Government

Bills Introduced: A bill to direct the administrators of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation to produce a report to Congress regarding the efforts to support minority women involvement in STEM fields; A bill to prohibit the use of restraints and restrictive housing on inmates during the period of pregnancy, labor and postpartum recovery; A bill to require certain companies to disclose information describing any measures the company has taken to identify and address conditions of forced labor, slavery, human trafficking, and the worst forms of child labor within the company’s supply chains. more »

Another outbreak of E.coli: The FDA, along with CDC, state and local agencies, is investigating a multistate outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses likely linked to romaine lettuce. The Public Health Agency of Canada and Canadian Food Inspection Agency, are also coordinating with US agencies as they investigate a similar outbreak in Canada. CDC and public health and regulatory officials in several states are investigating a multistate outbreak of multidrug-resistant Salmonella infections linked to raw turkey products. In the meantime, a significant, positive change in FDA’s food safety policies, and one that The Pew Trusts and 10 other public health groups had urged because store information can help people determine whether they may have bought or eaten potentially dangerous items. more »

Jo Freeman writes: While some races are still too close to call, 2018 also saw a great leap upward in the number of women running and winning. More than a quarter of all candidates running for Congress or Governor this year were women (272 of 964). What 1992 has in common with 2018 is that these candidates were overwhelmingly Democrats. For the Democratic Party, this was another year of the woman; not so much for the Republicans. In November, Democratic women ran for 93 seats and won nearly half. Republican women ran for 13 and won less than a quarter. Several issues were prominent which attracted women voters. Exit polls said that the chief issue in 2018 was healthcare. Family separation of would-be immigrants was another. more »

The 2018 election season saw the highest number of women in American history run for, and elected to, federal office. According to the Center for American Women and Politics, nearly 260 women candidates were successful in their primary elections. As of press time, a record-breaking 102 women were elected to serve in the 116th Congress, with several races remaining undecided. An additional ten women Senators were not up for reelection this cycle, which would bring the total number of women who will serve in the House and Senate next year to 123 to date. more »