Project 2025 Rural News Clips, June 20, 2025

Trump to merge wildland firefighting into one force, despite ex-officials warning of chaos; Trump admin halts broadband internet expansion in rural La.; Wash. cherry growers struggle to find pickers

POLITICS AND ELECTIONS

NC Newsline
Witnesses testify about Black communities split by NC Republicans redistricting plans
June 17, 2025

• Witnesses from rural counties argued that the proposed maps divide Black voting precincts across multiple districts, diluting political influence in small towns and farming regions.

• Rural advocates warned that splitting these communities will hinder their ability to elect representatives focused on local issues such as agriculture policy, school funding and infrastructure.

• Testifiers highlighted that historic Black townships risk losing cohesive representation, undermining trust in electoral fairness and weakening advocacy for rural public services.

• Though Project 2025 doesn’t specifically mention racial gerrymandering, the project as a whole seeks to disenfranchise and suppress racial minorities.

• Also, its proposals would undercut the tools used to challenge racial gerrymandering. For example, it calls for shifting election-offense matters away from the DOJ Civil Rights Division and politicizing the Census Bureau, which would weaken Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the principal federal safeguard against race-based map-drawing.

AGRICULTURE

The Progressive Farmer
Wisconsin dairy farmer sues USDA on alleged race, sex discrimination in farm programs
June 16, 2025

• Chilton dairy farmer Adam Faust claims USDA programs such as Dairy Margin Coverage, loan guarantees and EQIP offered lower benefits to him as a white male, leading to higher fees and reduced cost reimbursements.

• Faust alleges that “socially disadvantaged” farmers received a 95 percent loan guarantee while he was capped at 90 percent, increasing his borrowing costs and financial risk.

• The lawsuit warns that continued race and sex preferences in USDA assistance will harm individual farmers’ dignity and calls for injunctions to end differential treatment in rural farm support programs.

BROADBAND AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS

AP News
The Digital Equity Act tried to close the digital divide. Trump calls it racist and acts to end it
May 25, 2025

• The Digital Equity Act provided $2.75 billion in grants aimed at bridging the digital gap in rural areas by funding devices, connectivity, and digital literacy programs.

• President Trump has announced plans to terminate the Act, calling it racist and an illegal “woke handout,” raising concerns about the abrupt withdrawal of support in rural states.

• Rural schools, senior centers, and disaster‑impacted communities that depend on the funding now face uncertainty, with many local nonprofits scrambling to replace lost resources.

Spotlight PA
PA’s internet plans disrupted by new federal broadband rules
June 18, 2025

• Federal officials revised guidelines for the $42.5 billion BEAD program, altering how states evaluate proposals, determine eligible areas, and set grant‐award deadlines.

• The shift to selecting providers by lowest upfront cost threatens to sideline fiber-optic projects that rural communities favor for speed and reliability.

• Pennsylvania officials warn that remote and underserved areas will likely receive slower wireless or satellite connections, undermining long-term broadband goals.

Louisiana Illuminator
Trump admin halts broadband internet expansion in Louisiana
June 16, 2025

• The Trump administration froze USDA Rural Development and BEAD broadband grant approvals, delaying projects in more than 40 parishes.

• Rural communities now face longer waits for high-speed service, undermining efforts to close the digital divide in areas with limited connectivity options.

• Local leaders warn the pause could stall economic growth, telehealth access and remote learning in underserved regions.

DISASTERS

The Washington Post
Vermont flood victims rebuild communities battered by storms
June 12, 2025

• Storm-driven floods in late summer 2023 and spring 2024 devastated Barre and surrounding rural towns, washing away bridges, farm fields and critical infrastructure.

• Local farmers and small businesses have struggled to restore crops and operations amid delayed federal aid and persistent supply shortages, prolonging economic hardship.

• Community-led efforts have repaired miles of rural roads and replaced damaged wells, but advocates warn that underfunded FEMA grants and high reconstruction costs leave many residents vulnerable to future flooding.

DRUGS AND ADDICTION

West Virginia Watch
Commentary: The ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ threatens the work done on the overdose crisis in West Virginia
June 18, 2025

• The bill would slash Medicaid by around $800 billion, threatening healthcare for the 507,000 West Virginians who depend on it for addiction and overdose treatment.

• Medicaid currently covers 56 percent of medication-assisted opioid treatments and 64 percent of outpatient OUD services, so cuts would undermine critical, life-saving programs.

• New work-reporting requirements could strip coverage from up to 110,000 eligible West Virginians due to missed paperwork or limited job hours, deepening rural health disparities.

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Daily Yonder
We mapped fast EV charging ports across rural America. Here’s what we found.
June 16, 2025

• By the first quarter of 2025, 45 percent of rural counties had at least one fast EV charging port installed, compared to 76.5 percent of metropolitan counties.

• Rural utilization rates for fast chargers hover in the teens, versus 30–40 percent in cities, creating a cycle where low use deters new stations and few stations discourage EV adoption.

• The Trump administration’s suspension of NEVI funding has slowed rural charger deployment, though states, nonprofits and other grant programs continue to support build-out efforts.

• The article has an interactive nationwide map with county-level data.

FOOD AND HUNGER

Border Belt Independent
Food bank in southeastern North Carolina hit with federal funding cuts
June 17, 2025

• The Action Pathways Second Harvest Food Bank, serving seven predominantly rural counties in southeastern North Carolina, may see a significant drop in its food distribution capacity due to a 40 percent reduction in USDA’s Emergency Food Assistance Program.

• The end of the USDA’s Local Food Purchase Assistance and Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement has cut $1.3 million from its budget, reducing its ability to buy from local farmers and weakening the vital farm-to-table link in rural communities.

• With around 60 000 children in Cumberland County facing food insecurity, the food bank is ramping up fundraising efforts while county officials are establishing a $1 million agricultural assistance fund to support both local growers and food access in these rural areas.

HEAT

Federation of American Scientists
Impacts of extreme heat on rural communities
June 17, 2025

• Forty-six million rural Americans face mounting risks from extreme heat that threaten workforce productivity, raise business operating costs, and strain critical public services.

• Rural areas have higher rates of pre-existing health conditions, underinsured populations, and healthcare professional shortages, making them especially vulnerable to heat-related illness and death.

• Project 2025 calls for loosening or eliminating many workplace safety rules. States like Florida have already eliminated heat protection rules for outdoor workers.

HOUSING

Stateline
Housing advocates worry states can’t fill rental aid gaps if Trump cuts go through
June 16, 2025

• Federal proposals to cut Housing Choice Voucher funding by billions would force states to reduce or end emergency rental assistance programs that many rural families rely on during income shocks.

• Rural counties with sparse populations and limited nonprofit partners lack the capacity to absorb increased rental aid demand, leaving low-income tenants at risk of eviction and homelessness.

• Advocates urge Congress to maintain rental assistance levels or authorize emergency block grants to ensure that rural housing providers can prevent displacement and sustain community stability.

IMMIGRATION

The Spokesman‑Review
Washington cherry growers struggle to find pickers
June 18, 2025

• Cherry growers in rural central and eastern Washington are struggling to harvest their crops as migrant workers, fearing ICE raids, avoid traveling to picking jobs in areas like Mattawa and Wenatchee.

• Farms that typically rely on 100 to 120 workers are seeing fewer than 30 show up, forcing growers to leave cherries unpicked and threatening the financial viability of smaller rural operations.

• Because cherries must be harvested within a narrow two-week window, farmers warn that ongoing labor shortages could lead to crop losses, farm closures, and further consolidation of rural orchard land.

Capital & Main
Uncertain Harvest: Agriculture’s Season of Gloom
June 19, 2025

• California’s agricultural sector relies heavily on undocumented farmworkers, who make up approximately 50 to 75 percent of the workforce. That would put the state’s food production power at serious risk if immigration crackdowns escalate.

• Undocumented laborers contributed an estimated $159 billion to California’s economy in 2021, roughly 4.7 percent of state GDP, with indirect impacts raising that share to over 9 percent; their taxes also helped support public systems like Social Security.

• With millions of Californians employed or connected through these workers in industries like construction, manufacturing and retail, deportation efforts could trigger widespread economic harm far beyond farms.

The Hill
ICE immigration raids on Texas farmers and workers spark concern
June 16, 2025

• ICE conducted targeted operations at several Texas farms, detaining both H-2A guest workers and undocumented laborers, leading growers to halt harvesting amid fears of crippling labor shortages.

• Local agricultural officials warn that aggressive enforcement undermines the rural economy by disrupting planting and picking cycles that are time-sensitive and dependent on migrant workers.

• Community leaders and farm advocates urge the administration to carve out protections for essential farm labor to safeguard food production and prevent long-term damage to rural communities.

NOTUS
Agriculture, hospitality industries to Trump: What’s the plan on deportations?
June 16, 2025

• Hotel owners, farmers and restaurateurs are confused by mixed messages after the administration signaled both expanded ICE raids and a pause targeting agriculture and hospitality sectors.

• President Trump acknowledged that deportations were “taking very good, longtime workers away” from farms and hotels, prompting a temporary halt to enforcement actions in those industries.

• Industry lobbyists and rural business advocates remain in the dark on detailed policies as the White House prioritizes deportations in sanctuary cities.

Politico’s Weekly Agriculture
Inside Trump’s farm raid tensions
June 16, 2025

• After intense pushback from farm-state Republicans and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, the administration paused ICE raids targeting farms, food processors and rural meatpacking plants to prevent disruptions to the food supply.

• Senate Democrats and uneasy Republicans plan to use this week’s Agriculture Committee reconciliation talks to tweak proposed GOP cuts to farm programs and SNAP that could affect rural economies.

• Agriculture industry groups warn that continued raids and visa uncertainties worsen labor shortages on family farms and in small-town processing plants, boosting support for legislative fixes like the Farm Workforce Modernization Act.

INVASIVE SPECIES

The Progressive Farmer
USDA invests $8.5 million in Texas sterile fly facility to combat screwworm threat at southern border
June 18, 2025

• The USDA announced funding for a new $8.5 million sterile fly distribution facility at Moore Airfield in South Texas to prevent the spread of New World screwworm among livestock.

• The domestic facility will supplement the only existing production site in Panama, increasing weekly sterile‐fly output to protect border herds and the broader U.S. cattle industry.

• Stakeholders say the enhanced capacity is crucial to resume safe live‐animal imports from Mexico and to safeguard rural ranching economies against costly infestations.

• The infestation was caused in part by the withdrawal of federal funding that helped manage the threat.

JAILS, PRISONS AND INCARCERATION

South Dakota Searchlight
Prison group stuck between local opposition and limited space
June 19, 2025

• A previously solid coalition of city officials, including the mayor, sheriff, and county commissioners, initially backed locating a large new men’s state prison near their rural city, hoping to boost local economy and utilize open land south of town.

• Swift and intense public resistance emerged from residents and grassroots efforts like “NO Davison County,” with many wearing red T-shirts at meetings, leading key officials to withdraw support amid community backlash.

• With multiple rural sites now under scrutiny and limited acreage available at existing facilities in Springfield and Sioux Falls, the state task force must navigate both fierce local opposition and constrained space for its prison-building plan.

• Project 2025 calls for more than doubling the capacity of immigrant detention centers; Border Patrol often contracts with private prisons for this, and private prisons are also frequently pitched to rural communities as a means of economic development.

JOURNALISM AND BROADCASTING

Cascade PBS
Rural & Native stations would bear the brunt of public media cuts
June 18, 2025

• Proposed elimination of Corporation for Public Broadcasting funding would cause the most damage to rural and tribal stations in the West, some of which depend on federal grants for up to 70 percent of their revenue.

• Stations like KYUK in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta rely on public radio for life-saving services such as search-and-rescue call-ins and emergency ice-condition alerts in communities without reliable internet.

• Losing federal support would jeopardize local news, cultural programming, and emergency information for isolated audiences who have no alternative media outlets.

Kentucky.com
Opinion: The GOP House cuts to public radio programming, will hurt rural Kentuckians
June 17, 2025

• The House approved a bill to eliminate the next two years of federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, cancelling $1.1 billion already secured for PBS, NPR and their member stations.

• Rural Kentuckians, who often rely on public radio and television as primary news and emergency information sources, face reduced access to educational and community programming.

• Cutting this funding risks undermining unbiased reporting and vital alerts in areas with limited internet connectivity and few alternative media outlets.

The New York Times
Senate faces showdown over Trump’s public broadcasting cuts
June 13, 2025

• Senate Democrats and moderate Republicans warn that rescinding $1.1 billion in CPB funding would force closures of dozens of public radio and TV stations in rural areas where they serve as primary news and emergency information sources.

• Advocates emphasize that nearly half of CPB-funded stations are in underserved communities with unreliable internet access and rely on federal grants to provide educational programming and critical alerts to rural populations.

• Key Republican senators express reluctance to support the cuts, indicating the Senate may block the measure to protect constituents who depend on public media in areas lacking local news outlets.

LAYOFFS AND FUNDING CUTS

CNN
Thousands of Job Corps students face housing and training disruptions
June 4, 2025

• The Department of Labor announced a phased pause in operations at 99 contractor-operated Job Corps centers, displacing roughly 21,000 students who live on campus.

• About one-fifth of those students could become homeless when their housing is cut off, as many relied on Job Corps for shelter and support services.

• A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order blocking the shutdown until a June 17 hearing, keeping the program running while the legality of the pause is litigated.

E&E News
7,500 interior workers took Trump buyouts or early retirement
June 17, 2025

• Under the Trump administration, more than 7,500 Interior Department employees accepted voluntary buyouts or early-retirement offers, shrinking the agency’s permanent workforce.

• The departures have created staffing gaps in field operations, hindering rural land management, conservation projects, and visitor services across national parks and public lands.

• Remaining employees face heavier workloads and delays in critical functions such as wildfire response, permitting, and infrastructure maintenance in remote communities.

Grist
Trump quietly shutters the only federal agency that investigates industrial chemical explosions
June 16, 2025

• The Trump administration’s 2026 budget proposal would eliminate the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board by zeroing out its $14 million annual budget and depleting its emergency fund, ending independent probes of major chemical accidents.

• Closing the agency undermines oversight of petrochemical and chemical plants, especially along the Gulf Coast and in rural industrial corridors, removing a key source of safety recommendations for at-risk communities.

• Without the CSB’s broad authority to examine root causes beyond regulatory violations, plant workers and nearby residents face increased hazards and fewer protections against future disasters.

South Dakota Searchlight
State loses $5.6M in federal funding to expand digital access, help with unemployment insurance
June 15, 2025

• The Trump administration terminated over $5.6 million in federal grants aimed at expanding digital equity in South Dakota, raising the state’s total funding cuts to $23.7 million.

• The grants, awarded under the State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program, would have funded broadband infrastructure, digital literacy training and device access, which are vital for rural communities with limited connectivity.

• The Department of Labor and Regulation said there will be no immediate public impact since its program was in early stages, but it also lost $658,000 under the Unemployment Insurance Integrity Grants, affecting planned portal security and ID verification upgrades.

Capital & Main
DOGE cuts ‘hurting’ residents in Elon Musk’s backyard in rural Texas
May 16, 2025

• DOGE budget cuts have slashed federal support for food banks, canceling truckloads of meals and worsening food insecurity in Cameron County’s rural communities.

• Reduced VA staffing under DOGE has delayed hiring and cut services at South Texas Veterans Health Care System clinics, straining limited rural healthcare access.

• Termination of Institute of Museum and Library Services grants ended housing and transportation support for University of Texas Rio Grande Valley internships, impacting rural students’ educational opportunities.

LIBRARIES AND BOOK BANS

Arkansas Advocate
Law limiting access to LGBTQ books in school libraries began with rural Arkansas district
June 16, 2025

• Mountain Pine School District, serving 585 students, restricted nine LGBTQ+ themed books to those with written parental permission after local parents petitioned for their removal.

• State Rep. Richard McGrew sponsored Act 917 of 2025, which mandates that non–age-appropriate sexual content in K-5 libraries be kept in a locked area and accessible only with parent approval.

• Opponents argue the law empowers a vocal few to limit student access to library materials and risks First Amendment challenges and educator license suspensions.

MINING AND DRILLING

Inside Climate News
A National Quest for Uranium Comes to Remote Western Alaska, Raising Fears in a Nearby Village
June 18, 2025

• Residents of Elim, a rural Iñupiat village of about 350 people on Alaska’s Seward Peninsula, rely heavily on the Tubutulik River for subsistence fishing, hunting, and berry-picking, and fear uranium exploration could threaten these critical rural food and water sources.

• Panther Minerals aims to use in-situ leaching near the river’s headwaters, a method villagers warn could contaminate groundwater and disrupt the ecosystem that underpins their traditional rural lifestyle.

• Even amid economic need, tribal leaders, schoolchildren, and a consortium of 20 tribal governments are holding protests and appealing permits to protect their river-based food systems and the cultural fabric of their remote community.

POLLUTION

NPR
Rural water systems fear cuts to funding to remove 'forever chemicals'
June 17, 2025

• Small rural utilities must spread the high fixed costs of PFAS treatment over fewer customers, making cleanup a generational investment many cannot afford.

• Billions in bipartisan infrastructure funds meant to help remove these contaminants are at risk under the Trump administration’s slimmer budget priorities, threatening grant support for the poorest systems.

• Without federal aid, rural residents face rate hikes or must haul treated water from private sources, compounding affordability challenges for communities already burdened by limited resources.

POPULATION

The New Lede
The role of farming in the exodus of rural America
June 2025

• Farmers and ranchers are under increasing pressure to ramp up production for global demand, which has driven consolidation and intensified mechanization on rural lands.

• This industrial-scale approach has reduced labor needs, prompted rural depopulation, and left small towns struggling as younger generations migrate to cities.

• Despite heightened agricultural output, the decline in farms disrupts local economies, erodes infrastructure, and threatens the social fabric of rural communities.

PUBLIC LANDS

High Country News
Why some Republicans want to sell public land, and why it worries rural communities
June 11, 2025

• Senate Republicans are proposing to sell up to 3.3 million acres of federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service, aiming to raise revenue and address housing shortages in Western states.
  Rural communities and conservationists fear the move could fragment wildlife habitats, threaten migration corridors, and weaken conservation efforts that support local economies and ecosystems.

• Experts warn that much of the land in question is remote, fire-prone, and unsuitable for housing, and that selling it could lead to irreversible changes in land use with little real benefit.

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Politico Power Switch
Decoding the megabill’s threat to clean energy
June 20, 2025

• The House GOP’s proposed megabill threatens key clean energy tax credits by imposing unrealistic deadlines that could disqualify hundreds of projects, especially in wind, solar, and battery storage.

• A Politico analysis found 794 clean electricity projects, many in rural Republican districts, at risk of losing investment and production incentives crucial to local economic development.

• While the Senate version of the bill offers some relief by extending deadlines and preserving certain credits, rural wind and solar developers still face uncertainty and potential funding gaps.

• The article has a nationwide map showing clean energy projects differentiated by the size of the project and by Republican and Democratic House districts.

The Hill
Trump opposes wind energy, warns turbines are “garbage in a field”
June 12, 2025

• President Trump ordered a review of federal wind leases and vowed to block new turbine projects on public lands, alarming rural landowners who rely on lease income.

• Limits on wind development threaten renewable investments that diversify farm earnings.

• Analysts warn that curbing turbines in agricultural regions could slow job growth and economic stability.

Michigan Advance
Tax cuts in the Big ‘Beautiful’ Bill could kill solar power progress
June 16, 2025

• Proposed expiration of the federal solar investment tax credit after 2025 would halt new rooftop and community solar projects, especially hurting rural homeowners and farmers who rely on credits to offset installation costs.

• Eliminating small-scale renewables incentives threatens local solar installers and agrivoltaics ventures that have created jobs and supplemental income in Michigan’s rural counties.

• Without federal tax support, rural schools and municipal facilities may abandon planned solar arrays, undermining long-term energy savings and climate resilience.

REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS, PREGNANCY AND CHILDBIRTH

Wisconsin Examiner
A situation with no good outcome: a mom describes how Dobbs made the loss of her pregnancy harder
June 17, 2025

• After suffering a miscarriage, she faced Dobbs-era restrictions that delayed critical care and forced her to travel over 60 miles to reach a facility equipped for her procedure.

• In her rural county, the nearest hospital without obstetric services offered no grief counseling or follow-up support, leaving her to navigate emotional trauma largely alone.

• She warns that legal uncertainty around abortion and limited local maternal health resources compound physical and financial burdens for rural families experiencing pregnancy complications.

SAFETY NET PROGRAMS

MinnPost
Minnesota’s rural hospitals may be hard hit by ‘Big Beautiful Bill’
June 20, 2025

• The Senate version of the “Big Beautiful Bill” would cap provider taxes, which are used by states to fund Medicaid, at 3.5%, down from the current 6%, threatening revenue for rural hospitals that depend heavily on these funds.

• Minnesota expanded its provider tax to support a Medicaid Directed Payment Program, but the proposed cap could render those efforts moot, putting new rural health funding at risk.

• Analysts and hospital leaders warn that reduced federal matching would likely force closures or service cuts at rural facilities, exacerbating already vulnerable health-care access in small communities.

Bloomberg
To ease impasse over Trump’s tax bill, senators suggest rural hospital fund
June 18, 2025

• Senate Republicans are proposing a dedicated fund to support rural hospitals facing Medicaid reimbursement cuts included in the tax legislation.

• The fund is designed to reassure senators from farming and mining states that their local hospitals will not be forced to close.

• Backers believe this safety net could resolve GOP disputes over provider taxes and secure the votes needed to pass the bill.

Chief Healthcare Executive
Rural hospitals would lose $50 billion in Medicaid cuts
June 17, 2025

• Rural hospitals would lose $50.4 billion in Medicaid funding over the next decade under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

• An estimated 1.8 million rural Americans could lose coverage by 2034 if the legislation passes.

• Kentucky, North Carolina, Iowa, Ohio and Oklahoma face the largest funding losses, with rural hospitals in those states projected to lose between $2.37 billion and $4 billion.

Arizona Mirror
Evidence-free Medicaid fraud claims come to Arizona as GOP pushes health care cuts
June 17, 2025

• Senator Janae Shamp and a pro-Trump coalition alleged 20,000 millionaires are enrolled in AHCCCS and $6 billion in fraud exists, yet have provided no supporting evidence.

• The governor’s office warns that legislation cutting over $300 million in Medicaid funding would jeopardize coverage for 500,000 Arizonans, threaten rural hospital closures and endanger lives.

• Critics say baseless fraud accusations serve to rationalize sweeping Medicaid cuts that would hit rural communities hardest, where residents depend on state health services.

News From The States
GOP senators warn mega-bill’s new Medicaid cuts will hurt rural hospitals
June 17, 2025

• Senate Republicans are considering reducing the Medicaid provider tax rate from 6 percent to 3.5 percent by 2031, a change GOP senators say could force closures of rural hospitals dependent on those revenues.

• Senators Josh Hawley of Missouri and Jim Justice of West Virginia are pushing to freeze the provider tax rate at 6 percent to protect facilities that serve sparsely populated communities.

• Lawmakers urge revisions before the Fourth of July deadline to prevent worsening workforce shortages, rising uncompensated care costs and diminished access to care in remote areas.

SC Daily Gazette
More than 100,000 people in SC could lose health insurance if federal help expires
June 17, 2025

• With the end of expanded federal ACA premium subsidies, an estimated 142,000 South Carolinians could lose coverage by year’s end.

• Rural residents, already facing higher uninsured rates and fewer local providers, will encounter greater coverage losses and must travel longer distances for care.

• The spike in uninsured adults threatens to raise uncompensated-care costs for rural clinics and deepen health disparities among low-income and chronically ill populations.

Reuters
Trump Medicaid cuts could devastate rural health services, hospitals warn
June 13, 2025

• Proposed cuts to Medicaid funding in the White House budget could force rural hospitals to eliminate critical services such as emergency departments, obstetrics and dialysis.

• Rural health systems, which already operate on thin margins and rely heavily on Medicaid revenue, warn that sudden reductions will drive closures and reduce access to care in remote communities.

• Healthcare leaders urge Congress to preserve Medicaid funding to prevent worsening workforce shortages, rising uncompensated care costs and widened health disparities among rural populations.

CBS News Pittsburgh
Medicaid enrollees fear losing health coverage if Congress enacts work requirements
June 15, 2025

• The House-passed reconciliation bill would require able-bodied adults in Medicaid expansion to work, volunteer or attend school 80 hours per month, with many details left undefined and rural enrollees fearing coverage loss due to increased paperwork.

• Rural recipients, who often face long travel distances for care and limited clinic availability, worry that administrative burdens could strip health coverage from chronically ill and disabled residents.

• Advocates caution that imposing work requirements could exacerbate staffing shortages in rural clinics, drive up uncompensated care costs and widen health disparities in sparsely populated communities.

Kentucky Public Radio
Health care providers: Proposed Medicaid cuts could devastate Appalachian Kentucky
June 16, 2025

• Providers warn the House’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” would cut Medicaid by roughly $800 billion nationwide, drop enrollment by 8 million people and cost Kentucky $2 billion per year, endangering clinics across eastern Appalachian counties.

• Rural Appalachian Kentucky, grappling with high rates of chronic conditions and heavy reliance on Medicaid expansion, risks seeing clinics close, staff layoffs and loss of services including emergency care, substance abuse treatment and primary care.

• Facilities like the Primary Care Centers of Eastern Kentucky, which is housed in a converted Kmart and serving predominantly Medicaid patients, would face financial collapse without federal funding, jeopardizing care for thousands of rural residents.

TOURISM AND RECREATION

Kansas Reflector
Freedoms Frontier will cease to exist if Congress rescinds funding for National Heritage Areas
June 16, 2025

• The Freedoms Frontier National Heritage Area, spanning 26 counties in rural eastern Kansas and western Missouri, depends on a $665,000 annual federal appropriation to fund historic preservation, educational programs and heritage tourism.

• Losing this federal support would force the heritage area’s board to disband, eliminate staff positions and halt grant programs that help small towns restore landmarks and spur local economic development.

• Rural community leaders warn that without the NHA, efforts to attract visitors, sustain small businesses and preserve regional culture along trails and historic sites would collapse.

WILDFIRES

The Associated Press
Trump moves to merge wildland firefighting into single force, despite ex-officials warning of chaos
June 12, 2025

• President Trump ordered consolidation of wildland firefighting programs from multiple agencies into a new Federal Wildland Fire Service under the Interior Department.

• Experts and former officials warn that merging thousands of firefighters mid-season could disrupt operations, increase chaos and undermine fire prevention efforts.

• The administration has not released cost or savings estimates and has downplayed climate change factors amid a worsening wildfire outlook.