By Brian Skinner, Esq. Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker on Monday unveiled a $171 million package of programs aimed to keep struggling renters in their homes. Baker said he’ll pump $100 million into the state’s main rental-relief program and boost the amount tenants can claim to $10,000 a year, up from $4,000, to keep up or pay off …Read More
Route Fifty — By Andrea Noble — October 1, 2020 President Trump signed a continuing resolution Thursday that will avoid a government shutdown through December and provide a one-year extension of federal transportation funding. The extension of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act adds $13.6 billion to the Highway Trust Fund. The approval allows the …Read More
By Brian Skinner, Esq. This summer there have been increased calls for diverting funds from public safety and placing more of an emphasis on social programs. In a recent interview, vice-presidential candidate and United States Senator Kamala Harris summarized these efforts — “We need to re-imagine how we, as a society, are going to …Read More
STATELINE ARTICLE — By: Tim Henderson — September 28, 2020 Mothers of small children have lost work at three times the rate of fathers in the pandemic, a situation that threatens not only progress toward gender equity but middle-class income gains that have become increasingly dependent on working women. Mothers of children 12 years old and younger …Read More
By Brian Skinner, Esq. As the opioid-related overdose epidemic continues to escalate in West Virginia and the nation, timely access to Food & Drug Administration (FDA)-approved medications for the treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) is more important than ever. Evidence shows that medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for OUD saves lives and helps people maintain …Read More
By Brian Skinner, Esq. This week a federal appeals court granted New York permission to implement an opioid tax on the manufacturers and distributors of prescription painkillers in a ruling that will enable the state to collect hundreds of millions of dollars. In 2018, New York approved the Opioid Stewardship Act which required all …Read More
By Brian Skinner, Esq. As the COVID-19 pandemic drags on and the economy continues to suffer, policymakers must be prepared address an increased need for both a public health response and policies to increase intervention and prevention efforts associated with the mental health of the state’s population. Recent studies are highlighting the impact the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting …Read More
FREEP.COM About 625,000 essential workers in Michigan who put in time during the height of the COVID-19 lockdown and don’t have a degree are eligible for free college under a plan detailed Thursday by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Futures for Frontliners, inspired by the G.I. Bill that provided college education to those serving their country in WWII, was initially announced by …Read More
By Brian Skinner, Esq. Economists generally agree that the $600-a-week Pandemic Unemployment Compensation supplement that went to the 32 million Americans in March as part of the CARES Act, kept the economy functioning through the COVID-19 pandemic. Economists at the University of Chicago estimated that more than two-thirds of the workers on unemployment insurance …Read More
By Brian Skinner, Esq. In 2016, West Virginia experienced some of the most deadly and destructive flooding in the state’s history. Twenty-three people were killed, more than 1,500 homes and businesses were destroyed, and another 2,500 significantly damaged, while losses to highways and bridges totaled about $53 million. The National Weather Service declared that the amount of rainfall in June …Read More