Author: Laura Olson
Laura Olson covers the nation's capital as a senior reporter for States Newsroom, a partner of Maine Beacon. Her areas of coverage include politics and policy, lobbying, elections, and campaign finance.
Federal health officials are expected as soon as Friday to expand access to COVID-19 booster shots to all American adults. But some states aren’t waiting for a green light from D.C. At least six states already have opened up eligibility for the boosters from Pfizer and Moderna beyond the categories specified by federal health agencies:…
Editor’s note: States Newsroom reporters Ariana Figueroa and Jacob Fischler contributed to this story. President Joe Biden on Monday signed into law his $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill during a ceremony at the White House packed with some 800 supporters, heralding what he said was a “truly consequential” spending bill that will improve Americans’ day-to-day…
Beacon reporter Evan Popp contributed to this story. Within minutes of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s announcement Friday giving the green light to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for kids aged 5 to 11, a massive logistics operation launched to prepare for the final regulatory step. Some 15 million doses of the vaccine began to move…
Evan Popp contributed reporting to this story. U.S. Sen. Susan Collins joined the rest of the Senate GOP late Monday in blocking an attempt by Democrats to begin debate on a broad bill that would avert multiple looming fiscal crises for the federal government. The measure to briefly keep the government operating past the end…
The U.S. Supreme Court’s rejection of the Biden administration’s last-ditch effort to extend a federal ban on evictions has put hundreds of thousands of American renters at risk of losing their housing — and is increasing pressure on states and localities to get rental assistance dollars distributed faster. In an eight-page majority opinion issued Thursday…
Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday muscled through a $3.5 trillion budget framework, overcoming a standoff with a handful of centrists who had demanded the House first approve the bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill passed by the Senate. That position by 10 House Democrats — including Reps. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey,…
States Newsroom reporter Ariana Figueroa and Beacon editor Lauren McCauley contributed to this report. Federal health officials on Tuesday announced a new, narrower moratorium on evictions through Oct. 3, which would protect struggling renters in areas of the U.S. that have been hit hardest by soaring COVID-19 infection rates. The targeted eviction ban comes days…
State and local officials disbursed $1.5 billion in rental assistance during June — more than during the entire previous five months — to help households falling behind on rent and utilities, according to U.S. Treasury data released last week.. That progress in getting slow-moving federal dollars to struggling renters comes as the Biden administration and…
The most ambitious part of the pandemic stimulus package signed by President Joe Biden earlier this year is about to hit the bank accounts of millions of U.S. parents. Starting this week and ending in December, the vast majority of U.S. households with children will begin receiving monthly payments as a result of changes expanding…
The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday that it will not hear a case of a transgender student in Virginia who was barred from using the boys’ bathroom, a decision that affirms lower-court rulings that said treating transgender students differently violates federal law. Justices on the top court offered no comment in declining to take up…