News Coverage
Masslive: Sens. Ed Markey, Elizabeth Warren join push for permanent $3,000-plus Child Tax Credit as White House preps massive infrastructure, recovery plans
The temporary $3,000-plus Child Tax Credit approved in President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill should remain permanent, Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren and more than three dozen Democratic senators recently argued.The expanded credit — from $2,000 to $3,000 per child aged 7 to 17 and $3,600 for every child under 6 — will go to parents of 83 million American children, including 1 million in Massachusetts. Biden says the move cuts U.S. child poverty in half; Rep. Jim … Continue Reading
March 26, 2021
Masslive: Sens. Ed Markey, Elizabeth Warren join push for permanent $3,000-plus Child Tax Credit as White House preps massive infrastructure, recovery plans
The temporary $3,000-plus Child Tax Credit approved in President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill should remain permanent, Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren and more than three dozen Democratic senators recently argued.The expanded credit — from $2,000 to $3,000 per child aged 7 to 17 and $3,600 for every child under 6 — will go to parents of 83 million American children, including 1 million in Massachusetts. Biden says the move cuts U.S. child poverty in half; Rep. Jim … Continue Reading
March 26, 2021
HuffPost: Elizabeth Warren’s Push To Diversify Federal Judges Is Finally Catching On
For years, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has been a lonely voice in the Senate on the need to put people with all kinds of different legal backgrounds into lifetime federal judgeships."We face a federal bench that has a striking lack of diversity,” she said at a 2014 event on this topic, hosted by Alliance for Justice, a progressive judicial advocacy group. “President Obama has supported some notable exceptions but ... the president’s nominees have thus far been largely in line with the … Continue Reading
March 24, 2021
WGBH: In Wake Of Dual Shootings, Warren Calls For Immediate Vote On Assault Weapons Ban
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., told Boston Public Radio on Wednesday that Senate leaders should bring an assault weapons ban to the Senate floor.“Let’s just put an assault weapons ban on the floor now and vote,” she said. “You want to vote yes? You have a chance to do that. You want to vote no? You have a chance to do that and go home and tell the people that you represent why it’s OK with you that people can carry assault weapons all across this nation."Assault weapons were banned under … Continue Reading
March 18, 2021
Boston 25 news: 25 Investigates: Sen. Warren launching investigation into for-profit nursing homes amid pandemic
BOSTON — Senator Elizabeth Warren is launching an investigation into for-profit nursing homes and their response to the COVID-19 crisis.25 Investigates has done extensive reporting on the crisis inside our long-term care facilities throughout the pandemic, which saw 8,797 deaths as of Wednesday. Now, the senator is claiming some corporations put profits over protecting their staff and vulnerable residents.“We cannot allow corporate greed to determine whether or not workers and seniors in this … Continue Reading
March 18, 2021
Bloomberg: Elizabeth Warren and AOC Lay Down Climate Challenge to Biden
Progressives in the House and Senate plan to set down a marker Thursday for President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plans, introducing a $500 billion proposal to shift U.S. transportation away from fossil fuels.Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, two proponents of the Green New Deal, are behind the bill, joined by Senator Edward Markey of Massachusetts and Representative Andy Levin of Michigan. Their plan aims to accelerate the process of making the U.S. carbon … Continue Reading
March 17, 2021
Boston Globe: Mass. congressional delegation calls on MBTA to justify service cuts
The Massachusetts congressional delegation on Wednesday called on MBTA officials to justify service cuts amid increased federal transit funding, saying the reductions disproportionately affect essential workers from low-income communities.In a letter, the lawmakers expressed frustration that MBTA officials have yet to respond to a previous correspondence the delegation sent in December that voiced concerns about service cuts.Since then, Congress has secured more than $250 million for the MBTA, … Continue Reading
March 17, 2021
Washington Post: Sanders, Warren reveal bill to tax CEO pay during income inequality hearing targeting Amazon
SAN FRANCISCO — Amazon faced fresh scrutiny for its treatment of workers at a Senate hearing Wednesday on income inequality, as senators introduced a new bill to tax chief executives who make 50 times more than the median workers.Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) drilled into the gap between most Americans and billionaires during his opening remarks, pointing to data that billionaires have gained significant wealth during the pandemic.“During the pandemic, millions of people are struggling to put … Continue Reading
March 12, 2021
Market Place: Sen. Elizabeth Warren on her new wealth tax bill and how to enforce it
In 2020, while millions of Americans struggled with job loss and economic turmoil due to the coronavirus pandemic, the richest 100 Americans’ fortunes grew by $598 billion. This is the backdrop for the wealth tax introduced by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., last week.The Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act, co-sponsored in the House by Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., would impose a 2% tax on individual net worth above $50 million and an additional 1% surtax on net worth above … Continue Reading
March 10, 2021
Boston.com: New legislation from Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey aims to address the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on students
Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey introduced legislation Wednesday that would create an application-based grant program to administer $100 billion in funding over the next 10 years to address the social, emotional, mental, and physical health needs of students related to impacts from COVID-19 and aid in accelerating academic progress. The Educational Equity Challenge Grant Act of 2021, which would be administered by the Department of Education, was also introduced by Democratic Sens. Ron … Continue Reading
March 07, 2021
Masslive: Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Ed Markey and Rep. Jim McGovern urge improved staffing for St. Vincent Hospital nurses ahead of strike
A trio of Massachusetts lawmakers on Sunday urged Tenet Healthcare, the parent company of St. Vincent Hospital, to make staffing and safety concessions for the hundreds of nurses planning to strike starting Monday.Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey and Rep. Jim McGovern argued that Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare has “still not made appropriate and necessary movement on the issue of staffing.” The hospital’s 800 nurses are preparing to start an open-ended strike Monday morning after two … Continue Reading
March 04, 2021
CNBC: Senators question Amazon about using cameras to monitor delivery drivers
Five senators are calling on Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to provide more information on the company’s recent deployment of “surveillance cameras” in vehicles used by contracted delivery drivers.In a letter Wednesday, Sens. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut asked for more clarity on Amazon’s use of footage collected by the cameras and the scope of their use, with a deadline for … Continue Reading
March 02, 2021
Boston Globe: Warren and Markey want Biden to include recurring direct payments in his wider economic package
Massachusetts Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey are calling on President Biden to include recurring direct payments and automatic unemployment insurance extensions tied to economic conditions in his Build Back Better plan.The payments to Americans would come in addition to the $1,400 stimulus checks included in the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package passed by the House Saturday which could be taken up by the Senate as soon as mid-week.The pair have joined with seven other Senate … Continue Reading
March 01, 2021
Business Insider: Democratic senator's first bill provides 5 million essential workers with a pathway to citizenship
In order to aid essential workers during COVID-19, Democrats introduced a bill on Friday to provide undocumented immigrants who have worked on the frontlines during the pandemic an expedited pathway to citizenship.Led by Sen. Alex Padilla of California, his first bill in Congress — the Citizenship for Essential Workers Act — targeted the 5 million workers without legal status who worked in healthcare, agriculture, public transit, and other frontline industries during the pandemic.The bill, … Continue Reading
March 01, 2021
The New York Times: Warren Revives Wealth Tax, Citing Pandemic Inequalities
WASHINGTON — Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, introduced legislation on Monday that would tax the net worth of the wealthiest people in America, a proposal aimed at persuading President Biden and other Democrats to fund sweeping new federal spending programs by taxing the richest Americans.Ms. Warren’s wealth tax would apply a 2 percent tax to individual net worth — including the value of stocks, houses, boats and anything else a person owns, after subtracting out any debts … Continue Reading
February 26, 2021
Mother Jones: Warren, Booker, and Sanders Push DHS to Investigate Allegations That Officers Threatened Asylum Seekers With COVID-19 Exposure
A group of US senators is urging the Department of Homeland Security to investigate allegations that guards at immigration detention centers beat asylum seekers into submitting to their own deportations. “The allegations of violence and brutality against vulnerable refugees seeking safety here in the United States are unlawful and disturbing,” they write in the letter. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal … Continue Reading
February 26, 2021
Washington Post: Warren endorses pushing citizenship for undocumented essential workers through reconciliation
Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Friday that Democrats should immediately use budget reconciliation — a dramatic act that would make it easier to pass a bill in the Senate — to create a pathway to U.S. citizenship for millions of undocumented workers in essential jobs such as health care and farming.The Massachusetts Democrat spoke the day after the Senate parliamentarian rejected leading senators’ attempt to use reconciliation to pass Biden’s proposed $15-an-hour minimum wage. Reconciliation … Continue Reading
February 24, 2021
The 19th: Democratic senators ask Biden admin to create office focusing on reproductive health and wellbeing
A group of Democratic senators is calling on the Biden administration to establish an Office of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Wellbeing in order to “more holistically address ‘the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy,’” according to a letter first shared with The 19th. The office they envision would encompass a range of issues that would “go beyond securing reproductive rights.” “Reproductive justice for all means addressing issues of health care access; economic inequality; … Continue Reading
February 19, 2021
Cape Cod Times: Reintroduced bill could bolster Cape Cod bridges evacuation routes with federal funds
WASHINGTON — The Cape’s federal legislative delegation reintroduced a bill Thursday that would dedicate $1 billion of federal funds to bolster the country’s evacuation routes — with hopes it could fetch money for the aging Bourne and Sagamore bridges. The Enhancing the Strength and Capacity of America’s Primary Evacuation Routes (or the more digestible ESCAPE) Act, was introduced for the third time to try and dedicate $1 billion annually to a grant program that would expand the capacity and … Continue Reading
February 18, 2021
CNN: Elizabeth Warren to FINRA: Why isn’t Robinhood’s CEO licensed by FINRA?
Senator Elizabeth Warren is pushing for answers from Wall Street’s self-regulator over the Robinhood fiasco.Among other concerns, Warren calls out that, as CNN Business first reported, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev does not have a license from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. In a letter to FINRA, Warren asks the regulator to describe what determines whether individuals must be registered, what the registration requirements are for executives at broker-dealers and whether … Continue Reading