News Coverage
Axios: Democratic senators call on Biden to expand Medicare in American Families Plan
Senate Budget Committee Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and 16 Democratic senators sent President Biden a letter on Sunday calling for his American Families Plan to significantly expand Medicare.Why it matters: The plan, expected to be announced ahead of Biden's address to Congress on Wednesday, is one of several massive proposals brought by the administration to ease mass economic pain caused by the coronavirus pandemic.The White House is expected to propose funding the plan by raising tax rates … Continue Reading
April 23, 2021
The 19th: Elizabeth Warren to reintroduce $700 billion universal child care proposal
Sen. Elizabeth Warren will reintroduce a proposal for universal child care early next week that would devote at least $700 billion over the next decade to revamping the nation’s decimated child care infrastructure.That level of investment has support from seven other senators, who signed onto a letter — first shared with The 19th — that calls on the Biden administration to include the historic child care commitment in its next big spending bill, the American Families Plan. “President Biden has … Continue Reading
April 22, 2021
Boston Globe: Warren joins push for more housing help from DC, seeking nearly $500 billion for 3 million new homes
Add Senator Elizabeth Warren to the growing list of Washington Democrats urging federal help to tackle a housing crunch that’s affecting Greater Boston and many other places across the United States.The Massachusetts Democrat on Thursday proposed a nearly $500 billion package of legislation that she said would help fund 3 million new homes nationwide, new supply that could help reduce rents for lower- and middle-class families by 10 percent.“The cost of housing is squeezing American families … Continue Reading
April 21, 2021
POLITICO Pro Q&A: Sen. Elizabeth Warren on her IRS funding plan
Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants to dedicate a mandatory funding stream to enforcement activities at the IRS, specifically aimed at increasing its ability to examine more wealthy Americans and major corporations.A decade’s worth of funding cuts to the agency and a shrinking workforce led to a corresponding decline in audits across the board, with steep drop-offs in scrutiny of higher-income taxpayers. Warren (D-Mass.) offered some broad descriptions of her plan in a Finance Committee hearing … Continue Reading
April 19, 2021
Defense News: Democrats reintroduce ban on US using nuclear weapons first
WASHINGTON — Two key Democratic lawmakers reintroduced legislation Thursday that would make it U.S. policy not to use nuclear weapons first.Opponents, including top military leaders, argue the vague threat of nuclear escalation serves as a deterrent to conventional war as well as the use of chemical and biological weapons. But the sponsors ? House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., and Senate Armed Services Committee member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. ? argue a “no first use” … Continue Reading
April 14, 2021
Cheddar News: Biden Should Cancel Student Loans to Improve Racial Equity, Says Sen. Elizabeth Warren
Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and several of their Democratic colleagues are pressing President Joe Biden to forgive up to $50,000 for every American burdened by federal student debt. "If we canceled $50,000 of student loan debt right now, if Joe Biden would do that, two things would happen immediately: about 84 percent of all the people who have student loan debt would be completely debt-free and we would be able to close the Black/white wealth gap for … Continue Reading
April 14, 2021
Mother Jones: Elizabeth Warren Slams Student Loan Servicer as Democrats Call for Debt Cancellation
Senate Democrats made the case Tuesday for canceling some student debt, noting that debt forgiveness would stimulate the pandemic-battered economy, help close the racial wealth gap, and aid families who have put off homeownership, child-rearing, or retirement.But Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the chair of the Senate subcommittee that held the hearing on student debt—Warren’s first as the panel’s head—focused her questioning less on cancellation and more on the corporations who process the … Continue Reading
April 13, 2021
Yahoo Finance: Senator Elizabeth Warren breaks down America's 'broken student loan system'
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) grilled two student loan servicers and hosted experts at a student loan hearing on Tuesday before sitting down with Yahoo Finance to describe her argument for President Biden to unilaterally cancel $50,000 in federally-backed student loans for tens of millions of Americans."Overall, in this hearing, it was perfectly clear [that] we have a broken student loan system," Warren, chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Economic Policy at the Senate Committee on Banking, … Continue Reading
April 08, 2021
Bay State Banner: Senator Warren confronts anti-Asian bias
Like many small-business owners, Lorraine Tse has been dealing with the economic effects of the pandemic on her Quincy-based travel agency and transportation service for over a year. But as a Chinese American, she is also nearing the anniversary of what she described as a racially charged verbal and physical assault at a Dunkin as she picked up coffees for her staff last May.Tse, who owns Sunshine Travel, broke down in tears as she recounted the alleged attack to U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren … Continue Reading
April 07, 2021
Boston Globe: Massachusetts politicians push to shutter Weymouth gas compressor station after third unplanned release of gas
Ahead of a deadline Monday evening, gas companies and industry groups rushed to tell federal regulators that a controversial Weymouth gas compressor station should be allowed to continue operating despite its rocky history, arguing the site was safe and critical to the country’s energy infrastructure.Then, around 9:37 a.m. Tuesday morning, the site spewed at least 10,000 standard cubic feet of natural gas into the surrounding neighborhood, its third unplanned release in just eight months.That … Continue Reading
March 31, 2021
WJAR: Sen. Warren tours new vaccination site in New Bedford
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WJAR) — U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday visited New Bedford to tour a new city vaccination site.Mayor Jon Mitchell and others joined Warren at the Waterfront Vaccination Center on Hervey Tichon Avenue.The site will open next month to add capacity to New Bedford's coronavirus vaccination efforts and focus on essential workers in the seafood industry....Read the full article … Continue Reading
March 29, 2021
WHDH 7 News: Warren, Trahan call for more accessible vaccine sites
METHUEN, MASS. (WHDH) - Bay State U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Congresswoman Lori Trahan say vaccine centers should follow the lead of a health clinic in Methuen to make testing and vaccines more accessible.The Methuen Family Health Center recently received an $8.5 million grant from the American Rescue Plan.“They’re partnering with all their community partners, they’re also calling people up on the phone and making sure you are eligible for a vaccine,” Trahan said. “I think that those … Continue Reading
March 28, 2021
The Berkshire Eagle: Sen. Warren tours Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, hears pitch for more funding
HATFIELD — Expecting a continued rise in hunger through the pandemic-induced recession, the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts made the plea Saturday to visiting lawmakers that public dollars go a long way in allowing people to eat.U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren joined U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, state Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa and Food Bank employees for a Saturday tour of the food bank’s headquarters in Hatfield.The nonprofit, which covers Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden counties, has served … Continue Reading
March 28, 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
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
