Today's News for February 1, 2020
As Reports of Sexual Assault Spike at Military Academies, Ernst Leads Calls for Answers
Source: Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA)
January 31, 2020
Following an alarming spike of reports of sexual assault at U.S. military academies, U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA), the first female combat veteran elected to the Senate, is leading a bipartisan group of senators in calling for answers from the Department of Defense (DOD). An annual report from the DOD detailed a 32 percent increase in sexual assault reports at the academies during the 2018-19 school year as compared to the year before.
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EPI Policy Center applauds Michigan Governor for moving to restore overtime pay for Michigan’s workers
Source: Economic Policy Institute
January 30, 2020
In 2016, the Obama administration published a federal rule that would have increased the overtime threshold to roughly $51,000 in 2020—a modest figure that was well within historic norms. However, the Trump administration abandoned this rule and published a much weaker version that sets the salary threshold at $35,568. In doing this, they cost more than eight million workers overtime protections—totaling $1.2 billion in lost wages. The United Way’s ALICE report on financially struggling households shows that Michigan families need about $61,000 a year to afford the basics. A strong rule would raise the salary threshold for workers who earn up to $61,000 and would also be indexed to inflation to keep pace with overall wage growth.
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Congresswoman Veronica Escobar Statement on Expansion of the Dangerous “Remain in Mexico” Policy to Brazilian Asylum Seekers
Source: Veronica Escobar (D-TX, 16th)
January 30, 2020
“Today, one year after the Trump administration announced the implementation of the dangerous and unlawful Remain in Mexico policy, DHS began depriving Brazilian asylum seekers due process and endangering their lives by sending them to Mexico, a country proved ill-equipped to safeguard the wellbeing of migrants.
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Eshoo Demands Accountability from PG&E at Congressional Hearing
Source: U.S. Representative Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA, 18th)
January 29, 2020
“I don’t presuppose that everyone in Washington D.C. knows who PG&E is or what they’ve done. Now, Californians know it, I certainly know it, and my constituents have lived it,” Rep. Eshoo said to PG&E CEO Bill Johnson. “In your testimony on page three you indicate it will take 12 to 14 years—12 to 14 years—to harden and strengthen the grid. That time frame implies that you’ve deferred a lot of the maintenance over the last 10 years. So, my first question is: why did the deferred maintenance happen and why was this allowed to happen?”
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Victory! Lawsuit Challenging FOSTA Reinstated by Court
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
January 24, 2020
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that two plaintiffs in the lawsuit—brought by Woodhull Freedom Foundation, Human Rights Watch, Alex Andrews, the Internet Archive, and Eric Koszyk to block enforcement of the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA)—had “standing” to pursue their constitutional challenge to the statute. The lawsuit argues that the act expansively criminalizes online speech related to sex work and removes important protections for online intermediaries in violation of their First Amendment rights. The plaintiffs are represented by EFF, Davis, Wright Tremaine LLP, Walters Law Group, and Daphne Keller.
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Emergency Nurses Association Monitoring Novel Coronavirus Developments
Source: Emergency Nurses Association
January 24, 2020
The two confirmed U.S. cases follow an outbreak in China that has prompted several U.S. airports to implement public health entry screenings. As new information develops, ENA President Mike Hastings, MSN, RN, CEN, called on emergency nurses to follow their current policies and best practices when screening patients for infectious diseases, and to revisit the use of personal protective equipment to limit exposure should a patient show symptoms of novel coronavirus.
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