Newsom to meet with Trump on wildfires privately near Sacramento
By Carla Marinucci 09/14/2020 12:18 AM EDT OAKLAND — Gov. Gavin Newsom will join President Donald Trump for a Monday wildfire briefing near Sacramento with state fire and emergency officials, but the meeting will be private, Newsom officials announced Sunday night. Newsom will then depart separately for his own tour of active fire areas of […]
Houses passes bill to stop forced labor imports from China
By Doug Palmer 09/22/2020 03:57 PM EDT The House on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly in favor of legislation aimed at ensuring that clothing and other products made with the forced labor of Uighur Muslims and other ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region of China do not enter the United States. “In recent years, the world has […]
FDA unveils long-awaited food traceability rule
By Helena Bottemiller Evich 09/21/2020 05:21 PM EDT The FDA on Monday released a proposed rule that outlines new traceability requirements for the food industry — a move that comes nearly a decade after Congress asked for the policy. The nearly 200-page rule would mandate new recordkeeping requirements for entities manufacturing, packing or storing certain foods that […]
USDA readies $14B more in payouts to farmers
By Ryan McCrimmon 09/18/2020 11:23 AM EDT The Trump administration will begin paying farmers and ranchers a new round of coronavirus aid starting on Monday, which will include money for certain wheat growers who were left out of the first round of payments. How it works: The additional $14 billion is on top of the roughly […]
What’s next in the Senate’s colossal Supreme Court fight
By Kyle Cheney 09/18/2020 11:32 PM EDT Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death Friday instantly ignited a power struggle over whether President Donald Trump and a Republican-controlled Senate would choose her successor ahead of the Nov. 3 election. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed quickly to hold a vote on a nominee and Trump is expected to make a […]
Where are all the kindergartners? Pandemic creates rare gap year
By Mackenzie Mays 09/18/2020 07:10 PM EDT SACRAMENTO — Amy Neier carefully wrote “first day of kindergarten” on a whiteboard and posed her 5- year-old son Hunter with the sign to capture the milestone she had long waited for. Then Hunter headed off for another year of preschool instead. Neier and parents across the nation […]
Trump administration unveils new sanctions on Iran despite foreign resistance
By Quint Forgey 09/21/2020 01:31 PM EDT Top Trump administration officials on Monday announced a slate of punitive measures intended to add teeth to the administration’s attempt to restore international sanctions on Iran — a diplomatic maneuver dismissed by much of the global community as illegal and ineffective. The new actions, facilitated by an executive order President […]
California LAO: Transit to take biggest state funding hit from driving reduction
By Debra Kahn 09/18/2020 07:42 PM EDT As if things weren’t bad enough for California transit agencies, they are expected to get hit hardest by cuts in fuel tax revenue and vehicle registration fees during the pandemic, according to a new analysis from the Legislative Analyst’s Office. Background: The state budget passed in June assumes revenue from […]
DOL releases proposal on gig worker classification under minimum wage, OT law
By Rebecca Rainey 09/22/2020 10:35 AM EDT WASHINGTON — The Department of Labor released a proposal Tuesday that would clarify whether gig workers are independent contractors or employees under federal minimum wage and overtime law. The proposed rule, which is expected to be published in the Federal Register later this week or early next week, would create […]
California’s embattled UI agency will take 2-week ‘reset,’ won’t resolve backlog until January
By Katy Murphy 09/20/2020 01:04 AM EDT California’s embattled unemployment agency will not accept new unemployment claims for the next two weeks, accepting a recommendation from a governor-appointed Strike Team dispatched less than two months ago, its director announced late Saturday night. The Newsom administration Saturday released a report with recommendations on improving California’s unemployment agency, from adopting a […]
