Harris announces rules mandating standards for nursing home staffing

(AP) — The federal government is for the first time requiring nursing homes to have minimum staffing levels after the COVID-19 pandemic exposed grim realities in poorly staffed facilities. Vice President Kamala Harris announced the final rules Monday before a trip to Wisconsin, where she’ll speak with nursing home care workers. It’s Harris’ third visit to the battleground state this year and is part of President Joe Biden’s push to earn the support of union workers who’ve traditionally backed him and fellow Democrats. The new rules will implement a minimum number of hours staffers spend with residents. The American Health Care Association criticizes the rules and says they create “an impossible task for providers.”

Work starts on bullet train rail line from Las Vegas to Los Angeles

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area has started construction. Monday’s ceremony in Las Vegas drew U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg along with local and Brightline West company officials. The company plans to have trains running by 2028 from just south of the Las Vegas Strip to a commuter rail hub in Rancho Cucamonga, California. The track will be in the median of Interstate 15, where motorists in traffic jams would see trains whisk past at speeds comparable to Japan’s bullet trains. A Brightline sister company already operates a fast train between Miami and Orlando in Florida.

Supreme Court will take up the legal fight over ghost guns

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has agreed to take up a Biden administration appeal over the regulation of difficult-to-trace ghost guns that was struck down by lower courts. The justices acted Monday. The justices had previously intervened to keep the regulation in effect during the legal fight. Ghost guns lack serial numbers and have been turning up at crime scenes with increasing regularity. The regulation took effect in 2022 and changed the definition of a firearm under federal law to include unfinished parts so they can be tracked more easily. A U.S. district judge in Fort Worth, Texas, struck down the rule last year. Arguments won’t take place before the fall.

Biden administration tightens rules for obtaining medical records related to abortion

WASHINGTON (AP) — The medical records of women will be shielded from criminal investigations if they cross state lines to seek an abortion where it is legal. That’s according to a new rule the Biden administration finalized Monday. The regulation is intended to protect women who live in states where abortion is illegal from prosecution. It is almost certain to face legal challenges from anti-abortion advocates and criticism from abortion rights advocates that it does not go far enough. It is an update to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, which prohibits medical providers and health insurers from divulging medical information about patients.