Dec. 7 News: AG Becerra to be health secretary, NYC reopens schools, Climate change and home mortgages, Medicaid and immigrants, Service worker harassment

Associated Press – Biden picks Calif. AG Becerra to lead HHS, pandemic response

President-elect Joe Biden has picked California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to be his health secretary, putting a defender of the Affordable Care Act in a leading role to oversee his administration’s coronavirus response.

Kaiser Health News – California lawmakers to Newsom: Give all immigrants health coverage

California Democratic lawmakers so far have failed to convince Gov. Gavin Newsom that the state can afford to spend an estimated $2.6 billion a year to expand its Medicaid program to all unauthorized immigrants.

Associated Press – Citing low virus rates in schools, NYC again reopens schools

It’s back to school again for some New York City schoolchildren, weeks after the schools were closed to in-person learning because of rising COVID-19 infections.

NPR – Tipped service workers are more vulnerable amid pandemic harassment spike: Study

In the best of times, service industry workers are typically paid below the minimum wage and rely on tips to make up the difference. Now, those still working in an industry battered by the coronavirus pandemic are on the front lines, enforcing COVID-19 safety measures at the expense of both tip earnings and avoiding harassment.

POLITICO – How climate change could spark the next home mortgage disaster

With its lively parks and colorful bungalows, Hialeah, Fla., has been the gateway to the American middle class for thousands of Cuban immigrants.