Rural News Clips, Sept. 18, 2024
How disasters can help re-election efforts; Ohio is directly funding the construction of private, religious schools; West Virgina annual naloxone distribution day expands to 32 states
A note to readers: Rural News Clips will be on hiatus for the next week or two as your correspondent recovers from surgery, but we’ll be back with more rural headlines in no time.
POLITICS AND ELECTIONS
Votebeat Arizona and Indian Country Today
How Arizona tackles a language barrier to provide Navajo voters a ballot they can listen to
Sept. 17, 2024
“Section 203 of the federal Voting Rights Act requires places around the country to translate election information into specific languages if they have significant numbers of residents who share a common language and don’t understand English well, or if they meet other criteria.”
“It’s a challenge to do these translations, and do them correctly, especially for counties such as those in Arizona that must translate historically oral languages.”
“Over the years, courts in Arizona and elsewhere in the country have found that election officials haven’t done enough for such voters and have ordered them to do more.”
“The public’s view into the translation process is limited. A Votebeat reporter accompanied by a videographer obtained advance permission from the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office to sit in on the second day of the Navajo meeting, and were allowed to watch, after briefly being barred from attending.”
“The meeting provided a window into the complexity of the process, as well as the limits of Arizona’s efforts to make elections fully accessible to Navajo speakers.”
The article has a state-level map showing where states have areas requiring translation for indigenous voters.
Michigan Advance
Senate approves Michigan Voting Rights Act along party lines
Sept. 18, 2024
“A four-bill package which would mirror the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 has passed through the Michigan Senate.”
“The bills in the Michigan Voting Rights Act — Senate Bills 401, 402, 403 and 404 — passed Tuesday along party lines, with majority Democrats saying they were needed now more than ever after the federal legislation they were modeled on had been weakened in recent years by the right-wing majority on the U.S. Supreme Court.”
Sen. Darrin Camilleri (D-Trenton), who sponsored the main bill in the package, said the act would “provide pathways for voters of color and protected classes to protect their voting rights and their rights of fair political representation.”
He also said it would ban voter intimidation and suppression, expand language translation, and help disabled voters to vote in person if they wish.
“Republicans, however, decried the legislation as an unnecessary intrusion that would create more suspicion of the election process and further burden local election officials.”
The Daily Yonder
Georgia’s 2024 Presidential Race May Have More to Do with Brian Kemp than Donald Trump
Sept. 18, 2024
Georgia wasn’t much in play until President Joe Biden dropped out, but then Vice President Kamala Harris pulled up almost even with former president Donald Trump, and some polls have her leading. So Harris and running mate Tim Walz are doing a bus tour of southern Georgia to try to shore up support.
“Even if Harris and Walz didn’t actually attempt an incursion into interior rural Georgia (which would have been a logistical and security nightmare), their trip to Hinesville and Savannah sent a powerful signal that they plan to fight for the state,” writes retired Georgia political journalist Charles Hayslett.
“The campaign says it has 35 field offices and more than 170 paid staff in the state – plus roughly 35,000 volunteers. If Trump is still favored to win the state, he will now have to spend money and time defending terrain he probably thought he owned.”
Hayslett delves into why Governor Brian Kemp, a Republican, has a complicated and outsized role to play in the presidential election, due mostly to his up-and-down relationship with Trump and his likely political ambitions in the state after his (term-limited) governorship ends.
Ohio Capital Journal
How Ohio farmers are sizing up the 2024 race
Sept. 16, 2024
Trump and Harris aren’t talking much about ag policy in their stump speeches, but “the industry is at the heart of many of the issues you will hear about.”
That includes SNAP, formerly known as food stamps. Lawmakers are fighting over whether to shunt more Farm Bill funding toward it or toward agricultural programs. But it’s complicated because increased SNAP funding helps farmers and farming communities too.
“And perhaps most notable, the tariffs central to former President Donald Trump’s past and future foreign policy agenda have been a nightmare for many farmers.”
“Despite the challenges that came with the Trump administration, many remain committed to the GOP — even if some are uneasy with decision. Others have made a break with the Republican Party and are trying to carve a niche for themselves in a Democratic Party that hasn’t always known how make a place for them.”
Grist
The elected officials making political hay from disasters
Sept. 17, 2024
At a time when climate change-fueled disasters are increasing, it’s worth considering their effect on local, regional and state elections.
“Big disasters often thrust politicians into the media limelight, allowing them to pose for photo ops with victims and make solemn recovery vows at press conferences.”
“A study of elections in Italy found that earthquakes ‘significantly increase … incumbent mayors’ chance of being reelected and their vote share,’ in large part thanks to ‘higher visibility in the media.’”
“Voters value an authentic disaster response from their politicians, so much so that it can override other political values. In a hyper-partisan election environment, and one where climate change is making disasters more severe, it’s a point worth remembering.”
For example, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, garnered widespread support, even from many conservatives, after his efforts to help Eastern Kentucky recover after flash flooding decimated the area in July 2022. He handily won re-election the next year, winning counties where Trump had won by more than 25 points.
“There were a number of reasons for his victory, including public anger over the state’s stringent abortion laws, but Beshear made big gains in the rural counties that had suffered the most during the 2022 disaster. The residents of those communities were still rebuilding from the floods, but they trusted Beshear to help them recover.”
But it’s a tricky line to walk, because other politicians have been accused of politicizing disasters. Authentic, bipartisan efforts could be the deciding factor.
The Conversation
Abortion rights are on 10 state ballots in November − Democrats can’t count on this to win elections for them
Sept. 18, 2024
“Ten states will vote on ballot initiatives on abortion this November: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New York, Nevada and South Dakota.”
“Some Democratic strategists are hoping that turnout from the ballot initiatives will swing elections away from Republican candidates in key states such as Arizona, Nevada and Florida.
“But the effects that ballot measures have on which candidates win or lose is rarely so straightforward,” writes Benjamin Case, a postdoctoral research scholar at the Center for Work and Democracy at Arizona State University.
“For the past three years, my work as a political sociologist has been cataloging and studying ballot initiatives. Based on state-level data and recent trends, I believe it is highly likely that many of November’s ballot initiatives to protect abortion rights will pass. But that will not necessarily translate into broader Democratic candidate victories.”
“There is research indicating that ballot initiatives can increase voter turnout. However, most studies show mixed results and limited effects.”
“Ballot initiatives on abortion rights, whether to codify or ban them, also appear to have little impact on partisan elections.”
CHILD CARE
Ohio Capital Journal
Analysis shows federal sources account for most Ohio child care funding
Sept. 18, 2024
“An analysis of Ohio’s child care funding model finds a need for better funding and a better understanding of how that funding needs to happen.”
State funding accounts for less than a quarter of the state’s child-care funding.
“Think tank Policy Matters Ohio did the first of two planned analyses of the state’s child care system, including the Publicly Funded Child Care program, calling it ‘complicated, even to the most seasoned advocates.’”
“The system in Ohio has been found to be inaccessible to some and unaffordable to many, with one survey showing nearly 60% of participants saying their child care situation wasn’t affordable.”
COURTS
South Dakota Searchlight
Q&A: Meet South Dakota’s first state public defender
Sept. 18, 2024
“A deputy public defender from Sioux Falls will head up the recently created state Office of Indigent Legal Services.”
The new office will “primarily be tasked with representing those who cannot afford an attorney in their appeals to the South Dakota Supreme Court, but will also serve as a data hub for public defense and work on ways to improve its delivery across the state.”
“That’s been a burden for the counties that pick up the tab for public defense, especially in recent years.”
“There are only three fully staffed county public defender offices in the state, and most counties contract with private attorneys. Those roles are often difficult to fill in rural areas, as most lawyers live in larger cities including Sioux Falls, Rapid City or Pierre.”
DRUGS AND ADDICTION
West Virginia Watch
Annual naloxone distribution day started in West Virginia expands to at least 32 states this year
Sept. 17, 2024
“An annual naloxone distribution event that started in 2020 with two West Virginia counties will expand to more than 30 states when it’s held this year on Sept. 26, but a co-founder of the event is most hopeful about what will happen in the days after that.”
Save a Life Day “started in response to increasing overdoses during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.”
“This year, volunteers from 343 counties in every state east of the Mississippi River and beyond will distribute the opioid antidote drug.”
“All 55 counties in West Virginia have volunteers participating. During last year’s event, volunteers distributed more than 45,000 doses of naloxone throughout Appalachia.”
WUSF
For people with opioid addiction, Medicaid overhaul comes with risks
Sept. 16, 2024
“More than 1 million Americans use Medicaid to get addiction treatments like methadone. But as states update their systems, some patients have lost coverage. Even a short gap can be life-threatening.”
“Research shows that when taken as prescribed, medications for opioid use disorder — such as methadone and a similar medicine, buprenorphine — can reduce dangerous drug use and cut overdose fatalities by more than half.”
“Other studies find the risk of overdose and death increases when such treatment is interrupted.”
“It is unclear how many people with opioid addiction have lost coverage in the massive Medicaid disenrollment, known as the ;unwinding.’ But researchers at nonprofit think tank KFF estimate that more than 1 million low-income Americans depend on the federal-state program for life-saving addiction care.”
NPR
U.S. overdose deaths plummet, saving thousands of lives
Sept. 18, 2024
“National surveys compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention … show an unprecedented decline in drug deaths of roughly 10.6 percent. That's a huge reversal from recent years when fatal overdoses regularly increased by double-digit percentages.”
Between April 2023 and April 2024 overdoses declined by 10%. But overdose deaths began spiking in 2019 and peaked in early 2023, marking the highest number of overdose deaths since 2018. Overdose deaths are right about where they were at the beginning of 2021.
“But most public health experts and some people living with addiction told NPR they believe catastrophic increases in drug deaths, which began in 2019, have ended, at least for now. Many said a widespread, meaningful shift appears underway.”
“Some researchers believe the data will show an even larger decline in drug deaths when federal surveys are updated to reflect improvements being seen at the state level, especially in the eastern U.S.”
EDUCATION
ProPublica
In an Unprecedented Move, Ohio Is Funding the Construction of Private Religious Schools
Sept. 17, 2024
“The state of Ohio is giving taxpayer money to private, religious schools to help them build new buildings and expand their campuses, which is nearly unprecedented in modern U.S. history.”
“Under a bill passed by its Legislature this summer, the state is now providing millions of dollars in grants directly to religious schools, most of them Catholic, to renovate buildings, build classrooms, improve playgrounds and more.”
“The goal in providing the grants, according to the measure’s chief architect, Matt Huffman, is to increase the capacity of private schools in part so that they can sooner absorb more voucher students.”
Vouchers are often unpopular in rural areas, in Ohio and elsewhere, because “parents can’t spend this new voucher money because private schools are either too far away or already at capacity.”
“This, in turn, has become a major political liability for voucher advocates in many states, with rural conservatives becoming increasingly indignant that their tax dollars are being spent on vouchers for upper-middle-class families in far-off metropolitan areas where there are more private schools.”
Though the article doesn’t go into this, if you follow the logic: giving this funding to help private schools expand could mean more capacity for rural students, neutralizing many rural voters’ objections to the issue.
HEALTH CARE
Virginia Mercury
Virginia’s rural healthcare committee considers unique challenges, possible solutions
Sept. 18, 2024
“A committee of state lawmakers met in Virginia’s Eastern Shore this week as part of ongoing gatherings to hear from health care providers and other experts about rural health care challenges and possible solutions. The cohort will deliver a report later this year with recommendations.”
“Topics at the meetings have been broadly about rural health care access. But there has also been time dedicated to specific issues like maternal health care gaps, sparse dental health care in some areas, regulatory hurdles in treating obesity and challenges to telehealth amid insufficient broadband infrastructure.”
“Transportation issues and health care workforce shortages were common refrains at their first meeting in Tazewell this May and their Farmville meeting in June and were repeated again at the Sept. 16 Eastern Shore meeting this week.”
“As the rural health committee works on proposing enterprising solutions to these problems, they may also look at ways to build on existing state programs or funding.”
“While some issues may be addressed or supported s by state funding, there are also regulatory routes to solutions through legislation.”
Kaiser Health News
Tennessee tries to rein in Ballad’s hospital monopoly after years of problems
Sept. 17, 2024
“Ballad Health, an Appalachian company with the nation’s largest state-sanctioned hospital monopoly, may soon be required to improve its quality of care or face the possibility of being broken up.”
“Tennessee officials, in closed-door negotiations, are attempting to hold the monopoly more accountable after years of complaints and protests from patients and their families.”
“Ballad, a 20-hospital system in northeastern Tennessee and southwestern Virginia, was created six years ago through monopoly agreements negotiated with both states. Since then, Ballad has consistently fallen short of the quality-of-care goals, according to annual reports released by the Tennessee Department of Health.”
“Despite these failures, Tennessee has given “A” grades and annual stamps of approval to Ballad that allow the monopoly to continue. This has occurred, at least in part, because Ballad is graded against a scoring rubric that largely ignores how its hospitals actually perform.”
“Now that may change. In an ongoing renegotiation of Tennessee’s monopoly agreement, the state health department has pushed for an eightfold increase in the importance of hospital performance, making it ‘the most heavily weighted’ issue on which Ballad would be judged.”
NATIVE AMERICANS
Grist
Top 5 takeaways of our investigation into state trust lands on reservations
Sept. 16, 2024
“Despite tribes’ status as autonomous, sovereign nations, lands on federal Indian reservations provide revenue to state governments to pay for public schools, jails, universities, hospitals, and other institutions.”
“A new investigation from Grist and High Country News reveals that more than 2 million surface and subsurface acres within the boundaries of reservations are used to support public institutions and reduce the financial burden of taxpayers through the leasing of land for oil and gas operations, grazing, timber harvesting, and more.”
“Powered by publicly available data, this new investigation identifies the state institutions benefiting from these lands, and provides information on many of the individuals and companies that lease them.”
“In the second, major story in our series on state trust lands, we continue to detangle the ways in which Indigenous lands and resources bankroll public institutions, often at the expense of tribal citizens, Indigenous land management practices, and tribal sovereignty and self-determination.”
RENEWABLE ENERGY
Oklahoma Voice
Ethics questions swirl as Oklahoma lawmaker could profit from potential solar farm in his district
Sept. 17, 2024
“As southeast Oklahoma becomes a magnet for out-of-state developers looking to build large green-energy projects, one lawmaker considers how to profit from the industry’s growth in his district, against state ethics rules and the will of his constituents.”
State ethics rules — those that govern the behavior of state lawmakers — say [Rep. Justin Humphrey] can’t negotiate business deals in his district that he or his family would benefit from, especially if there is legislation involved.”
“The same state rules prohibiting Humphrey’s behavior also protect officeholders like him from formal complaints during an election season. And the locals’ frustrations with what they call a lack of accountability measures have been mounting for years.”
REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
The Washington Post
Louisiana hospitals and pharmacists prep for new abortion pill rules
Sept. 17, 2024
“Staff in some Louisiana hospitals are doing timed drills, sprinting from patient rooms and through halls to the locked medicine closets where the drugs used for abortions, incomplete miscarriages and postpartum hemorrhaging will have to be kept — as newly categorized controlled substances — starting Oct. 1.”
“That’s hardly the only preparation taking place across the state as a law targeting mifepristone and misoprostol, the first of its kind in the country, goes into effect in two weeks.”
“Pharmacists are still trying to decipher guidance from state officials about the two drugs and the diagnosis codes that will be required before prescriptions for them can be filled.”
And pharmacists “and doctors are speaking out about the extra layers of difficulty expected because of the law, which they worry will put patients experiencing serious pregnancy-related complications at even greater risk.”
This could hurt rural women because they generally must travel longer distances to get medical help when minutes count. And there often aren’t many pharmacies nearby, so they could face additional barriers to access if fearful pharmacists refuse to dispense one of the drugs.
RURAL ORGANIZING
The Daily Yonder
Commentary: What Freedom Means in Rural North Carolina
Sept. 18, 2024
“Watching political TV, it would be easy to think we live in an extremely polarized society. But the North Carolina I live and work in doesn’t feel that way,” writes Dreama Caldwell, executive co-director of We Are Down Home. “At Down Home, we organize in our state’s small towns and rural communities. Our work shows us that nothing is black and white. This complexity is captured perfectly in our small towns.”
“Right now, Down Home members are knocking on doors throughout rural North Carolina. We’ve knocked on over 72,000 doors and had over 13,000 conversations across region, gender, race, and party lines.”
“We are having deep, inquisitive conversations with our neighbors about one of the most divisive and politicized issues of our time: Abortion. What we have learned is rural folks cannot and should not be quickly stereotyped.”
She discusses how rural America bucks popular stereotypes about abortion support, religion, political affiliation and race.
SAFETY NET PROGRAMS
Kaiser Health News
Arkansas’ Governor Says Medicaid Extension for New Moms Isn’t Needed
Sept. 18, 2024
“Arkansas is the only state that has not taken the step to expand what’s called postpartum Medicaid coverage, an option for states paid for almost entirely by the federal government that ensures poor women have uninterrupted health insurance for a year after they give birth.”
“Forty-six states now have the provision, encouraged by the Biden administration, and Idaho, Iowa, and Wisconsin either have plans in place to enact legislation or have bills pending in their legislatures.”
“Federal law requires states to provide pregnancy-related Medicaid coverage through 60 days after delivery. But maternal health advocates say Arkansas often begins the process of moving women out of the program after six weeks, or 42 days.”
“Arkansas has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the nation, a grim tally of women who die from any cause related to pregnancy or childbirth, including weeks after delivery.”
SENIORS
The Hill
GOP won’t force a vote to overturn nursing home staffing rule
Sept. 17, 2024
“Republicans are not planning to force a vote on a resolution to overturn the Biden administration’s plan mandating minimum staffing levels in nursing homes, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said.”
“A resolution under the Congressional Review Act isn’t subject to the 60-vote filibuster and needs only a simple majority of votes. The CRA is a fast-track legislative tool that allows lawmakers to nullify rules even after the executive branch has completed them … But since President Biden would veto it, Lankford said the CRA wouldn’t accomplish anything.”
“Under the requirements unveiled in April, all nursing homes that receive federal funding through Medicare and Medicaid will need to have a registered nurse on staff 24 hours per day, seven days per week and provide at least 3.48 hours of nursing care per resident per day.”
“The senators argue the mandate won’t fix workforce shortage problems or solve care quality problems and will force many rural nursing homes to shut their doors.”
SPORTS
Daily Montanan
Gianforte, other govs, say proposed NCAA settlement will hurt Montana, rural states
Sept. 18, 2024
“Gov. Greg Gianforte said Tuesday a proposed $2.8 billion NCAA settlement with student athletes over the use of their Name, Image and Likeness is unfair to more rural states such as Montana and ‘will have a devastating impact’ on their athletic programs.”
“If approved by a judge, the settlement would secure damages from the National Collegiate Athletic Association for college athletes previously denied compensation for use of their NIL and their athletic performances, according to a court filing outlining the agreement.”
“Earlier this month, the South Dakota Board of Regents filed a lawsuit alleging the settlement unfairly favors large universities and disfavors female competitors.”
STUDENT DEBT RELIEF
Stateline
Concerns over private student loans brought to U.S. Senate panel
Sept. 18, 2024
“As private student loan companies take heat over accusations of predatory behavior and deception, members of a U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs panel and student advocates voiced concerns over the industry at a hearing Tuesday.”
Rural students and former students are disproportionately likely to face burdensome student debt and less likely to have a degree to show for it.
“The Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection hearing came as the broader student debt crisis impacts millions, with more than $1.74 trillion in outstanding student loans as of the second quarter of 2024.”
“Subcommittee Chairman Raphael Warnock said he and his staff analyzed some of the myriad complaints the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau received related to private student loans and federal student loan servicing in roughly the last year and were ‘struck by the sheer scope and magnitude of the problem.’”