Rural News Clips, Nov. 21, 2024
Rural votes in Election 2024 by the numbers; Opinion: Our democracy needs a different model for journalism; Farmers need ‘significant’ federal help to survive drop in income, say senators
POLITICS AND ELECTIONS
The Hill
Opinion: Democracy dies in darkness for rural Americans
Nov. 20, 2024
“The Democratic Party must commit itself over the long term to building sustainable power from the ground up, rebuilding democratic infrastructure, establishing and maintaining trusted information sources, and recognizing the need to fight for all people,” writes Teresa Purcell, founder and CEO of The Rural Strong Network.
She shares her insights about what Democrats must do to reforge power in rural areas.
The Daily Yonder
Backroads Ballots: Election 2024 by the Numbers
Nov. 21, 2024
“A new episode of Backroad Ballots podcast breaks down the rural vote numbers to explain its place and significance in the last presidential election.”
Votebeat Arizona
As Cochise County certifies election, Peggy Judd looks back at the vote that upended her life
Nov. 21, 2024
In mostly rural Cochise County, Arizona, Peggy Judd and another Republican county supervisor voted to delay the election results in 2022, based on conspiracy theories that the election had been stolen from Trump.”
But Judd “had to vote yes Wednesday on whether to certify the county’s presidential election results. If she didn’t, she would be not only breaking the law, but also violating the terms of her plea agreement.”
“That decision made her one of a handful of local Republican officials around the country who unsuccessfully tried to halt or delay certification of an election. It also upended Judd’s life.”
“As she prepares to leave public office at the end of the year, she’s still reckoning with the consequences. And the county, a rural region in the southeastern corner of the state along the Mexican border, is still working through the distrust, turmoil, and national attention that came with Judd’s vote.”
Wisconsin Examiner
Rural voters and their discontents
Nov. 21, 2024
Many Trump-voting counties were rural ones, contributing to longstanding stereotypes about a monolithic body politic of deep blue cities and a bright red countryside.”
“But months before Election Day, on a mild August evening in a quaint round barn north of Spring Green, the writer Sarah Smarsh cautioned against oversimplifying the politics of rural voters — and against turning a blind eye to a part of the country that, she said, has too often been written off.”
The Daily Yonder
Commentary: Rural Robeson County Voters Get Tired of Waiting for Results
Nov. 21, 2024
“Robeson County, North Carolina, took longer than a lot of rural, Southern counties to flip to the Republican Party. But it shows no sign of turning back. Will Democrats respond?”
AGRICULTURE
Food & Energy Reporting Network
Farmers Need ‘Significant’ Federal Help to Survive Drop in Income, Say Senators
Nov. 21, 2024
“With action on the new farm bill unlikely until the new year and with net farm income falling for the second year in a row, lawmakers from farm states were calling for financial aid from the government as a stopgap measure this year. A House bill, for example, would provide an estimated $21 billion for producers of the eight major U.S. crops, with payments available for other crops.”
“‘One in five farmers could be pushed out of business by the sharp drop in farm income this year,’ said Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith at a Senate hearing on disaster aid, and Arkansas Sen. John Boozman asked how rural America could survive the combination of high production costs and lower commodity prices without ‘significant help’ from the government.”
DISASTERS
News from the States
Members of U.S. Senate back disaster aid request amid increasing storm severity
Nov. 20, 2024
“The Biden administration’s request for nearly $100 billion in natural disaster response and recovery funding is on track to sail through the U.S. Senate after both Republicans and Democrats expressed strong support during a Wednesday hearing.”
“Members of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, however, voiced concerns with how the federal government prepares for and responds to natural disasters, especially as they become more frequent and more severe.”
“Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff urged the committee to approve an emergency spending bill this year that would deal with damage sustained by farmers, ‘who are in acute distress’” after Hurricane Helene “harmed more than 1.5 million acres of timberland and caused widespread destruction to poultry, cotton, cattle, blueberries, pecans, peanuts, tobacco, vegetables, citrus and soybeans.”
Those are largely specialty crops that don’t have enough insurance coverage to mitigate the damage.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Georgia Recorder
Commentary: Trump deportations, tariffs will stifle Georgia’s farming and tax-subsidized EV industries
Nov. 21, 2024
“The high tariffs championed by the incoming administration are incompatible with a global economy. Tariffs are designed to break that system, to slow if not stop the container-ship traffic into Savannah, Brunswick and other ports. When other countries retaliate by raising tariffs of their own, as they will, America will also export considerably less as well.”
“Leveraging federal and state incentives, Gov. Brian Kemp has also attempted to make the state a global leader in electric vehicles and batteries, a bet with enormous potential but still uncertain success. Among other projects, state and local officials have committed $3 billion in incentives to lure a new Hyundai electric-vehicle plant near Savannah and a Rivian electric-vehicle plant east of Atlanta.” But Trump’s reluctance to invest in electric vehicles and other climate-friendly tech could hurt Georgia’s economy.
Mass deportations would hurt local economies, especially the farming sector.
EDUCATION
The Daily Yonder
Can ‘Virtual Reality’ Courses Provide Tangible Gains for Rural Colleges?
Nov. 21, 2024
“The Dreamscape Learn program, which has served over 25,000 students at Arizona State University since launching in 2022, is now expanding beyond Arizona in ways that could benefit rural students.”
The 74
Q&A: Nation’s First School Counselor Residency Launches in Rural CA
Nov. 21, 2024
“Amid the youth mental health crisis, a new residency model from the California Center on Teaching Careers could transform counselor shortages.”
News from the States
McMahon pick reignites Democrats’ objections to Trump education plan
Nov. 20, 2024
“Congressional Democrats largely reserved judgment Wednesday on President-elect Donald Trump’s pick of Linda McMahon as his nominee for Education secretary, even as they raised concerns about Trump’s plans to eliminate the department.”
Rep. Bobby Scott, ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, said “I am staunchly opposed to President-elect Trump’s education agenda which seeks to abolish the Department of Education, eliminate funding for low-income and rural K-12 schools, scrap the expansion of school meals, and make it more difficult for student borrowers to repay their loans.”
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education, said, “Schools across the country, including those in rural communities, rely on federal funding to help them meet the needs of their students, especially low-income students and students with disabilities.”
HOUSING
Kansas Reflector
Rural Kansas needs thousands of homes per year to address shortage, lawmakers hear
Nov. 21, 2024
“Rural Kansas needs around 4,000 new homes per year to meet a growing population’s housing needs and address the state’s housing crisis.”
“From legislation enabling zoning reform at the local level to boosted tax credits for developers, Kansas legislators heard about a myriad of options this week to increase the state’s housing supply.”
“A major focus for state lawmakers is finding ways to increase the availability of affordable housing because a majority of low-income Kansans and about 27% of all Kansas residents are spending more than 30% of their income on housing costs such as rent payments, mortgages and utilities.”
JOURNALISM
The Washington Post
Opinion: Our democracy needs a different model for journalism
Nov. 21, 2024
Fewer people than ever are consuming conventional news, or any news whatsoever. “However, there is a part of the news ecosystem that seems to be growing by leaps and bounds: nonprofit news, especially the juggernaut ProPublica, which has been responsible for buckets of scoops that for-profit media have missed,” writes Jennifer Rubin.
ProPublica relies on philanthropy and has established state and regional hubs across the country to help fill news deserts.
“Moreover, ProPublica has pioneered an inventive partnership with local papers all over the country. ProPublica provides an enterprising investigative reporter with salary for a year plus the infrastructure necessary to report the story, including editors, research assistance and lawyers.”
PUBLIC LANDS
Nevada Current
Commentary: Cortez Masto shows Utah how public land sales are done
Nov. 21, 2024
“While some folks would want you to believe that there are stark differences in the political parties’ attitudes toward federal land ownership, Nevada politicians betray the common sentiments that conservatives want public lands sold and liberals don’t,” writes Kyle Roerink, executive director of the Great Basin Water Network.
“Look no further than Nevada Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, whose legislation to sell off federal lands in Clark and Washoe counties passed in a U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources’ work session.”
Essentially, she wants to allow more federal lands to be sold around the outskirts of Las Vegas to keep it from being developed. The state is already struggling to get enough water, so anti-development sentiment is strong.
REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
The Washington Post
Antiabortion groups plan new crackdowns, emboldened after election
Nov. 20, 2024
“Antiabortion advocates are moving aggressively in the wake of the election to devise new measures to punish people and organizations that help women get abortions, feeling emboldened to crack down on the flow of abortion pills into states with bans and no longer burdened by fear of political backlash.”
That’s going to affect rural areas disproportionately, since they already have a more difficult time accessing abortion.
A leading antiabortion organization wants to use the Comstock Law to justify prosecuting providers who send abortion pills through the mail.
“A Texas lawmaker introduced a bill one week after the election that would allow private citizens to sue internet providers for hosting abortion pill websites, part of a broader legislative push to target online clinics.”
“And the largest antiabortion group in Texas is planning a new wave of legal action in early 2025, looking for men interested in suing people who helped their female partners get abortions.”
What happens in Texas is significant since other states often follow their lead on conservative legislation, especially concerning abortion.
RURAL LEADER UPDATES
State Tech Magazine
How Small and Rural Cities Can Boost Grant Funding
Nov. 20, 2024
“To take full advantage of online local government services, healthcare and other resources, residents need robust connectivity capabilities — which still aren’t available in some areas of the U.S.”
“The expense involved in installing fiber, for instance, can be beyond the scope of local governments’ budgets … Other funding sources, however, may be an option, including federal grants.”
The article has tips for how smaller communities can access these grants.