POLICY ROUNDUP

The Chicago Teachers Union is planning a one-day walkout on April 1, the Chicago Tribune reports.

“What we would hope is that the public joins us and that we see this as a one-day action to fight for school funding,” union Vice President Jesse Sharkey said. State law prohibits the union from striking until contract negotiations reach a certain phase, which won’t happen until May.

The union, however, says it has legal authority to strike outside of that law, including for a one-day walkout. “There is no question that a one-day strike … is not only illegal, but also not in the best interest of our children,” Chicago Public Schools spokeswoman Emily Bittner said. The union’s House of Delegates will meet the week of March 21 to consider the walkout.

“It’s not a question of legality, it’s a question of the moral necessity to do something,” Sharkey said. In September 2012, the union formally went on a strike that lasted seven school days. That strike put the union in a battle against Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. In 2015, the union endorsed Emanuel’s opponent during his re-election bid.

“Rahm is already on the ropes,” the union said in a March 12 bulletin. — Jason Russell

POT LEGALIZATION

Majority of registered voters support recreational marijuana

A new National Tracking Poll shows 52 percent of registered voters back marijuana legalization and recreational use.

The poll was compiled by Washington consulting firm Morning Consult between March 10-13, with a margin of error of +/- 2 percent.

The most recent polling numbers are similar to those of an October 2015 poll conducted by Gallup that found 58 percent of Americans favor recreational marijuana legalization.

Marijuana has been legalized for recreational adult consumption in Colorado, Washington, Alaska, Oregon and the District of Columbia. In November, Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada are likely to have a ballot initiative to do the same. Vermont and Rhode Island are also expected to take some legislative action. Missouri, Florida and Pennsylvania will likely have medical marijuana ballot initiatives this coming election.

In 1969, Gallup polling found just 12 percent of Americans favored recreational marijuana legalization. Support for legalization increased to about 25 percent by the late 1970s and shot up to more than 40 percent by the late 2000s. In 2016, support for legalization is nearly as high as ever. — Joana Suleiman

DATA PROTECTION

VA gets failing grade on cybersecurity

The Department of Veterans Affairs’ Office of the Inspector General released a report on March 15 that cited “significant deficiencies” in basic security practices designed to protect mission-critical systems. This is not the first time the VA has failed a cyberaudit.

According to the report, the VA is still too slow to respond to cyberincidents and is plagued by weak passwords. The audit tallied up some 9,500 previously identified system security risks VA had still not resolved.

VA Chief Information Officer LaVerne Council, who joined the agency last year, agreed with the IG’s findings. The agency also wants to more than double its budget for information security next year, from $180 million to $370 million.

The report contains 35 recommendations for improving VA’s handling of information security, including six new ones. — Joana Suleiman

CONSERVATION

Fining firms for EPA violations could fund park cleanups

The Justice Department’s latest action against a violator of Environmental Protection Agency rules shows that fining people could be the Obama administration’s best answer to funding cleanups of the national parks.

Administration lawyers published a defense decree against a paper mill in Western Maryland in Wednesday’s Federal Register. The decree, or settlement, fines the operator of the facility $1.6 million for operating the mill’s power plant without getting the necessary EPA permits.

The money will be split between the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service for projects in the Shenandoah National Park and the Monongahela National Forest “to mitigate the adverse effects of acidic deposition,” the notice says.

Westvaco operated the Luke Mill pulp and paper mill in Western Maryland until May 2005, when it violated the Clean Air Act by making major modifications to the mill without obtaining a permit and without installing technology to control emissions of sulfur dioxide, the Justice Department said.

The defense decree is only a proposal. The public has 30 days for people to comment on the $1.6 million proposed fine. — John Siciliano

GOVERNMENT

Senate bill helps NIH, FDA grab top talent

Federal health agencies need help to lure top talent to take advantage of an “exciting time in science,” according to a bipartisan group of senators.

The members of the Senate health committee introduced a bill Thursday aimed at streamlining the hiring process at the Food and Drug Administration and National Institutes of Health. The bill comes as the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is advancing a slew of medical innovation bills, its answer to a bill passed by the House last year.

The FDA and NIH Workforce Authorities Modernization Act addresses several bureaucratic areas in both agencies. For instance, it exempts NIH researchers from parts of the Paperwork Reduction Act, which can slow researchers in important research, the committee said.

It also would boost salaries at the FDA to be more competitive with the private sector.

The bill itself doesn’t appear to have any additional funding for salaries, as Democrats and Republicans have battled over funding for medical innovation.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., gave a nod to the funding battle in her statement on the bill.

“I’m very hopeful that we can continue working in a bipartisan way to agree on strong mandatory investments in the NIH and the FDA, as well as policies to strengthen patient and consumer safety — each of which, as Democrats have made clear, are necessary to reach a final agreement,” she said. — Robert King

HEALTHCARE

Dentists prescribe opioids frequently

Dentists are among the leading prescribers of opioids, according to a new study that found about 42 percent of patients get an opioid after having their teeth pulled.

The study suggests that dentists often prescribe opioids following the procedure, which is common, despite evidence that other non-opioid therapies are just as effective, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association, which published the study.

The finding comes as federal agencies are trying to discourage doctors from prescribing painkillers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week issued guidelines for doctors to limit opioid prescriptions.

The researchers looked at a national database of health claims drawn from Medicaid transactions from 2000-10.

The analysis of about 2.7 million patients found that within seven days of having their teeth pulled, about 42 percent of patients filled a prescription for an opioid.

“This common dental procedure may represent an important area of excessive opioid prescribing in the United States,” the study said. “As the nation implements programs to reduce excessive prescribing of opioid medications, it will be important to include dental care in these approaches.” — Robert King