When Minnesota lawmakers reconvene in the coming weeks, additional climate change work is expected. Meanwhile, bigger moves from last year are being implemented, including a new "Green Bank." Many of the climate policies from 2023 are still taking shape, including the new Minnesota Climate Innovation Finance Authority. Peter Klein, executive director of the authority, said it will be a facilitator for new federal funds coming in for clean energy projects around the state. .
A new report finds New York City intimate-partner violence increased almost 30% between 2022 and 2023. The city s Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee report says intimate-partner homicides skyrocketed by 225% in Brooklyn and 57% in the Bronx. Nathaniel Fields, CEO of the Urban Resource Institute, said proactively using resources for prevention is a good start. .
Nebraska was ranked forty-fourth overall in the 2023 Mental Health in America report, and twenty-ninth for access to care. But a change as of January 1 should improve access for Nebraskans eligible for Medicare. Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists - LMFTs - and other Licensed Mental Health Counselors can now be approved for Medicare reimbursement for their services. .
Amid ongoing concerns about reproductive access in the Magnolia State, Mississippi s Democratic lawmakers and advocacy groups are slated to introduce the "Right to Contraception Act" in February. Ninety percent of women between ages 18 and 64 have used some form of birth control at some point in their childbearing years. State Rep. .
Congress is running out of time to fully fund a program that provides food and health support for breastfeeding moms, and kids up to age five. Greta Allen, policy director with the Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger, said if Congress does not address a $1 billion shortfall for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women Infants and Children - known as WIC - over two million families will lose critical support, including 25,000 new or expecting parents and kids in Colorado. "WIC serves almost half of all infants born in the United States," said Allen. " .