome.”

 

by Casey Quinlan, Virginia Mercury

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Virginia Mercury is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sarah Vogelsong for questions: info@virginiamercury.com. Follow Virginia Mercury on Facebook and Twitter.

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