Latest news with #Mendelson
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DC councilmembers request to meet with Mayor, CFO amid 2026 budget delays
WASHINGTON () – Frustrations are growing among D.C. councilmembers as they continue to wait for the 2026 budget. 'I just think this is all ridiculous and pedestrian and in fact embarrassing,' Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker said. The budget was due to the council by April 2. Advocates express concern to lawmakers over proposed $1 billion cuts to DC budget However, Mayor Muriel Bowser missed that deadline after Congress passed a spending bill that gutted D.C.'s current budget by a billion dollars. Her office has been working on a supplemental 2025 budget to address the gap while waiting to see if Congress will pass a funding fix to restore D.C.'s budget. Meanwhile, the council set a second deadline of May 15 to receive the 2026 budget and the 2025 supplemental budget. Chairman Phil Mendelson said that the deadline won't be reached. 'We're running out of time, in fact, I'd say we are out of time,' Mendelson said. On Monday, Mendelson sent a letter to Bowser demanding that she turn over both budgets. 'It is disrespectful to the Council and the public … to continue delaying submission,' he wrote. On Tuesday afternoon, he said he had not received a response to his letter from the Mayor's office. He said as of 9 a.m., the CFO had not received the 2026 budget in its entirety, only in piecemeal. Once the CFO does receive the entire budget, it'll take the CFO 10 days to certify that the budget is balanced and get it to the council, according to Mendelson. As the council waits in limbo, members are requesting a meeting with the Mayor and the CFO to discuss where things stand and how to move forward. That could potentially happen on Wednesday. 'I really think we just need to pull everyone into a room so that if there's a disagreement, we can figure it out and figure a path forward because every day that goes by, this hole is getting deeper,' Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen said. Mendelson said if the council does not get the budget soon, he may consider legal action. 'As far as I'm concerned, all options are on the table,' he said. 'As you heard, members are clearly frustrated, the public is being disadvantaged, in fact, the operation of government is being jeopardized.' Congress poised to force $1B cut to local DC budget, surprising many lawmakers DC News Now reached out to Bowser, but she declined to respond. At a press conference in April, Bowser maintained the budget was done but is being held up due to Congressional interference in the 2025 budget. 'We have no interest in hoarding the budget. We are done, we're talking about it, we want it to move. We have some things that need to happen,' Bowser said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Axios
08-05-2025
- Business
- Axios
The man who could tank the RFK Stadium deal
Phil Mendelson voted against the Nationals ballpark deal five times. Why it matters: To tell where the RFK Stadium deal is going, you gotta study Mendelson — the chairman of the D.C. Council, who's often at loggerheads with Mayor Muriel Bowser and never a fan of taxpayer-funded stadiums. He opposed paying for Nats Park — a transformative project that barely passed in 2004. And now, Mendelson is dug in against public subsidies for the Washington Commanders. The mayor's deal proposes $1 billion for site infrastructure and parking garages. Without Mendelson, good luck reaching seven "yes" votes, several close observers tell me. Reality check: Mendelson can appeal to both sides — giving stadium supporters and naysayers hope… Last month, he said, "the D.C. treasury should not be paying toward a stadium." And just last week, he told me it'll be "virtually impossible" to get the deal through the council by Bowser's July 15 deadline. But Mendelson — setting aside his "personal view" against taxpayer subsidies — this week opened the door for a compromise: "This deal could be much better," he said. "The end goal should be … not stadium at any price. That would be stadium at a reasonable price." What I'm hearing: Four council members look like a "yes" (Kenyan McDuffie, Brooke Pinto, Anita Bonds, and Wendell Felder). Two have been outspoken against it (Brianne Nadeau and Charles Allen), and progressive Janeese Lewis George is likely hard to persuade. To get three more "yes" votes, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Commanders owner Josh Harris held a reception Monday evening with Mayor Bowser at the Wilson Building. Three toss-ups joined: Christina Henderson, a self-described "pragmatic progressive"; Zachary Parker, whose Ward 5 base may be nostalgic for football's return; and Matt Frumin, a lefty favorite representing Ward 3 in affluent Northwest. (Robert White, who probably wants to run for mayor again, is another "maybe" vote.) Two holdouts could be persuadable if Mendelson comes on board. But activists like John Capozzi, who is working on a ballot initiative against the subsidies, says he's "counting on Phil Mendelson to save us from this financial disaster." So Mendelson has options. He could reengineer the mayor's deal, curtailing the taxpayer subsidy. You could also kill the deal."Mhm," he told me. Do you worry about that being your legacy?"Um, no," he said. "The best deal for the taxpayers is the best legacy one could have." An anti-RFK Stadium tone helps him avoid attacks from the left when he runs for reelection. Do you think about the politics? "Of course I do," he said. "The best deal for taxpayers is the best approach politically." But within three weeks, Mendelson went from no public dollars for a stadium to wanting a "better deal" for taxpayers. What's that mean? He cracked: "It means I have a split personality, and I have to see a therapist this afternoon."
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Doctor: Aid in Dying will lead to more palliative care
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — With the New York State assembly approving a bill that would allow patients near death to end their life with the oversight of a doctor, Dr. Daniel Mendelson is emphasizing what he sees as the larger benefit of all this. Mendelson, who has provided palliative care in the Rochester area for 25 years, says the option to end one's life will encourage more people to broach a difficult topic with their doctor. The two, he says, can then talk about other options, like end-of-life, or palliative, care. 'The experience in Oregon, less than two thirds of the patients who get a prescription actually end up taking it and many patients who ask physicians about medical aid in dying don't ever take a prescription, but all of them get good, thoughtful, compassionate end-of-life care and that to me is what's most important,' Mendelson says. While some oppose this bill on religious grounds others argue it devalues human life and could provide a slippery slope where the current restrictions or guardrails erode or are reduced leading to a place where the practice occurs in scenarios most would currently find unacceptable. Mendelson, though, says the bill provides something valued by most people: choice. 'The peace of mind of is really important to patients,' Mendelson says. 'So even those who don't actually even talk to a physician, having the peace of mind that they know whatever level of suffering they put up with it's because they choose to and not because they have to is a huge relief and it empowers people to deal with their issues longer because they know that it's a choice and I think that's important to most Americans and most adults, is to know they have choice in the matter.' In the current bill, only terminally ill patients would be eligible for this prescription and the patient would have to administer the medication themselves. The state senate now as to vote on the measure before it heads to the governor's desk. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘If it somehow sounds like there's anger in my voice, there is': Tensions rise as DC Council waits for the 2026 budget
WASHINGTON () — D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on Wednesday announced a $100 million investment in the Housing Production Trust Fund under her proposed 2026 budget. The announcement came as the Mayor celebrated a ribbon cutting and grand opening at the Riggs Crossing Senior Residence, a new 93-unit affordable housing development supported through the Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF). The HPTF is a dedicated fund that helps support affordable housing in the District. 'My fiscal 2026 budget is a growth budget,' Bowser said. 'It's about creating economic activity to replace a shrinking federal footprint and it's about investing in our future. This $100 million investment in affordable housing is part of that vision for our future.' Proposed federal bill would cut DC budget by roughly $1 billion, city officials say Still, the announcement happened as tensions over the 2026 budget continue to rise. 'There are press releases and press conferences and what we need is for the Mayor to focus on getting this supplemental done,' said DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, who criticized the Mayor during a legislative meeting Tuesday. 'If it somehow sounds like there's anger in my voice, there is. Because the legislature has been played on this.' The full 2026 budget was supposed to be delivered to the DC Council on April 2 — however, that still hasn't happened. 'We have no interest in hoarding the budget. We are done, we're talking about it, we want it to move. We have some things that need to happen,' Bowser said. According to the Mayor, her administration is waiting to deliver the full 2026 budget until it has more clarity on the fate of the current 2025 budget. That budget is in limbo after Congress passed a spending plan in March that reverted D.C. to its 2024 spending levels. The Senate passed the DC Local Funds Act, fixing this issue. However, the House hasn't passed the legislation, leaving D.C. with a multimillion-dollar gap in its 2025 budget. 'It's simply not true that we're holding [the 2026 budget] up for kicks. We're waiting to get some resolution on the 2025 issue. … I think I'm in agreement with the CFO, that we're at the time where if there aren't fixes, we're going to have to balance 2025,' Bowser explained. 'This is not the right investment for our city': Washington Commanders RFK Stadium deal draws mixed reactions from DC Council Mendelson did not agree with the assertion that the council cannot receive the 2026 budget until the 2025 budget is fixed, however. 'The continuing resolution issue in Congress has no bearing on the fiscal year 2026 budget,' he said. On Tuesday, he and the council passed a resolution requiring the Mayor to deliver the 2026 budget to them by May 15. Otherwise, Mendelson said he'll take legal action. 'We have a limited time, we have roughly eight weeks to consider a $20 billion budget. It's all-consuming,' said Mendelson. 'The council has 70 days by law. When they get the package, they have 70 days to look, no matter when they get it,' said Bowser. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Washington Post
25-04-2025
- Health
- Washington Post
Even some teens say social media is hurting their mental health
Against the backdrop of a deepening mental health crisis among American teenagers, a newly released survey of teens and their parents by Pew Research Center reveals that teens are increasingly concerned about social media's effect on people their age. And their parents are even more likely to identify these platforms as a primary influence affecting their children's well-being. The Pew survey of more than 1,390 U.S. teens (ages 13 to 17) and parents, conducted in fall 2024 and released Tuesday, revealed 55 percent of parents report being extremely or very concerned about teens' mental health and 44 percent of this group identified social media as the factor that has the biggest negative impact on teens. Teenagers identified a broader range of influences and pressures that affect their mental health — including bullying, pressures and expectations, and the state of the world — and were less likely than their parents to point to social media as the biggest threat. Among teens who said they are at least somewhat concerned about their peers' mental health, 22 percent identified social media as the factor with the most negative impact. But the survey also revealed a growing wariness among teens about the influence of social media: Roughly half (48 percent) said it has a mostly negative effect on their peers, an increase from 32 percent in 2022. Teens also noted that social media is taking up more of their time and focus: 45 percent say they spend too much time on social media — up from the 36 percent in the 2022 Pew survey — and teen girls were more likely than boys to say that it is harming their mental health, their sense of confidence or their sleep. These findings support a general trend that researchers have been following for well over a decade, said Tamar Mendelson, professor and director of the Center for Adolescent Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. 'Since around 2011, when smartphones were really coming into action, we saw that rates of mental health issues like depression and anxiety began to increase and have been increasing since that time,' Mendelson said. 'We saw the bump during covid, but even before that, we were seeing that these rates were increasing, and particularly for girls.' Still, the existing research about social media's influence on teens is nuanced, Mendelson said, and these digital spaces can also offer benefits. A majority (74 percent) of the teens Pew surveyed see the platforms as positive spaces where they connect and nurture friendships, while 63 percent of teenagers said social media offers a place to showcase their creativity. And 34 percent said they sometimes find helpful resources regarding mental health there. 'I am a believer that it's more how social media platforms are used, not simply the fact that they're used,' Mendelson said. Beyond the amount of time spent online, she said, 'one question is: What is social media replacing in a young person's life? If it's replacing meals with family, healthy bedtimes, time spent actually socializing with friends in person, then that's concerning. 'The other piece is — what are they doing online? We know that some sites and activities are really helpful for young people: They can be connecting with communities that make them feel seen; they can be actually learning things online that are helpful to them; they can be playing games with friends that are not harmful.' Among other negative influences on mental health, 17 percent of teens identify bullying — in person and online — as a primary cause of issues, while 16 percent say pressures and expectations have the most significant impact. Those sources of stress were revealed in greater detail in survey data released by Pew last month, which emphasized a gender divide among the pressures on — and perceptions of — today's teens. A majority of teens (68 percent) said they feel a great deal or a fair amount of pressure to get good grades, and 42 percent said the girls in their school receive better grades than boys, while just 3 percent said boys fare better. Girls were more likely to say they feel a great deal or fair amount of pressure to look good (55 percent) or to fit in socially (45 percent). Boys were more likely than girls — by a 20-point margin — to say they feel a great deal or fair amount of pressure to be physically strong, and they also were more likely to say they feel pressure to be good at sports. Anxiety and depression topped the list of problems that teens identified among their peers at school, and 39 percent of teens who say anxiety and depression is common at their school say it's more prevalent among girls. That may not be an accurate perception, though. Judy Chu, an author, researcher and lecturer at Stanford University with expertise in the psychosocial development of boys, notes that boys often convey emotional distress in different ways — and that disruptive or aggressive behavior can be a sign that they're suffering, too. (The survey showed that boys are more likely to be viewed as aggressive or disorderly — 63 percent of teens said that boys are more disruptive in class, and 44 percent of those said physical fights are more common among boys.) Our societal focus has often swung between girls and boys, 'and it kind of feeds into this zero-sum thing,' Chu said. 'Should we be focusing on girls? Should we be focusing on boys? The answer is we should be focusing on both, because our social constructions of gender are harmful for everyone.' Social media amplifies those constructions, Mendelson said: 'The standards for beauty or strength can be very unrealistic — through social media, we're seeing models and athletes, and we're comparing ourselves. But then these stereotypical gender norms also really cut off important aspects of our identities: For boys, a lot has been written about toxic masculinity and how it means that males don't get the same opportunities to learn how to express their feelings, to seek support or be vulnerable, and that can have really negative effects on mental health. And girls may feel that they can't express anger, they can't be competitive, assertive or ambitious.' The stigmatization of male vulnerability also affects boys' ability to thrive in classrooms, Chu added: 'Boys have always been, and continue to be, socialized toward masculine norms — but vulnerability is essential in order to learn. You have to bring that humility. You have to be able to admit, at least to yourself, that you don't know something in order to go and learn it, or to ask for help from someone who can teach you.' The Pew survey also showed that parents are attuned to these challenges and want to engage with their teens about mental health. Eight in 10 parents say they would be extremely or very comfortable talking to their teen about mental health (teens aren't quite as comfortable, with 52 percent saying they feel the same way). And by double-digit margins, more adults said there is too little emphasis on encouraging boys to talk about their feelings and to do well in school rather than too much emphasis. 'I think that's great news,' Mendelson said. 'That was one of a few hopeful elements in the data.' Chu also found this encouraging, but noted that parents and society still have much work to do to create a space where teens can feel supported as they push against deeply instilled gender norms. 'Gen Xers grew up not being nurtured perfectly either, so these adults have healing and learning to do as well,' she said. While it's beneficial to encourage boys to be comfortable with vulnerability, and for girls to be more assertive and less concerned about their appearance, she said, it's also necessary to create a culture where those shifts are welcomed rather than stigmatized. 'We know what we need, but society, through our systems and our organizations, has not yet responded,' she said. 'The call has been there for decades, and we should be further along than we are.'
