On Saturday, Nov. 15, a toxic chemical leak at a DuPont manufacturing plant outside of Houston killed four workers and hospitalized another, serving as another troubling example of the need for stronger chemical safety standards. The chemical involved in the leak, methyl mercaptan, can cause eye and lung irritation and can be fatal at high levels. Numerous other U.S. facilities use and store this chemical, including those featured in a new interactive map by the Center for Effective Government.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 required companies to begin disclosing the pay ratio between CEOs and the median pay of company employees.  Four years of struggle ensued, with many corporations arguing the disclosure would be costly if it could be done at all. The SEC has yet to issue a final rule, but is expected to soon, calling for disclosure to begin for all companies starting in 2016.

The number of children receiving child care funded by the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) fell to a 15-year low, according to CLASP analysis of data from the Department of Health and Human Services. The CCDBG is the primary source of federal funding for helping low-income families pay for child care, with half of the families who receive benefits living below the poverty level.

People living near fracking sites have reported health problems for years, with symptoms ranging from respiratory ailments to birth defects. But because air and water quality are often not monitored near fracking sites, surprisingly little is known about the overall public health impacts of the gas drilling process.