by Jorja Siemons | Jan 18, 2022 | Featured, Living, Politics
WASHINGTON – Restrictive zoning policies are a chief force behind the nation’s continued housing shortage, experts said at a Bipartisan Policy Center panel on Tuesday. “We are experiencing the longest economic expansion in history (and) at the same time, seeing the...
by Jenny Huh | Jan 13, 2022 | Featured, Immigration, Living
WASHINGTON – Lower financial literacy among Americans, especially those 65-and-older and those with disabilities, creates challenges for long-term money management, experts and nonprofit leaders told lawmakers on Thursday. “Seniors end up as greeters at Walmart when...
by Mary Yang | Dec 14, 2021 | Living
Madison resident and farmer Mylia Vang didn’t apply for some of the $100 million in COVID-19 relief grants for Wisconsin farmers because she didn’t know the money existed. Vang, 44, who makes between $20,000 and $30,000 per year selling asparagus, zucchini and other...
by Mary Yang | Dec 8, 2021 | Living
WASHINGTON – Although the Department of Veterans Affairs backed a record 1.44 million homes loans for veterans and service members in the 12 months ending Sept. 30, members of Congress and veterans’ advocates said Wednesday that sellers remain leery of VA-backed loans...
by Yiming Fu | Dec 8, 2021 | Living
WASHINGTON — As the possibility of a national civilian climate corps is being considered in Congress, Black and brown community leaders hope lawmakers will collaborate with and learn from local efforts that have already taken root across the country. The Biden...
by Ali McCadden | Nov 30, 2021 | Living
WASHINGTON — When Dani Seltzer is invited to talk to schoolchildren or chats with people in her Arlington, Virginia, community about what homelessness looks like, she says the image in people’s minds at the start of her talks is usually an adult man or woman asking...
by Mary Yang | Nov 17, 2021 | Living
WASHINGTON — Expanding public access to national parks by increasing transportation options will be a top priority in discretionary federal spending, said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday. Buttigieg and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on...
by Mary Yang | Nov 17, 2021 | Living
WASHINGTON — More than 80% of nearly 9,000 low-income areas named “Opportunity Zones” as part of a 2017 tax break program received no money in 2019, federal records show. The reason: There’s no incentive for wealthy taxpayers, who receive generous tax breaks for...
by Yiming Fu | Nov 10, 2021 | Living
WASHINGTON — The Office of Congressional Workplace Rights’ official for House of Representatives workplaces, Teresa James, will serve as the interim head of the agency until a new executive director is chosen, the board chair told a House committee Tuesday. Testifying...
by Mary Yang | Nov 9, 2021 | Living
WASHINGTON — Making public transit more accessible, cleaning up pollution in low-income neighborhoods and reuniting communities split by highways built through them are among the first priorities of the Biden administration’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill,...
by Mary Yang | Oct 27, 2021 | Health & Science, Living
WASHINGTON — High coronavirus infection and death rates among workers in the U.S. meatpacking industry went unreported because of a “political decision” to not track cases, according to the report released Wednesday of an investigation by the House Select...
by Mary Yang | Oct 7, 2021 | Featured, Living
WASHINGTON — Fair prices, supply chain backlogs and vaccines for pigs were hot topics Thursday at a House committee hearing on the United States livestock industry. Inventories of beef, pork and poultry are down for a variety of reasons such as drought, disease...
