It's a busy funnel week at the Statehouse as lawmakers try to advance as many bills as possible before Friday. Why it matters: The deadline to advance legislation helps narrow down the thousands of bills introduced each session.

A bill banning gene-based vaccines, like some forms of the COVID-19 vaccine, received approval from a Senate subcommittee Monday.

A Senate committee this week will almost surely push forward the FDA and NIH nominees. Neither one has the public interest at heart. Massachusetts State Police said a 40-year-old woman retrieving her luggage at Boston Logan International Airport was stung by a scorpion on Sunday night.

A bill to make it a crime to administer mRNA vaccines in Iowa — like the Moderna and Pfizer COVID shots — has cleared initial review in the Iowa Senate. However, the bill’s sponsor plans to adjust the legislation and instead give Iowans a route to sue mRNA vaccine manufacturers.

Iowa lawmakers advanced a bill Monday banning the administration of mRNA vaccines. The bill, Senate File 360, would outlaw any person in the state of Iowa from administering an mRNA and would impose penalties of up to $500 for anyone found guilty of doing so.

A House Republican and House Democrat got into a confrontation over a sign protesting President Trump before his speech to Congress had even begun. Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), who was standing along the aisle in view of cameras as Trump walked into the chamber and greeted Republicans,