Rural News Clips, Aug. 1, 2024
Rural areas face uneven effects of Medicaid expansion; states break out new tactics to thwart abortion ballot measures; examining corporate influence over food and Farm Bill
CAMPAIGN FOR RURAL PROGRESS
Arkansas Advocate
Local ambulance provider set to buy Southwest Arkansas hospital from bankrupt corporation
Aug. 1, 2024
“An Arkansas-owned medical service company is set to purchase the local hospital in Hope from its corporate owner and operator that declared bankruptcy in May.”
“On July 21, the court authorized the sale of Wadley Regional for $200,000 to Pafford Health Systems, which provides ambulance services to Hempstead County and its seven neighboring counties. The sale is set to be finalized at an Aug. 13 court hearing.”
“The hospital will be renamed Southwest Arkansas Regional Medical Center upon the finalization of the purchase.”
The hospital’s former owner, Dallas-based Steward Healthcare Group “operates 31 hospitals in eight states … and is in the process of auctioning them off in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.”
“Since filing for bankruptcy, Steward has kept its hospitals open with $75 million from Alabama-based Medical Properties Trust, which owns the physical buildings.”
Steward is a hedge fund-owned, for-profit corporation, and their typical means of making that profit is to buy struggling or shuttered rural hospitals and then cutting expenses to the bone until the hospital is ruined.
In 2012, the hospital’s then-owner … got sentenced to prison in Texas for failing to pay back the money they fleeced from employees’ paychecks.” His company had a long history of running hospitals into the ground.
South Carolina Daily Gazette
People across SC connected to high-speed internet with $400M: ‘It completely transformed us’
July 31, 2024
“More than 100,000 houses, apartment buildings and businesses [are getting] access to high-speed internet as part of a $663 million expansion in broadband across the state.”
“The total combines federal aid with a partial spending match from internet providers.”
“The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of broadband and the state’s digital divide. Without high-speed internet, people were unable to keep working, continue their schoolwork remotely or see their doctors.”
“Recognizing broadband as a critical need, rather than a luxury, legislators designated $400 million in May 2022 from the state’s share of pandemic aid through the American Rescue Plan Act to expand access.
“The last projects are slated to be complete by June 2026.”
POLITICS AND ELECTIONS
Chalkbeat Philadelphia
Josh Shapiro: Learn about the education track record of Kamala Harris’ potential VP pick
Aug. 1, 2024
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s “public support of private school vouchers last year drew the ire of some national public education groups.”
“Facing intense pushback from public school advocates, teachers unions, and some fellow Democrats, Shapiro has since tempered that position, and has not resurrected the $100 million state-backed voucher program that he struck from last year’s state budget.”
School vouchers are typical unpopular in rural areas, since students seldom have the choice to go to another local school.
“The state’s teachers unions might welcome Shapiro as Harris’ running mate not so much because they think he would be their biggest champion in the White House. Instead, they could be motivated by the possibility of having a stronger ally in Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, a Democrat who would take over for Shapiro.”
Politico
Sen. Sherrod Brown holds 4-point lead over GOP opponent in new Ohio poll
Aug. 1, 2024
“Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown holds a 4-point lead over his GOP opponent in Ohio, according to a new poll out Thursday morning. But the details underscore just how challenging it will be for the vulnerable Democrat to overcome his state’s Republican lean to clinch a fourth term.”
“The poll, commissioned by AARP and conducted by the bipartisan team of Impact Research (D) and Fabrizio Ward (R), shows Brown leading Republican nominee Bernie Moreno, 46 percent to 42 percent, with 12 percent choosing another candidate or undecided.”
“The same poll gives former President Donald Trump a 9-point lead over Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential race, 48 percent to 39 percent.”
“Only GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine has managed to win a Senate race in a state where her party’s presidential nominee lost over the past two presidential cycles, so Brown’s numbers could be difficult to sustain.”
Votebeat Arizona
Across Arizona, Republican officials who defended election system lose primaries
July 31, 2024
“Many Republican state and county officials in Arizona who have defended the fairness of the state’s elections appeared to have lost primary races Tuesday to challengers who campaigned at least in part on the idea of stolen or broken elections.”
“The initial results suggest that unproven claims of widespread election fraud continue to have a strong hold on Republican voters in the state.”
“In competitive contests, the results could lead some moderate Republican and independent voters who reject those claims to vote for Democrats in November, as happened statewide in 2022, when Democratic candidates swept top state races, said Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, a Democrat.”
“Counties have yet to finish counting ballots, including the majority of the mail ballots brought to the polls on Tuesday. Final results are expected later this week or next week.”
“The low turnout — below the expected 30% of registered voters — may have helped the candidates who are more extreme on election issues.”
Pennsylvania Capital-Star
Throwing out mail-in ballots over missing dates violates the Pa. Constitution, voting groups argue
Aug. 1, 2024
“Throwing out mail-in ballots solely because voters fail to write the date violates the Pennsylvania Constitution, an attorney for a group of get-out-the-vote organizations argued Thursday in Commonwealth Court.”
“The lawsuit by nine voting access groups represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania challenges part of the state’s vote-by-mail law and could play a critical role in the November presidential election and hundreds of down-ballot races.”
“The lawsuit now before Commonwealth Court is the latest in a series of cases interpreting the vote-by-mail law and its interplay with federal voting rights laws. But it’s the first time the date requirement has been challenged as a violation of the state Constitution’s Fair and Equal Elections Clause.”
Stateline
With 2024 campaign growing intense, watchdogs warn of election threats
Aug. 1, 2024
“Voter intimidation, an exodus of election workers fed up with harassment and continued misinformation and disinformation campaigns threaten the integrity of the November elections, officials with the government watchdog group Common Cause said Tuesday.”
“On top of those challenges, election workers and voters also must deal this cycle with improving generative artificial intelligence tools that make disinformation easier than ever, Common Cause experts said.”
“And state laws, such as a measure that went into effect in Florida after the 2022 elections to cancel automatic delivery of vote-by-mail ballots, promise further confusion and disenfranchisement, they said.”
This year will be the first presidential election since ‘the big lie,’ Common Cause President Virginia Kase Solomón said on a video call with reporters.”
“To combat those threats to election integrity, the group is gearing up for campaign-season education drives.”
Politico
The farmers who love JD Vance
July 31, 2024
“California Republicans were quick to brush off his positions on “childless cat ladies” — and eager to turn Democratic messaging on its head by rallying behind the embattled Ohio senator.”
“Vance’s greeting is a measure of Trump’s continuing grip on the farm vote and among rural voters, whom he won by a large margin in 2020, according to exit polls.”
“But it’s also a sign that, despite worries in some quarters of the party that Vance is a liability to the ticket, key elements of the GOP base remain supportive even after a wave of negative press coverage surrounding his provocative statements.”
“In the immediate aftermath of Vance’s nomination, top Republicans on the House and Senate Agriculture Committees argued that Vance’s Appalachian upbringing will enable him to connect with voters from rural areas.”
But Vance has a nodding acquaintance with Appalachia at best, since he was raised almost exclusively in Middletown, Ohio, on the western side of the state.
WIBC
Indiana Rural Summit Aiming To Increase Voter Turnout in Rural Parts of the State
July 30, 2024
“The Indiana Rural Summit is a group of nine Democratic State House candidates that are rallying for support from rural voters in the Hoosier state.”
“These nine candidates would represent 24% of Indiana across 22 counties. They are visiting these areas with the message of improving healthcare, schools, and jobs in small towns. They are specifically trying to reach out to voters in districts with unopposed races.”
“The Indiana Rural Summit is going on a six-stop tour of the state in order to reach out to potential voters … They will be in there supporting Teresa Kendall’s run for the House District 63 seat.”
“The Rural Summit press release says that Indiana has the lowest voter turnout in the country. It also has a large number of unopposed races with 26 House seats currently uncontested. They believe that by empowering voters in gerrymandered districts that it will get more voters to turn out.”
Tennessee Lookout
Report: Rural TN counties have most room for voter turnout, registration growth
Aug. 1, 2024
“Voter registration and turnout in Tennessee lags behind most other states in the nation, but a new report from a Tennessee think tank found that rural counties in particular have the most room for growth.”
“Rural counties along the West-Middle Tennessee Grand Division line and in the northeast have the lowest average turnout rates over the past three presidential elections, according to a report released Monday by nonpartisan ThinkTennessee.”
Lower registration and turnout rates mean less representation at the ballot box.”
AGRICULTURE
Iowa Capital Dispatch
Federal government pays $2 billion for farmer discrimination
July 31, 2024
“Tens of thousands of farmers or would-be farmers who say they suffered discrimination when they applied for assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will get one-time payments that total about $2 billion from the federal government.”
“The payments are the result of a program — the Discrimination Financial Assistance Program — created by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 that was meant to aid farmers, ranchers and forest landowners.”
The program was originally meant to compensate Black farmers who have long been the victims of discrimination, but conservatives filed suit, saying the program discriminated against other farmers who were also at a disadvantage.
“The USDA received more than 58,000 applications from people who claimed discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, age, marital status, disability and retaliation for ‘civil rights activity.’”
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack “could not immediately say what type of discrimination was most often indicated by the applicants, but the bulk of the payments went to farmers in southern states with higher percentages of Black residents.”
AVIAN FLU
Kaiser Health News
Bird Flu Cases Are Going Undetected, New Study Suggests. It’s a Problem for All of Us.
July 31, 2024
“A new study lends weight to fears that more livestock workers have gotten the bird flu than has been reported.”
“As bird flu cases go underreported, health officials risk being slow to notice if the virus were to become more contagious. A large surge of infections outside of farmworker communities would trigger the government’s flu surveillance system, but by then it might be too late to contain.”
COVID-19
University of Pittsburgh News
Rural students took a mental health hit during the pandemic, a Pitt-Bradford professor found
July 30, 2024
“The COVID-19 pandemic was a tipping point for the mental health of already vulnerable middle and high school students, according to a study by Shailendra Gajanan, professor of economics at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford.”
“He found that while lower-income students in both rural and urban areas suffered more mentally and academically than their financially stable peers, students in rural areas dealt with more mental distress because of a lack of resources.”
“Rural students were less likely to have access to mental health services and the technology needed to attend school online.”
“Gajanan also noted the generally lower education level of rural parents, which made it harder for them to help with schoolwork, and the prevalence of single-parent households, which left children without as much supervision.”
CRYPTOCURRENCY
Politico
Harris triggers crypto tug-of-war between Democrats
Aug. 1, 2024
“Vice President Kamala Harris is unleashing a burst of unity among Democrats. Behind the scenes, a fight over cryptocurrency is threatening the good vibes.”
“Competing factions of Democrats are pushing Harris to adopt their position on crypto policy, an issue that’s taken on outsize political importance because of the industry’s massive spending on this year’s elections.”
“Pro-crypto Democrats are lobbying Harris to start taking a friendlier approach to digital asset firms, which have faced tough enforcement actions from President Joe Biden’s regulators.”
“They say the party should embrace the technology’s potential and not cede the issue to former President Donald Trump. Trump is courting crypto enthusiasts and attracting campaign cash from several wealthy industry leaders.”
The problem with expanding crypto: the data farms that generate crypto are typically located in rural areas, where they trigger widespread complaints about the noise, health problems related to the noise, and the increased burden on the electrical grid.
DISASTERS
The Texas Tribune
Weak infrastructure, distrust make communication during natural disasters hard on rural Texas
July 31, 2024
“Communication is key for keeping residents safe during a disaster. Rural communities, especially in East Texas, start from a deficit. Much of the region lacks quality broadband and cellphone access making it difficult for residents to track developments from news organizations online.”
But “there is a growing distrust in institutions such as the news media and government.”
“Rural residents often prefer to find their information through social media, friends and neighbors.”
“Most residents in Deep East Texas … should receive alerts through the Genasys Mass Notification System operated by the Deep East Texas Council of Governments, a coalition of local governments.”
“It is also very common for the counties to maintain active social media accounts, even if just to share information from the National Weather Service, Texas Storm Chasers or the Texas Division of Emergency Management.”
EDUCATION
Inside Philanthropy
Schools Are “the Heartbeat of Rural Places” — and They Could Use More Philanthropic Support
July 31, 2024
“Rural America has been overlooked by philanthropy over the years. A 2021 report by the nonprofit consulting firm FSG found that while 20% of the U.S. population lives in rural areas, only 7% of funding from the top 1,200 philanthropies goes to those areas.”
“Schools across the country have been struggling post-pandemic, but the challenges they face are magnified in rural areas, which typically have fewer resources.”
“A significant number of young people are impacted: A 2023 report by the National Rural Education Association found that ‘more students in the United States attend rural schools than attend the 100 largest U.S school districts combined.’”
“Much of the philanthropic funding for rural schools comes from community and regional foundations. A number of national philanthropies are also making investments in this space.”
FARM BILL
Food Tank
Examining Corporate Influence Over Food and Farm Bill
July 31, 2024
“The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) recently released a report analyzing the influence of lobbying on food and agriculture systems.”
“The report finds that agribusinesses, industry associations, and other interest groups have spent more than US$500 million to influence legislation, including the Farm Bill, from 2019-2023.”
“Over the last five years, agribusiness annual lobbying expenditures “have risen 22 percent, from US $145 in 2019 to million to US $177 million in 2023,” the report states.”
“The report finds that out of more than 560 industry associations, special interest groups and advocacy organizations that lobbied on the 2024 Farm Bill, among the highest spenders were the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Crystal Sugar Company, the American Farm Bureau Federation, and Koch Industries.”
“The authors also find that agribusiness-linked political donors spent an additional US$3.4 million in campaign contributions.”
HOUSING
Idaho Capital Sun
Idaho’s LEAP Housing to develop affordable housing units in Teton County
Aug. 1, 2024
“LEAP housing is creating affordable housing units in Teton County, and those interested in buying and building their own home can apply to the program now.”
“LEAP Housing is an Idaho-based nonprofit whose mission is to develop and preserve affordable housing while providing services to increase housing stability.”
IMMIGRATION
Cardinal News
Opinion: Without immigration, Fairfax County would be losing population. Why that matters to rural Virginia.
July 30, 2024
“Urban areas effectively subsidize rural ones and much of the economic health of urban areas depend on immigration.”
NATIVE AMERICANS
The Daily Yonder
Alaska’s Tribal Health Organizations Are Essential, and Powerful
July 31, 2024
“Rural Alaska depends on healthcare services provided by tribal nations. This spring, the state’s Supreme Court gave these organizations sovereign immunity, a decision that has ramifications for patients, providers, and rural communities.”
“The impact of the ruling will be felt throughout Alaska, where tribal health consortia are the primary source of healthcare for both Native and non-Native Alaskans in rural areas. Most states have some form of tribal healthcare, and tribal health sovereignty is an important issue throughout the country.”
“No state has made tribal health the cornerstone of its statewide healthcare network the way Alaska has. In most villages and towns, tribal health consortia represent the only source of care.”
“Amid national obstacles to effective, low-cost rural healthcare; some wonder if the ruling in Alaska could portend a larger shift in tribal healthcare across the country.”
POLLUTION
NC Newsline
NC environmental regulators at war over water rules for ‘forever chemicals’
Aug. 1, 2024
“The North Carolina Chamber of Commerce has privately leaned on the state’s powerful Environmental Management Commission to delay critical PFAS rules, emails obtained under state public records law show, including providing members with the résumé of a scientist who has downplayed the toxicity of the compounds.”
“At the same time, a crisis involving these ‘forever chemicals’ emerged in rural Randolph County, where drinking water at an elementary school contained the compounds far above federal limits. The school’s groundwater is contaminated, among the issues the proposed rules are meant to address.”
“North Carolina became one of the nation’s hotspots for the compounds in 2017, when state regulators discovered the chemical company Chemours had been discharging a type called GenX into the Cape Fear River, a major drinking water supply.”
REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
Politico
States break out new tactics to thwart abortion ballot measures
July 31, 2024
“Former President Donald Trump and much of the GOP insist abortion be left to ‘the will of the people’ at the state level. Anti-abortion groups and Republican state officials are working to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“In nearly every state where the question of abortion rights could be put to a popular vote this November, conservatives are deploying several strategies — from suing to have signatures thrown out in Montana and South Dakota to refusing to count signatures in Arkansas — as they attempt to block ballot initiatives that would restore or expand access to the procedure.”
“The aggressive moves underscore the challenging position anti-abortion activists face.”
“They have suffered a string of losses in red and purple states — including Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio — that voted decisively in favor of abortion rights.”
“Now, in an effort to blunt one of progressives’ most effective post-Roe tools, Republican officials and anti-abortion groups are filing a new wave of lawsuits just ahead of summer deadlines for counting and verifying signatures in Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Montana and South Dakota.”
“As these legal and bureaucratic battles play out, Republican candidates from Trump on down the ticket are maintaining a careful silence on abortion.”
RURAL ORGANIZING
The Daily Yonder
‘First the Community, Then Us’: Bringing Public Light to Texas’ Colonias
Aug. 1, 2024
“Local leaders from Hidalgo County’s colonias’ rural housing developments built without basic infrastructure, use the power of collective organizing to bring streetlights to their communities.”
SAFETY NET PROGRAMS
University of Kansas Medical Center News
Rural populations may experience uneven effects of Medicaid expansion
July 30, 2024
“While some studies have found that Medicaid expansion reduces overall mortality rates in states where it has been adopted, a recent study published in the Journal of Rural Health looks more closely at mortality rates in specific populations.”
“This study points to complex factors that may affect mortality differently depending on race, ethnicity, sex and geography.”
“Looking across the nation using data from states that have expanded Medicaid with federal money, the study indicates many different factors at play.”
“The study showed that Medicaid expansion led to a reduction in all-cause age-adjusted mortality for urban Black populations, but not rural Black populations.”
“Urban white populations experienced mixed effects depending on how many years had passed since Medicaid expansion.”
“Latino populations saw no appreciable impact. While no effect was observed for rural Black and Latino populations, rural white all-cause age-adjusted mortality unexpectedly increased due to Medicaid expansion.”
“These effects reduced rural- and urban-specific mortality disparities among Black and white populations but did not shrink the rural-urban mortality gap.”
“To be clear, this does not mean expanding Medicaid is foolhardy or misguided — there is a lot of evidence that it has led to a great number of health improvements nationwide,” said J. Tom Mueller, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Population Health at the University of Kansas Medical Center and primary author of the study. “What this means is that the rural health care system, which is already struggling and has long been facing issues of funding, resources and personnel, is not providing rural Americans on Medicaid with the safe and effective health care they need.”
UNIONS
Capital News Illinois
Under new law, Illinois employers can’t force workers to sit through anti-union meetings
July 31, 2024
“Gov. JB Pritzker on Wednesday signed legislation aimed at curtailing the practice of “captive audience” meetings – a strategy businesses sometimes use to dissuade workers from forming a union.”
“The law, dubbed the “Worker Freedom of Speech Act,” was a top priority this spring for organized labor groups in Illinois, which played host to Pritzker’s bill signing at the Illinois AFL-CIO's biennial convention.”
“The law, dubbed the ‘Worker Freedom of Speech Act,’ was a top priority this spring for organized labor groups in Illinois, which played host to Pritzker’s bill signing at the Illinois AFL-CIO's biennial convention.”