Laura Weiss

1 week ago | prismreports.org | Laura Weiss

New York lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul reached a deal on April 28 on the state’s $254 billion budget for fiscal year 2026. The budget—which could still change due to tens of billions in estimated lost federal funding—came after its deadline. Though budget delays are not uncommon in New York’s notoriously opaque process, this year’s was especially controversial due in part to Hochul’s proposed mask ban.

2 months ago | newrepublic.com | Laura Weiss

Five years ago, the World Health Organization first declared the novel coronavirus a global pandemic. The announcement led to an unprecedented moment for our society: lockdown. Restaurants were shuttered, millions became unemployed, and millions more died from this unknown, terrible disease. New York City, where I live, was the first U.S. epicenter. Headlines blared about the hospital overflow sites on Navy ships and makeshift morgues on Randall’s Island.

Dec 23, 2024 | newrepublic.com | Laura Weiss

It takes my brother four hours to get to an in-person doctor’s appointment. He has Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy, is in a wheelchair, and uses a feeding tube to eat and a ventilator to breathe. To get to the doctor’s office he needs the assistance of a caregiver and at least one family member in order to pack up and drive his custom-designed wheelchair van, and to make sure he’s travelling with everything he needs: backup equipment, supplies, batteries, and medication.

Dec 9, 2024 | prismreports.org | Laura Weiss

Hollywood was brought to a standstill last year when its writers and actors’ unions took their energy and indignation to the picket line for more than five months to strike for better working conditions. Things had become dire for writers and actors as the bubble of peak streaming TV burst, profits fell, and producers acted accordingly.

Nov 12, 2024 | newrepublic.com | Laura Weiss

In a week of hand-wringing and finger-pointing over what Democrats might have done differently in this year’s presidential election, one big topic has been absent from the conversation: Health care reform and public health. It’s a surprising omission given how 2020 was largely a referendum on pandemic response—a referendum Trump failed.