Rural News Clips, Sept. 10, 2024
How politics hung up a $42B Biden internet buildout; Despite opt-outs by GOP states, debut of kids’ summer food program seen as a success; The dark money defunding rural schools
CAMPAIGN FOR RURAL PROGRESS
CNET
Biden Pledges $7.3 Billion for Rural Electrification and Clean Energy
Sept. 9, 2024
“In the biggest government funding move for rural electrification since the 1930s, President Joe Biden announced on Monday that $7.3 billion will go to 16 electric cooperatives in 23 states to build and expand clean energy.”
Rural electric cooperatives often have a harder time transitioning to renewable energy because they’re often locked into long-term financial contracts with coal-fired power plants.
Also, their non-profit status and member ownership structure makes it much more expensive to make the switch.
“The funds, which will come from the Inflation Reduction Act and are being awarded by the Department of Agriculture's Empowering Rural America program, are meant to provide reliable electricity and create jobs in clean energy.”
“Biden said the funding will help provide affordable electricity for more than 5 million homes and will create 20,000 jobs across the states chosen for the funding.”
“In a briefing about the funding, the White House said those jobs will break down as about 4,500 permanent jobs and 16,000 construction jobs. The $7.3 billion will be supplemented by an additional $5.1 billion in private-sector investment, the administration said.”
The money could also improve high-speed broadband access since rural electric coops are often the only local entity that can lay such cable.
POLITICS AND ELECTIONS
Wisconsin Public Radio
Trump, GOP seek to boost rural voter turnout at central Wisconsin rally
Sept. 8, 2024
“Former President Donald Trump addressed a rally of thousands in central Wisconsin on Saturday, seeking to maintain the political hold he’s had over rural voters in the state.”
“The rally was Trump’s first appearance in central Wisconsin since 2020. The campaigns for both Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris have heavily targeted the state, but the rally was the first high-profile stop in central Wisconsin by either candidate, and it drew attendees from across the region.”
“Rural Wisconsin saw the largest Trump margins in the state in 2016, when he narrowly won the state, and again in 2020 when he narrowly lost.”
“In speeches introducing Trump, U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany and U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson offered political red meat to the crowd and made a pitch to attendees to get involved in the campaign.”
Tiffany said volunteers in his district have knocked on more than 20,000 doors. Trump supporters, he said, should speak with hunters in their lives and let them know that a ‘Kamala Harris administration will take their guns.’ The claim is not based on any policy proposal, and Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, have repeatedly said they support hunters’ gun rights.”
“Johnson asked the assembled crowd to vote early … The pitch in favor of absentee voting was a contrast to the party’s approach in 2020, when Trump repeatedly said voting outside of Election Day was a method open to fraud.”
Kansas Reflector
Kansas election official says nearly 1,000 primary ballots tossed due to mail processing issues
Sept. 9, 2024
“The Kansas secretary of state said in a letter to the U.S. postmaster general that approximately 1,000 August primary voters in Kansas were disenfranchised because ballots mailed before Election Day in August arrived in county offices more than three days after the deadline or without an essential postmark.”
“Secretary of State Scott Schwab, a Republican who serves as the state’s chief elections officer, told Postmaster General Louis DeJoy there was cause to be ‘extremely concerned’ about ‘a troubling pattern that persists in the U.S. Postal Service’s processing and handling of ballots.’ He send the same letter to the six members of the Kansas congressional delegation.”
“In correspondence released Monday, Schwab sought assurances that the USPS would guarantee every mail ballot in the November general election received a postmark so it could be counted. Schwab also asked that ballots placed in USPS custody before Election Day would be delivered to county offices before the three-day, post-election window closed.”
“Approximately half the state’s county clerks reported receiving mail-in ballots without a postmark or after the three-day grace period permitted under statute, he said.”
Michigan Advance
Benson unveils online portal to increase Michigan youth voting and election engagement
Sept. 9, 2024
During Michigan’s first-ever Voter Preregistration Week, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson unveiled “a new online Mock Election Portal, which includes a step-by-step guide for students wishing to host a mock election at their school, various sample ballots and other election-related resources.”
“This resource kit will show local elected leaders and communities how they can host mock elections at their schools or with young people anywhere throughout the state,” said Benson. “I know together with the Michigan Department of Education, we’re working to get these resources and information about voter preregistration to every school district in the state.”
“Under a new state law in effect this year, 16- and 17-year- old Michigan residents can preregister to vote online, by mail, or automatically at a Secretary of State’s office when applying for a Graduated Driver’s License.”
BROADBAND
Politico
‘People need to see it’: How politics hung up a $42B Biden internet buildout
Sept. 4, 2024
“The program, known officially as the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program (or BEAD) and embedded in Biden’s mammoth infrastructure law, was meant to bring a vital service to communities across America.”
“But thanks to a federal affordability requirement that telecommunications companies say is too tight, many states have sparred with Washington over their funding applications, delaying the rollout.”
“There’s little chance that communities across the country will see concrete results until 2025 at the soonest — well past Biden’s time in office — and no chance at all before November’s election.”
The article has a map showing which states have been approved for BEAD funding.
DRUGS AND ADDICTION
The Covid States Project
Report: Opioid Addiction in Our Social Networks
Sept. 1, 2024
“Almost one in four American adults (about 23 percent) report knowing someone who struggles with opioid addiction, while one in seven know multiple people.”
“Knowing someone who is addicted to opioids is significantly more likely in rural than in urban areas (29% versus 20%).”
“Opioid addiction appears to cross partisan divides: we find small partisan differences in knowing someone addicted to opioids.”
“West Virginia stands out as the most affected state, with 47% of respondents indicating that they know at least one person addicted to opioids.”
The New York Times
How a Rural Maine County Jail Helped Prisoners Blunt Opioid Cravings
Sept. 9, 2024
“At the Somerset County jail in rural Maine, prisoners addicted to opioids used to receive a daily pill to keep cravings in check. But as soon as they were released, their access to the medicine ended.”
“As their cravings surged, they were re-entering society at high risk for withdrawal, relapse and overdose — dangers that newly released prisoners confront nationwide.”
“Hoping to change those grim outcomes, Sheriff Lancaster decided to try providing a different — and far less common — form of the medication, buprenorphine: an extended-release shot that subdues urges for about 28 days.”
“According to a recent analysis in the journal Health and Justice about his jail’s pilot project, the switch had a remarkable effect. The long-acting injection afforded newly released prisoners a crucial buffer period after they were discharged, with more time to set up continuing addiction treatment and stabilize their lives.”
Between 65% and 75% of prisoners have active substance use disorders.
“Many treatment specialists argue that county jails and state and federal prisons could be poised to interrupt that cycle of addiction, which often includes crimes of theft, violence and drug sales, with repeat episodes of incarceration.”
“But addiction treatment for prisoners is relatively scarce and the expensive, extended-release shot, commercially known as Sublocade, scarcer still — not only for incarcerated people but for those in the community who do not have access to health insurance.”
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
The Daily Yonder
Organizers Hope Federal Program for Flexible Capacity and Workforce Development Could Become a Blueprint for Rural Funding
Sept. 10, 2024
“As the Biden administration ends, a recent pilot funding program focused on creating jobs and supporting workers in an innovative, flexible way could shape Biden’s rural legacy.”
“The Recompete Pilot Program, authorized for up to $1 billion in the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, hopes to support areas where prime-age employment rates – including workers aged 25 to 54 – lags behind the national average.”
“The program was given $200 million in initial appropriations split among six grantees, but policy advocates and leaders hope its shown impact will lead to full funding.”
“Although not limited to rural grantees, half of the six award winners are rural coalitions of counties, towns, and Tribal nations, which is proportionate with half of eligible areas being nonmetro.”
“By allowing communities to come together without tight population and geographic requirements, Recompete reduced the barriers rural communities lacking in government infrastructure face to receiving funds.”
EDUCATION
Barn Raiser
The Dark Money Defunding Rural Schools
Sept. 5, 2024
“A network of right-wing billionaires have bankrolled a war against public education. Now they’re stepping up attacks on rural legislators—but communities are fighting back.”
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Virginia Mercury
Virginia’s future concerning vehicle electrification is bright, but costs are a challenge
Sept. 10, 2024
“As the demand for reducing carbon emissions and purchasing electric vehicles grows, government and transit agencies in Virginia are facing questions about how they will meet such expectations.”
“At the center of these charged efforts is the substantial costs of implementing the technology statewide, and how different levels of government are helping to support the transition through policy and funding.”
“Localities across the commonwealth agree that the costs to pay for electric vehicles and chargers can add up quickly, even for some of the most affluent jurisdictions.”
“Local leaders have said state and federal grants have become vital to the transition statewide, but they also believe there is a long-term benefit for the future.”
“Keith Harless, town manager of Pennington Gap in Lee County, said the town partnered with Virginia Clean Cities to promote electric vehicles in rural areas three years ago.”
“He said one of the challenges for rural areas with charging stations is being patient on the revenue return. The town manager said rural areas ‘most likely’ won’t have day-to-day users compared to more densely populated areas like cities.”
But “Harless said the town has a charging station and two others expected to be available this month, thanks to grant funding.”
FOOD AND HUNGER
Stateline
Despite opt-outs by GOP states, debut of kids’ summer food program seen as a success
Sept. 9, 2024
“A U.S. Department of Agriculture initiative to feed hungry kids during the long summer months is mostly winding down, with advocates calling it a success despite some hiccups — and the federal government and many states are already working to bring the permanent program back in 2025.”
“The Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Program — or Summer EBT — has popped up in 37 states, the District of Columbia and multiple territories and tribal nations this year.”
“Advocates say that despite the program’s fair share of challenges, especially given its first year of implementation, the program emerged as an important resource in the fight against kids’ summer hunger.”
Kelsey Boone, senior child nutrition policy analyst at the Food Research & Action Center, said they’re still working out the kinks in the program. Some states have had to ask for more money. And families in some states won’t be able to receive the benefits until even November.
Thirteen “states — all with Republican governors — chose not to partake in the program this year, including Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming. Multiple tribal nations in Oklahoma are participating despite the state opting out.”
GROCERIES
Flatwater Free Press
Student-Run Market Made from Straw Bales Still Serving Cody Amid Grocery Store Crisis in Rural Nebraska
Aug. 30, 2024
A “group of teachers had a straightforward but daunting assignment before them: How could Cody-Kilgore, a small district nestled in the Nebraska Sandhills, buck the trend of rural decline and revitalize the school?” They hit on the idea of a grocery store run by students.
“Now nearly two decades after the idea first surfaced, the Circle C Market – a student-run grocery store made of straw bales – continues to serve Cody and the nearby areas.”
“Students get hands-on experience in marketing, finances and operations, while the village of roughly 170 people gets a local option in what would otherwise be a grocery desert, with the nearest option being a 40-mile drive down U.S. Highway 20 to Valentine.”
“Today, at a time when rural grocery stores are closing at an alarming rate, Cody’s Circle C is open six days a week – and represents far more than groceries. It’s a symbol of small-town grit, of neighbors helping neighbors.”
HEALTH CARE
Kansas Reflector
Kansas seeks ‘once in a generation’ federal funding to improve maternal health outcomes
Sept. 10, 2024
“Officials at KanCare, the state’s Medicaid program, want to turn Kansas maternity care deserts into “an oasis,” with help from a federal grant.”
“Melissa Warfield, director of Medicaid policy and research at KanCare, said the agency is finishing its application for the Transforming Maternal Health grant in hopes of being one of 15 states to receive 10 years of support and $17 million from the federal government.”
“March of Dimes reported that more than 45% of Kansas counties qualified as maternal health care deserts. That’s almost 10% more than the national average.”
“A recent report from the Commonwealth Fund estimated that 41% of maternal deaths could be averted with an integration of midwife workforce into health care delivery systems, and address some of the maternal workforce shortages in the U.S.”
The New York Times
Almost 50 Million Americans Have Had an Obamacare Plan Since 2014
Sept. 10, 2024
“Nearly 50 million Americans have been covered by health insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces since they opened a decade ago, according to tax data analyzed by the Treasury Department and published on Tuesday.”
“Federal officials said that the findings represent roughly one in seven U.S. residents, a broad swath of the population that underscores the vast, and seemingly irreversible, reach of the 2010 law.”
“The timing of the announcement was significant, coming just hours before the presidential debate in Philadelphia, where Vice President Kamala Harris will likely use the Affordable Care Act in her pitch to voters. The law has already featured heavily in her campaign stump speeches — a signal that Ms. Harris sees the issue as critical to swing state voters.”
IMMIGRATION
Flatwater Free Press
Nebraska Evolving: Many rural counties growing only because of immigrants
Sept. 6, 2024
“For years, the perception of rural Nebraska is that it’s old, overwhelmingly white and dying.”
“The reality: 21 Nebraska counties outside the Omaha and Lincoln metro areas actually grew between 2010 and 2020. In 16 of those counties, according to census data, the growth was 100% because of residents of color.”
“It’s growth driven by first-generation immigrants who moved to Nebraska for work, and also propelled by their children and grandchildren who stay.”
“It’s growth, experts say, key to the survival of small-town Nebraska, even though it can cause housing shortages, strain school systems and create cultural chasms that may take generations to bridge.”
“This is happening as white Nebraskans leave the state more than other white people move into Nebraska. From 2010 to 2020, out-migration drove a population decline among white Nebraskans.”
MANUFACTURING
Inside Climate News
Unionized Workers Making EV Batteries Downplay Politics of the Product
Sept. 10, 2024
“Workers and industry analysts want to know how the shift from gasoline engines to electric motors will affect the quantity and quality of jobs. The answers depend in large part on how successful unions are at organizing in battery plants. This becomes a political question because of how Democrats have historically supported unionization, while Republicans have resisted.”
“Discussions about the quantity of jobs have been influenced by a widely cited estimate that auto plants will need 30 percent fewer workers to make electric vehicles. But a new study of job counts at plants that converted to build EVs suggests this transition has led to more jobs, not less.”
“Academic research is happening alongside a spirited partisan debate,” but workers at EV plants, which are often in rural areas, “are emphatic in their belief that support for EVs should not be divided along partisan lines.”
Lisa Moore, a worker at Ultium Cells in rural northeastern Ohio, said EV batteries are just a way to give consumers more choices. “Her outlook reflects that she lives in a region that is up for grabs politically, where Democrats used to do well because of support from white working class voters, but where Trump and other Republicans have succeeded in recent elections.”
MENTAL HEALTH
Reuters
Biden administration finalizes rule to strengthen mental health parity law
Sept. 9, 2024
“The Biden Administration said on Monday it had finalized a regulation to help ensure that the 175 million Americans with private health insurance have access to affordable mental health services.”
“The 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act already requires insurers and corporate-backed health plans to provide access and payment structures for mental health care services on par with other medical services.”
“In practice, that is often not the case, with less than half of U.S. adults with mental illness able to access care in 2020, while nearly 70% of children cannot receive treatment, according to studies cited by the administration.” That’s especially the case in rural America.
That is partly due to a lack of mental health providers being sufficiently covered by insurance plans, leading patients to pay high out-of-pocket costs or to give up on care.”
“The final rule, proposed last summer, is aimed at closing the gaps by requiring health insurers to evaluate which mental health providers' services are covered by their plans, how much those providers are paid, as well as on how often they require or deny prior authorizations for coverage.”
“Where needed, such requirements may push health plans to add mental health providers to networks, according to a senior administration official. Most of the new regulation will take effect in 2026.”
POLLUTION
CalMatters
‘I won’t let them drink the water’: The California towns where clean drinking water is out of reach
Sept. 10, 2024
Across California, 735,000 people are “served by the nearly 400 water systems that fail to meet state requirements for safe and reliable drinking water. Latino farm communities struggling with poverty and pollution are especially hard-hit.”
“About three-quarters of the failing systems in California have violated state or federal standards for contaminants that are linked to serious health problems, such as cancer and effects on developing babies, according to a CalMatters analysis of state data.”
“Unsafe drinking water is a chronic, insidious and sometimes hidden problem in a state where attention more often focuses on shortages than the quality of the water.”
“The failing systems are clustered in rural farm areas that have experienced decades of groundwater contamination. Many residents are afraid to drink tap water, or even bathe their children in it, relying on bottled water instead.”
“Ensuring safe and reliable drinking water for all Californians will cost about $16 billion, according to a recent state analysis. But the state water board projects that it has only $2 billion available for grants in communities and $1.5 billion for loans.”
POSTAL SERVICE
Bridge Michigan
As US Postal Service bleeds money, some in Michigan will drive miles for mail
Sept. 9, 2024
“The postal service, which is on track to lose $8 billion this fiscal year, has decreased the number of contract post offices and village post offices by 20% nationwide since 2019, according to a report by USPS.”
“The report said the closures were prompted by ‘oversight and customer service issues’ that ‘may lead to negative customer experiences, putting revenues, costs and the brand at risk.’”
The article shows how the closure of one office in rural Michigan will hurt residents.
RENEWABLE ENERGY
Grist and Blue Ridge Public Radio
A new ‘green bank’ could bring solar power and electric buses to Appalachia
Sept. 10, 2024
“Thanks to $500 million in funding from the Environmental Protection Agency, a new initiative called the Green Bank for Rural America could help channel money to nonprofit lenders … to support community solar arrays, apprenticeships in renewable energy fields, electrified public transit, and other projects.”
“The program will link over 75 rural CDFIs [community development financial institutions], with priority given to those in the Appalachian mountain region. It is part of the EPA’S $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund created to support financial organizations with a history of deep community relationships and investment in local projects.”
“The steering committee for the Green Bank includes institutions from across Appalachia, including CommunityWorks Carolina, Grow America, and Coalfield Development. These funds are meant to jumpstart future private investment.”
Pennsylvania Capital-Star
Pa. environmental, education and labor advocates celebrate ‘solar for schools’ program
Sept. 9, 2024
“Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler (D-Philadelphia) took a victory lap Monday under the Capitol rotunda following a ceremonial signing of a bill she championed that will fund solar projects in Pennsylvania schools.”
“The Solar for Schools legislation provides $25 million in state funding that can cover up to half approved school solar projects.”
“But the real hope is that that money will serve as a bridge allowing approved school districts to access even more funding provided by the federal government through the Inflation Reduction Act.”
“In an ideal situation, between state and federal funding, the majority of the initial costs of installing solar panels would be covered. And moreover, the installation of solar panels could greatly reduce electric costs, freeing up money for other educational programs.”
“But the cost and scope of projects can vary, as well as access to initial funding that some school districts may require.”
Cash-strapped rural school districts might have a hard time coming up with the funds to cover what state and federal funds won’t.
REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
Tennessee Lookout
Tennessee public clinics resume offering birth control, sexual disease tests to unaccompanied teens
Sept. 10, 2024
“Tennessee teens [age 14 and up] seeking birth control or sexually transmitted infection tests can return to their local public health clinic without a parent — a partial reversal of a six-week-old state policy that has forced public health workers to turn away minors.”
“The state health department initially interpreted the law to include birth control, pregnancy tests and HIV and other disease testing sought by teens at their local county clinics — often the only source of such care in rural Tennessee counties.”
“The restoration of family planning and infectious disease testing services for unaccompanied adolescents is outlined in an August 15 memo to clinics from the Tennessee Department of Health obtained by the Lookout.”
“The partial shift in policy elated some Tennessee public health providers who, for weeks, have had to turn their teenage patients away from healthcare visits that — until this summer — had been routinely available.”
Stateline
Post-Roe health provider survey finds abortion bans create bad outcomes and distress
Sept. 10, 2024
A research team led by Dr. Daniel Grossman at the University of California San Francisco has released a report on how the overturn of Roe v. Wade has affected medical care.
“When Grossman — a clinical and public health researcher who specializes in abortion and contraception — talked to States Newsroom last year about the early findings, he emphasized the patient fear palpable in the narratives of their doctors. They told stories about women traveling outside their ban states just to check if they could be pregnant, or during a medical emergency.”
“But as more submissions continue to flow in, Grossman recently said he’s struck by the distress coming from the medical community.”
“One thing that was notable in some of these more recent submissions,” Grossman told States Newsroom, “is how moral distress is being incorporated into medical education, like medical students and residents are essentially now learning about the moral distress as part of their medical education, as they’re learning about the care that they can’t provide.”
VETERANS
Military Times
VA delays rule change on how it pays veterans’ air ambulance services
Sept. 9, 2024
“Veterans Affairs leaders have agreed to delay rule changes on specialty ambulance reimbursements until 2029, a win for advocates who warned that new policies could severely impact emergency services for veterans living in rural areas.”
“Before Friday’s announcement, the new rules were set to go into effect next February. Industry officials and department planners have sparred for years over the change, which would in many cases reduce the amount VA pays to air ambulance firms after those companies transport patients.”
“Industry representatives have pushed back … pointing to the unique costs and challenges associated with moving critically ill or injured patients in rural areas.”
“In a joint statement, Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and ranking member Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., praised the VA decision. Both lawmakers have worked to stop the rule change, arguing that any plan that could hurt those ambulance services should be reconsidered.”
“Congress had already intervened to delay the reimbursement rule changes last year, including language in a budget bill last year to push back the implementation timeline from early 2024 to 2025. Now lawmakers will have several more years to negotiate a compromise between the emergency response firms and VA administrators.”