Agencies Step Up Efforts to Prevent Fatal Crashes: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently released its early estimates of traffic fatalities for the first quarter of 2022, noting that two regions specifically were higher than crash data reported at the same time last year. According to the release, NHTSA estimates that 9,560 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in Q1 2022, representing an increase of about 7 percent as compared to 2021 and is the highest number of first-quarter fatalities since 2002.
By region, the New England area (region 1 from Maine to Mass.) saw an increase of 23 percent and the Mid-Atlantic (region 3 from Md. to N.C.) increased by more than half at 52 percent. Region 9, which comprises California, Hawaii, and Arizona, saw an 11 percent drop.
As ending traffic fatalities remains a top priority for the US Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Biden administration, several agencies have launched programs to help combat the problem, including the DOT’s National Roadway Safety Strategy; NHTSA’s Speeding Wrecks Lives campaign and Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over Labor Day enforcement; and the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which makes significant investments in highway safety. Sources: NHTSA, US DOT
SBA Head Reacts to Biden Bill: The Small Business Administration (SBA) is calling the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which was signed into law last week by President Joe Biden, an urgent investment in America’s 33 million small businesses. SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman said: “This law not only tackles inflation and powers America’s transition to safer, cleaner energy, it also shrinks the budget deficit and—most importantly—drives down health care and energy costs for small businesses and their employees. Lower costs mean small business owners and entrepreneurs can focus on doing what they do best, creating jobs, developing talent, innovating, and opening doors of growth and opportunity across all of our communities—including selling more American-made goods and services to the world’s largest buyer: the U.S. Government.
However, the IRA has not been without controversy, specifically due to the $80 billion that has been pledged to dreaded IRS enforcement over 10 years. The concept is, the understaffed agency can target those businesses that have largely benefited from a generous tax code to skirt out of paying billions in taxes. Still, many are leery that middle- and low-income earners will also be targeted with as much zeal. According to the Governmental Accountability Office: “In recent years, IRS audited taxpayers with incomes below $25,000 and those with incomes of $500,000 or more at higher-than-average rates. But, audit rates have dropped for all income levels—decreasing the most for taxpayers with incomes of $200,000 or more.” Also, the Treasury Department claims that small businesses, as well as low- and middle-income earners, won't be the focus of increased IRS enforcement activity. Sources: SBA, US Treasury Department, GAO
Crisis Hotline Gets an Easier Three-Digit Number: Mental health has been a constant topic for many years, which was exacerbated by a global crisis and the following spike in inflation. To meet the needs of the growing epidemic, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, which is meant as an alternative to 911, has relaunched as 988. The call line isn’t new, it’s been around 2005, and it is still run by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and Vibrant Emotional Health. The line connects those (or loved ones of those) who are facing suicidal or depressive thoughts with qualified counselors, but privacy laws do apply to protect callers.
The newly rebranded hotline, however, recently faced scrutiny from social media users who urged sensitive communities (i.e., those vulnerable to police enforcement) not to call 988 in fear of having law enforcement dispatched to their home. A report from NPR cited that fewer than 2 percent of 988 calls resulted in a 911 dispatch, and generally only with the patient’s consent. SAMHSA Senior Medical Advisor John Palmieri said that patients aren’t required to give counselors their personal information, and 911 is only used with the patient’s permission in the most extreme and emergent cases. Sources: 988lifeline.org, NPR
[08.24.22]