Over the past few years, many parts of the country have experienced a rise in violent crime. While the numbers are still much lower than the highs of the 1980s and ‘90s, it is an issue that is top of mind for many Americans and was a key issue during the recent midterm elections. Lawmakers on both sides have recognized rising crime as an issue, but they disagree on the root cause and potential solutions to it. For a deeper dive into the topic, check out this Prolegis Briefing: - https://www.prolegis.com/briefings/addressing-the-rise-in-violent-crime Sign up for a free Prolegis account here: ht ..read more

Inflation was a top issue in last week’s election. High prices have made many people question whether we’re in a recession, or at least headed towards one. Despite two consecutive quarters of decreased GDP, which many use as a measure for a recession, most economists are arguing that the U.S. is not in a recession yet as low unemployment and fairly consistent job growth keeps the economy running. For a deeper dive into the topic, check out this Prolegis Briefing: - https://www.prolegis.com/briefings/defining-recession Sign up for a free Prolegis account here: https://hubs.la/Q01jLDTL0 ..read more

Most Americans support organ donation, but just over half are signed up as organ donors. As a result, there's a gap in need versus supply and many candidates for organ donation wait 3-5 years on the waitlist to receive a transplant. But it's not just the limited supply that complicates matters. The operation of the organ matching system has come under fire recently for lack of oversight and insufficient safety measures. For a deeper dive into the topic, check out this Prolegis Briefing: - https://www.prolegis.com/briefings/organ-donation Sign up for a free Prolegis account here: https://hubs.l ..read more

This hurricane season started off unusually with no named hurricanes through September, which has only happened twice since 1960. However, by mid-September, two major hurricanes landed in the Caribbean and Florida. Hurricanes continue to break records in these past few years and this is only likely to worsen with climate change. This has led to some reckoning on the U.S. government's current capacity to mitigate and respond to disasters. For a deeper dive into this topic, check out this Prolegis Briefing: - https://www.prolegis.com/briefings/federal-emergency-management-and-hurricanes Sign up ..read more

In the second episode of our housing affordability series, we talk with Emily Cadik of the Affordable Housing Tax Credit Coalition. The U.S. is short 3.8 million homes to keep up with Americans' needs. To incentivize the construction of more affordable housing, the federal government created the Low Income Housing Tax Credit in the 1980s. This complex program is the cornerstone of federal policy for affordable housing development. For a deeper dive into the topic, check out our Prolegis Briefing: - https://www.prolegis.com/briefings/low-income-housing-tax-credit Sign up for a free Prolegis acc ..read more

After the 2020 election, gaps in existing election law became clear when challenges were made on January 6. Since then, Congress has been negotiating how to reform elections, and how to update the Electoral Count Act, the 11887 law that dictates how electoral votes are counted by Congress. Last month, a bipartisan group of senators released a proposal on updating this law, among other reforms. In this interview, we speak with Kevin Kosar about the specifics of the bipartisan proposal, but also what led to these negotiations and the bills’ political futures. Kevin Kosar is a senior fellow at th ..read more

Enrollment in health insurance on the exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act skyrocketed in 2022. This was due in part to the expansion of subsidies to cover more enrollees and decrease rates through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The subsidies were put in place for just two years, meaning they will be expiring at the end of this year. If the subsidies expire, nearly everyone with marketplace coverage will likely have to pay higher premiums next year, and some may no longer be able to afford their coverage. This looming subsidy cliff is one of the primary areas of focus for pol ..read more

Drug prices have continued to rise and become a concern for the American public. A report found that 13% of adults prescribed a diabetes medication skipped dosages, took lower dosages, or delayed filling a prescription due to the cost of insulin and other medications. Policymakers have responded to these concerns at both the state and federal levels, with proposals from both sides of the aisle. This month, Democratic senators released legislative text on prescription drug pricing reforms that they intend to include in a revived reconciliation package. To dive deeper into this topic, check out ..read more

Elections are fundamental to the democratic process, but making elections work in the 21st century is becoming more and more complicated. While there are newer technologies for making the process more efficient, there are also new vulnerabilities and challenges. In the wake of the January 6th attack on the Capitol and the effort to prevent the counting of electoral college ballots for the 2020 presidential election, reforming the Electoral Count Act of 1887 has become a priority for policymakers who think the law is unclear and vulnerable to misuse. To dive deeper into the topic, check out th ..read more

In this episode, we speak with Ananda Bhatia, a congressional staffer on the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress about her recent efforts to innovate the flag request process in Congress. The flag request process allows constituents to receive flags that have been flown on the Capitol for special occasions, but the flags can often get stuck in the process between offices. Ananda and the Modernization Staff Association have proposed a new solution for tracking these flags ..read more