UD’s College of Education and Human Development and Biden School of Public Policy and Administration are collaborating to help undo educational inequities in Wilmington schools that disproportionately affect students of color. Their partnership will support the Redding Consortium for Educational Equity, a special commission created by Gov. Carney and the Legislature for that purpose.
Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) announced that bipartisan legislation she is co-sponsoring, which would create a direct $1,000 payment to every U.S. resident regardless of age or tax status, gained 20 co-sponsors in the first day it was introduced. The bill also includes extra money for family caregivers of seniors and people with disabilities. Blunt Rochester said the wave of support is a strong argument for direct payments as part of any Covid stimulus bill.
Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) introduced two bills that would route certain 911 calls away from law enforcement and toward social service providers. Calls about criminal activity, fire and medical emergencies would not be affected. Casey said the bill would have prevented incidents like the Philadelphia police shooting of Walter Wallace Jr., a man of color whose family called emergency services concerned about his mental health.
A Delaware medical ethics advisory council voted to accept the federal recommendations about whom to prioritize when distributing Covid-19 vaccines. Highest priority goes to “Group 1A,” which consists of long-term care facility residents and staff and health care industry workers, including support personnel like custodians and administrators, direct support professionals and home health care aides. People with disabilities are in “Group 1B,” which has the next-highest priority.
President-elect Joe Biden announced he would nominate California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to be his Secretary of Health and Human Services. Becerra led a coalition of Democratic attorneys general in defending the Affordable Care Act against legal challenges and has worked with other states to expand access to Covid-19 treatments.
