Free Republic

The last of the Middle Class Tax Refund payments will be going out by January 14, which is the final cut off for the program. The California Franchise Tax Board said it expected about 90% of direct deposits to be issued in October and 95% of all MCTR payments — direct deposit and debit cards — by the end of the year. According to their website, the final payout period ends January 14. As of Dec. 9, more than 25.7 million California taxpayers and their dependents have benefited, according to the Franchise Tax Board. The state has issued more than...

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Monday that his agency would use a portion of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill to address racial inequities in U.S. highway design. Why it matters: Buttigieg's remarks at a press briefing come amid a broader discussion of racial and socioeconomic disparities in the U.S. and days after Congress passed the long-awaited infrastructure bill. The program, called "Reconnecting Communities," will focus on the "legacy of highway construction built through communities" and remove or repurpose infrastructure barriers. Buttigieg reiterated that whether a highway will be removed will be decided on a case-by-case basis, adding that "it's...

The Justice Department is completing rules to allow the collection of DNA from most people arrested or detained by federal authorities, a vast expansion of DNA gathering that will include hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, by far the largest group affected. The new forensic DNA sampling was authorized by Congress in a little-noticed amendment to a January 2006 renewal of the Violence Against Women Act, which provides protections and assistance for victims of sexual crimes. The amendment permits DNA collecting from anyone under criminal arrest by federal authorities, and also from illegal immigrants detained by federal agents. Over the...