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Anxiety over squatters, fueled by TikTok, inspires a wave of legislation
Across various news channels and outlets, a visceral fear of some property owners — that an unwanted guest could move into their vacant home, refuse to leave, and then claim ownership — has been a trending story. These squatter horror stories have reached a fever pitch in the past month after a migrant TikTok influencer, […]
Working-class people rarely have a seat ‘at the legislative table’ in state capitols
In her first few months as a Minnesota state legislator in 2021, state Rep. Kaela Berg often wondered: “What the hell am I doing here?” A single mother and flight attendant without a college degree or prior political experience, Berg now had a seat at the legislative table, shaping policy decisions in her home state. […]
The US needs homes. But first, it needs the workers to build them.
The United States needs an estimated 7 million more homes to house everyone who needs shelter. But to build all those homes, experts say, America would need many more construction workers. “The biggest challenge that the construction industry is facing, to put it tongue in cheek, is that people don’t want their babies to grow up to […]
States are trying to prop up the child care industry. It isn’t enough.
State efforts to prop up child care might spare some providers from the worst effects of last month’s expiration of pandemic-related aid — at least temporarily. But the unraveling of a system plagued by a lack of affordability and access, low wages, staffing turnover and burnout will continue, experts say. “The basic business model of […]