First Edition: January 31, 2020

Kaiser Health News: Preeminent Hospitals Penalized Over Rates Of Patients’ Injuries
Hundreds of hospitals across the nation, including a number with sterling reputations for cutting-edge care, will be paid less by Medicare after the federal government pronounced that they had higher rates of infections and patient injuries than others. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Wednesday identified 786 hospitals that will receive lower payments for a year under the Hospital-Acquired Conditions Reduction Program, a creation of the Affordable Care Act. The penalties are designed to encourage better care without taking the extreme step of tossing a hospital out of the Medicare and Medicaid programs, which would drive most hospitals out of business. (Rau, 1/31)

California Healthline: Masks Reveal Cultural Disconnect As L.A.’s Chinese Community Braces For Coronavirus
Several staff members of a small community health clinic in L.A.’s historic Chinatown spoke on the phone with patients Tuesday while wearing face masks that muffled their voices. The masks are a recent phenomenon at the clinic, located inside the Chinatown Service Center, a nonprofit community assistance organization that serves mainly Chinese immigrants. (Almendrala, 1/30)

Kaiser Health News: No Masking The Best Way To Avoid The Scary Coronavirus: Wash Your Hands
Americans are watching with alarm as a new coronavirus spreads in China and cases pop up in the United States. They are barraged with information about what kinds of masks are best to prevent viral spread. Students are handing out masks in Seattle. Masks have run out in Brazos County, Texas. Hang on. (Rosenthal, 1/31)

Kaiser Health News: 5 Things To Know About Trump’s Medicaid Block Grant Plan
The Trump administration unveiled a plan Thursday that would dramatically revamp Medicaid by allowing states to opt out of part of the current federal funding program and instead seek a fixed payment each year in exchange for gaining unprecedented flexibility over the program. Medicaid, a federal-state health program that covers 1 in 5 Americans, has been an open-ended entitlement since its beginning in 1965. That means the amount of money provided by the federal government grows with a rise in enrollment and health costs. (Pradhan and Galewitz, 1/31)

Kaiser Health News: Warren Is Right. Presidents Have The Power To Bypass Congress On Drug Pricing.
On the presidential primary campaign trail in Iowa, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) brought out a favorite talking point: ways the president can bring down drug prices without waiting for Congress. It’s not the first time Warren and other candidates have referenced this alleged power. In this case, she pointed to insulin, EpiPens and HIV/AIDS drugs as possible targets. (Luthra and Knight, 1/31)

Politico: Trump Sticks Embattled Health Chief With Coronavirus Response
In the span of a day, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar suddenly became the face of the Trump White House’s public response to the Wuhan coronavirus. He could just as easily become the fall guy if the president grows unhappy with the speed or nature of the virus’ transmission, or the increasingly intense media coverage surrounding the administration’s actions. (Cook and Diamond, 1/30)

The Washington Post: Trump Under Growing Pressure On U.S. Response To Growing Coronavirus Threat
President Trump, a leading critic of the Obama White House’s handling of the Ebola outbreak in 2014, is under increasing political pressure to mount a coordinated federal response to the threat of the new strain of coronavirus — amid fears of a global health crisis with economic ramifications in an election year. The White House has sought to tamp down criticism from Democrats in recent days by projecting an air of confidence and competence, with Trump presiding late Wednesday over an interagency briefing in the Situation Room. (Nakamura, Abutaleb and Dawsey, 1/30)

The Associated Press: US Reports 1st Case Of Person-To-Person Spread Of New Virus
For the first time in the U.S., the new virus from China has spread from one person to another, health officials said Thursday. The latest case — the sixth in the country — is the husband of a Chicago woman who got sick from the virus after she returned from the epicenter of an outbreak in China. There have been previous cases in China and elsewhere of the virus spreading between people in a household or workplace. (Stobbe, 1/30)

The Washington Post: U.S. Reports First Person-To-Person Transmission Of New Coronavirus
Officials suspect he picked up the virus in the couple’s home while his wife was symptomatic, according to Jennifer Layden, state epidemiologist for the Illinois Department of Public Health. The woman, who was identified last week as the second U.S. case, has been hospitalized since and is doing well, Layden said. Her husband has not attended mass gatherings, Ngozi Ezike, director of the state health department, said in a news briefing. “The virus is not spreading widely across the community,” she added. Officials are tracing the people who came in contact with the new patient but are not recommending any new precautions by others, Ezike said. (Bernstein, Sun, O'Grady and Abutaleb, 1/30)

Politico: First Case Of Human-To-Human Wuhan Coronavirus Transmission In U.S. Confirmed
Illinois health officials said the man has underlying medical conditions but is in stable condition. Jennifer Layden, the state's chief medical officer, said he was exposed to the virus when his wife was symptomatic. So far, U.S. officials have not seen evidence of asymptomatic transmission of the virus. (Ehley, 1/30)

NPR: 1st Person-To-Person Spread Of Coronavirus Has Occurred In U.S., CDC Says
The CDC says the relatively few people who have been identified as close contacts of people with confirmed coronavirus infections should follow the guidance of their doctors and health departments. The agency is investigating 92 other possible cases across the country. An additional 68 were investigated and tested negative. (Chappell, 1/30)

The New York Times: Deaths Surpass 200, And State Department Urges Against Travel To China
The State Department on Thursday night issued a travel advisory telling Americans not to travel to China because of the public health threat posed by the coronavirus. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed the travel advisory on Twitter. The department set the new advisory at Level 4, or Red, its highest caution, which is reserved for the most dangerous situations. (1/30)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Deaths Surge As U.S. Warns On China Travel; Hong Kong Shuts Schools Until March
The travel advisory, analysts say, represents a strong reaction from the United States amid rivalry with China and pressure from the Trump administration for businesses to shift production back home. The step is likely to have substantial implications for the Chinese economy, even though the warning is not mandatory for travelers to observe, and has already been followed by similar appeals from Japan to its citizens to defer travel to China. (Mahtani, 1/31)

The New York Times: Masks Are On. Games Are Canceled. Fear Of The Coronavirus Comes To U.S. Colleges.
At the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, two undergraduates from Wuhan, China, were moved to a special dorm room and told to regularly take their temperatures. At Arizona State University, a student-led petition called for classes to be canceled after a confirmed case of coronavirus. Basketball games were postponed at Miami University in Ohio after two students who had recently returned from China displayed possible symptoms. (Bogel-Burroughs, 1/31)

The New York Times: Inside A Coronavirus Evacuation: How 195 Americans Got Out Of Wuhan
This week, a group of strangers came together under a warm Southern California sun. They played ball with their children. They took jogs down tree-lined paths. They watched movies in the afternoon. They also had their temperatures taken several times a day by medical personnel. And they are not allowed to leave the premises. (Jordan, 1/30)

The Associated Press: American Evacuated From China Still Wary Of Deadly Virus
Jarred Evans, a professional football player in China, is used to wearing safety gear: a helmet and shoulder pads. But in the wake of a deadly viral outbreak, he's switched to a mask and medical gloves. “When you're dealing with life and death, it's a whole different ball game," he said in a telephone interview Thursday. (1/31)

The Washington Post: Here Are The U.S. Airports Where Health Officials Are Screening For The Coronavirus
U.S. health officials are expanding screening for the coronavirus to 20 U.S. ports of entry, including Washington Dulles International, Boston Logan International and airports in Detroit, Dallas, Philadelphia, Miami and Seattle. (Aratani and Berger, 1/30)

The New York Times: W.H.O. Declares Global Emergency As Wuhan Coronavirus Spreads
The World Health Organization declared a global health emergency on Thursday as the coronavirus outbreak spread well beyond China, where it emerged last month. The move reversed the organization’s decision just a week ago to hold off such a declaration. Since then, there have been thousands of new cases in China and clear evidence of human-to-human transmission in several other countries, including the United States. All of which warranted a reconsideration by the W.H.O.’s emergency committee, officials said. (Wee, McNeil and Hernandez, 1/30)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Is Declared A Global Health Emergency As Threat Rises Outside China
The WHO designation, pointing to an increase in the number of cases, indicates that international public-health authorities now consider the respiratory virus a significant threat beyond China, where it originated last month. The move could further heighten the global response to the outbreak. The agency made the declaration after a meeting of its emergency committee, which declined to do so last week. Since then, China, other governments and multinational businesses have taken emergency steps to limit the virus’s spread, including halting some travel to China. (Abbott, CAmero and Mendell, 1/30)

Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus Outbreak Is Now A 'Public Health Emergency,' WHO Says
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the organization is not recommending any measures that would limit travel or international trade. Those are some of the most potent tools at his agency’s disposal, but they are not necessary at this time, he told reporters in Geneva. Health experts who have been tracking the virus’ spread said the WHO’s declaration was more than justified. (Healy, 1/30)

Politico: Coronavirus: WHO Declares Global Emergency
"Let me be clear: This declaration is not a vote of no confidence in China. On the contrary, the WHO continues to have confidence in China’s capacity to control the outbreak," Ghebreyesus said, thanking the country for the "extraordinary measures" it had taken to control the disease, which originated in the central city of Wuhan. (Mischke, 1/30)

The New York Times: As Coronavirus Spreads, So Does Anti-Chinese Sentiment
In Japan, the hashtag #ChineseDon’tComeToJapan has been trending on Twitter. In Singapore, tens of thousands of residents have signed a petition calling for the government to ban Chinese nationals from entering the country. In Hong Kong, South Korea and Vietnam, businesses have posted signs saying that mainland Chinese customers are not welcome. In France, a front-page headline in a regional newspaper warned of a “Yellow Alert.” And in a suburb of Toronto, parents demanded that a school district keep children of a family that had recently returned from China out of classes for 17 days. (Rich, 1/30)

The New York Times: Coronavirus Anger Boils Over In China And Doctors Plead For Supplies
One week into a lockdown, anger and anxiety deepened in China on Thursday as the central province at the center of the coronavirus outbreak endured shortages of hospital beds, medical supplies and doctors. In a sign of growing frustration, a relative of a patient infected with the virus beat up a doctor at a hospital in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, the state broadcaster CCTV reported on Thursday, citing the police. The man was accused of pulling and damaging the doctor’s mask and protective clothing — potentially exposing him to the virus — after his father-in-law died in the hospital. The man was later detained. (Buckley and Qin, 1/30)

The Wall Street Journal: How China Can Build A Coronavirus Hospital In 10 Days
Chinese authorities are rushing to build two new hospitals in Wuhan, the city at the heart of the coronavirus outbreak, in a matter of days to help combat the fast-spreading virus. The outbreak is straining the resources of Wuhan’s front-line hospital staff, who have been forced to turn patients away because of a lack of beds and basic medical supplies. The 1,000-bed Huoshenshan facility is expected to be in operation Feb. 3, while the second, a 1,600-bed hospital called Leishenshan, is supposed to be ready by Feb. 5, just 10 to 12 days after plans for their construction were first announced. (Wang, Zhu and Umlauf, 1/30)

Los Angeles Times: Why China Can't Recover Quickly From The Coronavirus Outbreak Like It Did With SARS
Buoyed by Lunar New Year bonuses, Chinese consumers are supposed to be spendthrift this time of year — splurging on gifts, trips to the movies and lavish foreign vacations. But the spread of a deadly coronavirus in recent days has brought the world’s No. 2 economy to a virtual standstill, raising fears of a serious economic slowdown that could ripple across the globe. (Pierson and Chang, 1/30)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Vaccine Research Is Moving At Record Speed
In a suburb south of Boston, robots have already started manufacturing a potential vaccine against the fast-spreading coronavirus. Another candidate vaccine — developed when a similar virus terrified the world — sits in deep freeze in a repository in Houston, ready to be thawed and formulated into thousands of vials for further testing. Yet another is being put together at facilities in San Diego and Houston, with projections that it could be tested in people by summer. (Johnson, 1/30)

Politico: How The Feds Missed Their Chance At A Coronavirus Vaccine
Vaccine researchers Peter Hotez and Maria Elena Bottazzi were waiting for their phone to ring in Houston on Thursday so they could plead with federal scientific agencies to fund their vaccine, which they think could protect against the Wuhan coronavirus. The two scientists from the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development had developed the vaccine against another coronavirus, SARS — but that epidemic ended before their vaccine was ready. And once the crisis was over, most of their funding dried up. (Allen, 1/31)

The New York Times: How Bad Will The Coronavirus Outbreak Get? Here Are 6 Key Factors
As the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread across China, a flurry of early research is drawing a clearer picture of how the pathogen behaves and the key factors that will determine whether it can be contained. (Sheikh, Watkins, Wu and Grondahl, 1/31)

The Washington Post: Facebook Cracks Down On Coronavirus Fake Cures
Facebook will remove posts, photos and videos that peddle harmful misinformation about the coronavirus, the company announced Thursday, seeking to crack down on a wave of content pitching false cures to the fast-spreading global health crisis. The social-networking giant said in a blog post that its efforts, building off its policies that prohibit users from causing real-world harm, would result in the removal of dangerous claims, such as those that suggest drinking bleach cures the coronavirus, as well as hashtags that promote falsehoods on its photo-sharing site Instagram. (Romm, 1/30)

The Wall Street Journal: Facebook To Ban Posts About Fake Coronavirus Cures
The willingness of Facebook to take down false content about the coronavirus stands in contrast to the way the company has handled misinformation about politics and other issues. Facebook said the move was in accordance with existing company rules requiring removal of content that might spark physical harm. Facebook most recently removed misinformation under this policy in Pakistan last year, when the company and local partners determined that online rumors about the polio vaccine were putting health workers at the risk of physical violence, a company spokeswoman said. (Seetharaman, 1/31)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Fears Drive Demand For Face Masks, But Some Experts Doubt Them
As fear about the deadly new coronavirus spreads in China, face masks have disappeared from store shelves and sold out online. At least two Chinese provinces now require them to be worn in public. Factories that make the masks in China are operating 24 hours a day to meet the demand. But medical experts say the effectiveness of masks at preventing the spread of the coronavirus is limited. Many of the masks people are wearing do little to protect them, and even the most effective have to be fitted and worn properly to have any benefit. (Wernau and Xie, 1/30)

The Associated Press: Klobuchar Proposes Plan To Prevent, Address Global Outbreaks
Democratic presidential hopeful Amy Klobuchar released a plan Thursday to prevent and respond to global outbreaks like the new virus that has sickened people in China and spread to more than a dozen countries, including the U.S. The World Health Organization has declared a global emergency, saying the number of cases spiked more than tenfold in a week. China, which first informed WHO of cases of the new virus in December, has reported more than 7,800 cases including 170 deaths. Eighteen other countries have reported cases. (Burnett, 1/30)

The New York Times: Trump Administration Unveils A Major Shift In Medicaid
The Trump administration said on Thursday that it would allow states to cap Medicaid spending for many poor adults, a major shift long sought by conservatives that gives states the option of reducing health benefits for millions who gained coverage through the program under the Affordable Care Act. Seema Verma, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said states that sought the arrangement — an approach often referred to as block grants — would have broad flexibility to design coverage for the affected group under Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program for the poor that was created more than 50 years ago as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society. (Goodnough, 1/30)

The Washington Post: Trump Administration’s Medicaid Block-Grants Option Touches Off Ideological Fight
In announcing changes to a portion of the safety-net program, senior administration officials avoided any mention of “block grants,” a polarizing concept, instead naming the initiative “Healthy Adult Opportunity.” Officials portrayed it as a “groundbreaking opportunity” for states to upgrade care, limit the program’s strain on their budgets and gain more freedom to shape Medicaid to local needs. “Our administration is committed to protecting and improving the lives of Medicaid recipients,” said Seema Verma, administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the chief champion of the idea among President Trump’s aides. (Goldstein, 1/30)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Administration To Give States Wide Latitude In Medicaid Block-Grant Plan
A legal fight over the changes is likely. Democrats say the administration lacks the authority to approve structural changes to Medicaid that they say would hurt enrollment. Consumer advocates say the changes, including the limits on federal funding, will hurt the poor. Lawmakers in Alaska, Georgia, Tennessee and Utah have already shown some interest. Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt on Thursday said his state would be one of the first to pursue a block-grant program with moderate premiums and work requirements. (Armour, 1/30)

Politico: Trump Pushes Forward Conservative Transformation Of Medicaid
CMS Administrator Seema Verma, who’s crafted the politically sensitive and closely guarded plan for over a year, on Thursday encouraged state Medicaid directors to request budgeted federal payments to cover poor adults who enrolled through Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion in recent years. States who voluntarily cover adult populations outside of the Obamacare expansion could also receive capped funding. Some conservative states have expressed interest in block grants in recent years, but it's not clear how many will take up the Trump administration's new offer. (Roubein and Diamond, 1/30)

NPR: Medicaid Block-Grant Option Rolls Out
With the announcement, CMS is inviting states to design Medicaid plans that work with a new capped-funding approach; they have flexibility in how they design these plans and could be exempted from certain Medicaid requirements. For example, the plan would allow states to create a formulary to pick and choose which drugs are covered — normally Medicaid covers all drugs. In her remarks, Verma anticipated critics who might consider this an attack on the safety net. She spoke passionately about the purpose of Medicaid, calling it "a lifeline for millions of Americans." (Simmons-Duffin, 1/30)

The Wall Street Journal: In Supreme Court Abortion Case, Louisiana Goes On The Offensive
Facing lawsuits over its abortion laws, Louisiana decided the best defense was offense. Lawyers for the state attorney general’s office devised an unusually aggressive legal strategy to defend itself in a series of lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the state’s regulation of abortion providers, with one of the cases to be argued before the Supreme Court in March. (Gershman, 1/30)

ProPublica: 'Women To One Side, Men To The Other': How The Border Patrol’s New Powers And Old Carelessness Separated A Family
Mirza had a sense of foreboding soon after she crossed into the U.S. with her two children and their father, David. A Border Patrol agent ordered the family from Honduras and the rest of their group to divide into two lines: “Women to one side, men to the other.”Mirza held 19-month-old Lia and joined the women’s line. David took their 6-year-old son Sebastian and lined up with the men. An agent told them not to worry, everyone was going to the same place. A bus took them in two trips to a collection of tents and trailers where they would be processed. (Lind, 1/31)

The New York Times: Altria Takes A $4.1 Billion Hit On Juul Stake
Altria reported a $4.1 billion write-down on its Juul Labs investment on Thursday, another sizable charge as the vaping crisis continues to roil the e-cigarette industry. The company now values its 35 percent stake in the e-cigarette company at $4.2 billion, a significant drop from the $12.8 billion it paid in December 2018. Three months ago, Altria, one of the world’s largest tobacco sellers, devalued its investment in Juul by $4.5 billion. (Robertson, 1/30)

Reuters: Altria Takes Another $4 Billion Hit On Juul Investment, Revises Deal Terms
Overall, Altria has recorded $8.6 billion in impairment charges after it took a 35% stake in Juul for $12.8 billion in December 2018. Those charges brought down the value of its investment to $4.2 billion as of the end of 2019, Altria said. "I'm highly disappointed in the financial performance of the Juul investment," Altria Chief Executive Officer Howard Willard said on a post-earnings call. (Venugopal, 1/31)

The Wall Street Journal: Altria Takes $4.1 Billion Charge On Juul Investment
“I’m highly disappointed in the performance of our Juul investment,” said Altria Chief Executive Howard Willard. He cited a number of surprises, including a vaping-related lung illness that prompted U.S. health officials to warn consumers last year not to use e-cigarettes before they determined the illnesses were linked not to e-cigarettes but to vaping devices containing marijuana extracts and vitamin E oil. Facing an accelerating decline in cigarette sales, Altria in 2018 paid $12.8 billion cash for a 35% stake in Juul, making it one of Silicon Valley’s most valuable startups. (Maloney, 1/30)

The Washington Post: FDA’s Hahn Vows Tougher Action On Youth Vaping If Needed
Stephen Hahn, the new head of the Food and Drug Administration, defended the Trump administration’s impending partial e-cigarette ban, which has been sharply criticized by Democratic lawmakers and public health groups as too weak. But he also vowed to take tougher steps if needed to reduce teen vaping. The administration’s vaping plan, which will take effect Feb. 6, bars sales of most flavored cartridge-based e-cigarettes. Menthol- and tobacco-flavored pods won’t be affected, nor will single-use disposable vapes or bottled e-liquids for the open-tank systems typically sold in vape shops. Those exemptions mean young people will be able to simply switch to products that remain on the shelves, critics predict. (McGinley, 1/30)

The New York Times: ‘It’s Rampant’: Disposable Flavor Pods Are The New Thing In Vaping
The Food and Drug Administration is banning most flavored e-cigarettes, but that isn’t keeping banana ice, sour gummy or cool mint out of the hands of McCracken County High School students. Blame a policy loophole. When the Trump administration decided to prohibit fruit, mint and dessert flavors in refillable cartridge-based e-cigarettes like Juul, it carved out a few exceptions to mollify the vape shop owners and adult consumers who complained. The much-publicized exemption allows menthol and tobacco flavors. (Kaplan, 1/31)

The New York Times: Johnson & Johnson Is Told To Pay $344 Million In Pelvic Mesh Suit 
Johnson & Johnson should pay $344 million in damages because the company deceptively marketed transvaginal pelvic mesh implants to tens of thousands of women in California, a judge ruled Thursday. Johnson & Johnson said it intended to appeal the ruling, which it said “disregards” the company’s compliance with federal regulations. The judgment was framed as a civil penalty against the company related to sales practices for its pelvic mesh products, which have been the subject of years of personal injury litigation from women who used them to treat a condition called organ prolapse. (Goldstein, 1/30)

The Associated Press: Johnson & Johnson Ordered To Pay $344M In Pelvic Mesh Case
“Johnson & Johnson knew the danger of its mesh products but put profits ahead of the health of millions of women," California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a statement. The products, also called transvaginal mesh, are a synthetic surgically implanted through the vagina of women whose pelvic organs have sagged or who suffer from stress urinary incontinence when they cough, sneeze or lift heavy objects. (1/30)

The Wall Street Journal: Judge Orders J&J To Pay $344 Million In Pelvic Mesh Lawsuit
San Diego Superior Court Judge Eddie Sturgeon on Thursday ordered the company to pay the penalty, after a trial in 2019. “J&J knew the dangers but put its profits ahead of the health of millions of women,” California’s current attorney general, Xavier Becerra, said in a statement. “Today we achieved justice for the women forever scarred by this dishonesty.” (Loftus, 1/30)

The New York Times: How Chaos At Chain Pharmacies Is Putting Patients At Risk
For Alyssa Watrous, the medication mix-up meant a pounding headache, nausea and dizziness. In September, Ms. Watrous, a 17-year-old from Connecticut, was about to take another asthma pill when she realized CVS had mistakenly given her blood pressure medication intended for someone else. Edward Walker, 38, landed in an emergency room, his eyes swollen and burning after he put drops in them for five days in November 2018 to treat a mild irritation. A Walgreens in Illinois had accidentally supplied him with ear drops — not eye drops. (Gabler, 1/31)

The New York Times: Pharmacists Make Mistakes. You Can Protect Yourself. 
Lynne Calloway had been taking a newly refilled arthritis prescription for a few days when she mentioned she wasn’t feeling well. So her husband, Joseph Calloway, did some investigating. When he looked up her medication in a book detailing prescription drugs, he said, he discovered that she had been given the wrong one. A CVS in New Jersey had mistakenly dispensed a chemotherapy drug, he said, that could be used to treat arthritis, but only when taken at limited frequencies — commonly a single dose a week. (Gabler, 1/31)

The Wall Street Journal: Weight Loss Is Harder Than Rocket Science
We all have different ways to judge whether or not we need to lose weight. Some of us are always happy the way we are; some worry that our clothes are getting too tight or notice changes in the mirror; and others, especially doctors, pay attention to body-mass index or BMI. BMI is given by a straightforward mathematical formula: weight (technically mass) divided by height squared, where weight is in kilograms and height in meters. The idea is that taller people should naturally weigh more, so we need some sort of ratio between weight and height. But why is height squared? (Cheng, 1/30)

Los Angeles Times: Across The U.S., States Are Bracing For More Climate-Related Disasters
State lawmakers across the country are calling for huge investments to mitigate the effects of wildfires, flooding, hurricanes, droughts and other natural disasters made more devastating and frequent by climate change. Following the hottest decade on record, which saw record-breaking wildfires in the West, extreme weather events like Superstorm Sandy, a years-long drought in California, and severe flooding in the Midwest, legislators in many states say it’s long past time to treat such events as the new normal — and invest accordingly. (Brown, 1/30)

The Washington Post: Gun Control Measures Pass Virginia House
Democrats in the House of Delegates on Thursday passed seven of the eight gun-control measures advocated by Gov. Ralph Northam, a significant step for an issue that Republicans had blocked for decades. In debate ahead of the votes, lawmakers showed flashes of the emotion that has supercharged the gun-control issue in Virginia in recent weeks. (Schneider, 1/30)

The Wall Street Journal: Gun-Control Bills Move Forward In Virginia
The gun-control debate has been a fiery one since Mr. Northam’s party won majorities in both Virginia legislative chambers this month. About 22,000 people, many armed, attended a pro-gun rally outside the state capitol last week to protest new restrictions. In addition, many counties and communities in the state pre-emptively declared themselves “Second Amendment sanctuaries” that won’t follow laws they say violate the federal or state constitutions. (Kamp, 1/30)

The Wall Street Journal: Alabama Panel Recommends Broad Prison Reforms
A panel created by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey to study the state’s violent and overcrowded prison system delivered a range of recommendations Thursday, from boosting corrections department funding to expanding educational programs for inmates. The proposals are aimed at focusing discussion among Ms. Ivey and state lawmakers ahead of the legislative session that begins next Tuesday. Addressing the prison crisis is expected to be a priority for lawmakers, who have said they plan to consider a number of bills in the coming session. (Campo-Flores, 1/30)