The People v Wall Street: California’s Public Banking Shake-up
Reading Time: 5 minutes How a grassroots coalition beat the banking lobby in California — and how other states could be affected.
Social Insecurity: When Retirement Means Hardship, States Move to Fill the Void
Reading Time: 5 minutes States act to address the retirement-income gap through auto-IRAs and other state sponsored retirement programs.
Why the Future Is Bright for 100% Clean Energy
Reading Time: 7 minutes Progress report on how renewable, clean energy is becoming the new normal for many Americans and the potential challenges ahead.
Bipartisan Plan Could Block Hundreds of Thousands of Gun Sales
Reading Time: 4 minutes A bipartisan push has emerged to shore up the Brady Bill.
In Big Media Era, Some Communities Turn to Alternative: Low Power FM Radio
Reading Time: 9 minutes Low power FM radio has broken out into the mainstream, but obstacles remain.
Is California’s Largest Utility Again Ducking Liability for a Catastrophe?
Reading Time: 7 minutes PG&E has filed for bankruptcy after being implicated in the Camp Fire, which killed at least 86 people and destroyed the town of Paradise.
Cities Are Blazing the Trail Toward Healthcare for All
Reading Time: 7 minutes Nearly every person in San Francisco has health insurance. Can the city’s program serve as a model for the rest of the country?
Can Worker Participation on Corporate Boards Fight Income Inequality?
Reading Time: 8 minutes A corporation’s board of directors is elected by its shareholders, presumably with company profit and higher share value in mind. But what if the employees had some say about who sits at the table?
Here Come the Judges! States Push to Maintain Judicial Independence
Reading Time: 6 minutes Civic and citizens groups around the country are ramping up efforts to ensure an independent judiciary and strong system of checks and balances.
Temporary Protected Status and the Politics of Lowered Expectations
Reading Time: 8 minutes The Trump administration’s decision to block extending the temporary immigration status of hundreds of thousands of people living in the US threatens to turn lives upside down. The final decision on whether the administration’s orders stand is currently being fought in the courts and Congress.
Banking on the Public Option: Will LA Lead the Way for People-Owned Banks?
Reading Time: 9 minutes Private banks are driven to increase profits for their shareholders. But what if banks were publicly owned and made their business decisions with the good of the local community in mind? Los Angelenos may put this notion to the test come November.
No Sh-t: Grassroots Activists Take on Big Ag — And Win
Reading Time: 7 minutes Can the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act level the playing field between factory farms and community activists? One community showed how it can be done.
Will Maine Voters Make High Earners Pay for Universal Home Care?
Reading Time: 8 minutes Maine will vote on an ambitious “universal home care” program this fall that passes on the costs to the rich. If it passes, it could have big implications for the rest of the country.
Privatizing Veterans Affairs: A Risky Gamble?
Reading Time: 9 minutes A privatization of healthcare services would not just mean sweeping changes to the Department of Veterans Affairs, it could also change how the government does business — one way or another.
Has Organized Labor Found New Life in Trump Heartland?
Reading Time: 7 minutes Could West Virginia’s striking teachers serve as a model for a new labor movement?
Can Millennial Candidates Fuel a Democratic Wave in November?
Reading Time: 7 minutes After its surprising success in Virginia in 2017, a group seeking to help millennial Democrats get elected to state offices hopes to make a huge splash in the midterm elections.
Automatic Voter Registration: One Antidote to Voter Suppression?
Reading Time: 7 minutes Legislation to make voting harder is sprouting up like mushrooms in state legislatures across the nation. However, the successful efforts in 10 states to enact Automatic Voter Registration laws is a clear break with that trend.
The Boat People’s Long Shadow
Reading Time: 8 minutes Many of the reasons why Americans want to keep Syrian refugees out of the US will sound particularly familiar to the Vietnamese boat people who have heard it all before and proved the critics wrong.
Maine Gives the People a Say on Medicaid Expansion
Reading Time: 7 minutes With Republicans in Washington fighting hard to eliminate Obamacare, voters in one state will get a chance to decide directly whether they want to expand the insurance program. Could Maine serve as an example for others?
Will Voter Anger About High Drug Prices Overcome Big Pharma?
Reading Time: 8 minutes Voters in one key state will decide this November on a ballot initiative aiming to control the wild spikes in drug prices. Will consumer outrage at the ever-rising cost of medication translate into support for similar actions across the country? Or will Big Pharma and the politicians it funds nip this burgeoning movement in the bud?