- Eguene Scalia Confirmed as New Labor Secretary: On Thursday, the Senate confirmed Eugene Scalia to replace Alex Acosta as the Secretary of Labor by a vote of 53-44. Son of late Supreme Court justice Antoine Scalia, his background is in cooperate law. Scalia will take over the lead of the Department of Labor, which oversees the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and apprenticeships, among many other programs.
- Federal Focus on School Safety: On Wednesday, the Trump Administration released a new school safety district guide as part of an effort to support schools in developing and maintaining emergency and operations plans. The House of Representatives also maintained its spotlight on school safety issues. On Thursday, the House Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response and Recovery held a hearing about perceptions on school security, as well as testimony from family members of those killed in the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting.
- Decrease in Federal Aid for Children: A new report from the Urban Institute found that federal spending on children (including funds spent on education, health care, nutrition and various tax benefits) is at the lowest level in a decade, below two percent of the country’s gross domestic product, and funds are projected to continue to decline from the current level of $41 billion in 2018 to $36 billion in 2029. Although overall investments in children has decreased, federal investments in programs that benefit children from low-income families increased to 61 percent of all child-related expenditures.
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