From WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com …
— U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, grilled Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at a Senate hearing after the agency laid off CDC lead contamination experts the city of Milwaukee had depended on to address lead in schools.
Baldwin at the Senate HELP Committee hearing this week asked Kennedy why he would effectively shut down a program that helped address lead poisoning in children if he considers lead poisoning a significant concern.
“Six schools have been closed, displacing more than 1,800 schoolchildren. The request for federal assistance was denied because of lack of staff,” Baldwin said. “The entire childhood lead poisoning branch has been fired. In the words of a Milwaukee mother, it really sends a message of ‘you don’t matter.’”
Baldwin also asked Kennedy if he intended to eliminate the branch. He said he did not.
“Okay, because you cannot tell us that you want ‘Make America Healthy Again’ when you are willfully destroying programs that keep children safe and healthy from lead poisoning,” Baldwin said.
Kennedy said if Milwaukee has been appropriated federal funding to address childhood lead prevention, that money will be spent in Milwaukee.
See more from the WisPolitics DC Wrap.
— Drug overdose deaths in Wisconsin dropped 36% last year, according to new figures from the CDC.
The decline in the state roughly follows the national trend, as U.S. drug overdoses fell about 26% last year to 80,391 — the lowest they’ve been since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, Wisconsin had 1,115 reported drug overdose deaths at the end of 2024, compared to 1,744 reported cases at the end of 2023, the CDC reports. Most other states also saw a decline, with the exception of only South Dakota and Nevada.
The agency notes U.S and state figures are underreported due to incomplete data.
See the CDC data and see more in Top Stories below.
Top Stories
– Overdose deaths drop to lowest level since before the pandemic
– Overdose Deaths Plummeted in 2024. Will Trump’s Cuts Slow the Momentum?
– Sanders on GOP Medicaid cuts: ‘Thousands and thousands of low-income and working people will die’
– Trump officials back steeper Medicaid, food stamp work requirements
– A Texas abortion ban sponsor aims to clarify when doctors can do the procedure
– UnitedHealth tumbles as criminal probe report adds to investor fears
Press Releases
– Survival Coalition: Concerned by proposed federal cuts to Medicaid and SNAP
