#It’s time to fund the government—especially WIC! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thxnews · 8 months

Text

Government Shutdown Threat: OMB Director Addresses

A Fragile Bipartisan Accord

In a stark reminder of the fragility of bipartisan agreements, the nation is now on the brink of a government shutdown just four months after President Biden, House Republicans, House Democrats, Senate Republicans, and Senate Democrats came together to forge a budget deal. This deal, which garnered a significant majority in Congress and received the President's signature, was a solemn commitment to the American people aimed at curbing the deficit, safeguarding vital programs, and ensuring uninterrupted government operations. Standing Firm and the Lone Dissenters As the government's funding deadline looms, four of the five parties involved in the initial agreement continue to uphold their commitment. However, the House Republicans have, regretfully, chosen to renege on their part of the bargain. They now find themselves isolated on an island of their own creation, a solitary force responsible for the looming threat of a government shutdown.

A Breach of Commitment

House Republicans' action not only breaches the agreement but directly violates a law signed by the President. House Republicans have laid out their funding demands for the government in the continuing resolution they are currently considering, and the terms are straightforward. The Cost of Disruption Rather than working collaboratively across party lines to ensure the government's continued functioning, House Republicans are tripling down on their demands to slash funding for programs that millions of Americans rely upon. These demands mirror the contentious tactics previously employed in the debt ceiling debates, which threatened the full faith and credit of the United States. The Devastating 30 Percent Cuts Notably, their proposed bill includes a staggering 30 percent reduction in critical areas of government spending. These cuts would lead to the elimination of 12,000 FBI agents, nearly 1,000 ATF agents, and over 500 local law enforcement personnel. Additionally, it would force nearly 300,000 children out of the Head Start program and deprive more than a million seniors of crucial nutrition services, such as Meals on Wheels. The High Stakes of a Shutdown Furthermore, House Republicans are willing to trigger a government shutdown if their demands are not met, a move that could have dire consequences for the economy and national security. Such a shutdown would result in over 2 million service members going without their paychecks, further delays in long-term disaster recovery efforts, and jeopardized nutrition assistance for nearly 7 million women and children who rely on the WIC program. Small businesses would also suffer, losing out on more than $100 million in loans each day. Impact on Federal Workers and Contractors In addition to the 2 million service members impacted, more than 1.5 million federal civilian employees, a significant portion of whom are veterans, would miss their paychecks. This includes vital roles such as meat and food inspectors, Border Patrol agents, air traffic controllers, and TSA agents. Furthermore, federal contractors, who play a crucial role in serving the nation, have no guarantee of receiving back pay, leaving thousands vulnerable in these uncertain times.

A Call for Accountability

The message from the Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young is clear: House Republicans must honor the agreement they previously struck and for which they voted, fulfilling the responsibilities they were elected to perform. Recent events underscore the urgency of this request, especially considering that an overwhelming 76 senators, both Democrats and Republicans, voted to advance a bipartisan bill to keep the government running.

The Bottom Line

In conclusion, the call for action is unequivocal - a deal made must be a deal upheld. It's time for extreme House Republicans to put aside political games and recognize the lives and livelihoods at stake. The nation's stability, its citizens' well-being, and the integrity of their elected representatives are all on the line as the specter of a government shutdown looms. Sources: THX News & The White House. Read the full article

#Bipartisanbudgetagreement #Consequencesofgovernmentshutdown #Deficitreductioncommitment #Federalworkersandcontractors #Governmentfundingdeadline #Governmentshutdownthreat #HouseRepublicans'challenge #Impactof30percentcuts #OMBDirectorShalandaYoung #PresidentBiden'sbudgetdeal

0 notes

nathanielbuildsatesseract · 4 years

Text

Another counterargument I didn’t bother addressing yesterday is the fact that schools provide meals and childcare to children. This is a reasonable argument against total abolition, but woefully insufficient to justify the status quo. Let’s talk about how we could do better while satisfying these basic needs.

First off, let’s be 100% clear that the main economic function of public education, besides signalling bullshit-tolerance, is providing state-sponsored daycare for children between the ages of five and eighteen. I think we can all see why this is a dumb way to do things. Kids at the upper range are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves, as most of us know because we remember staying at home during summers in high school. Kids from age zero to five, however, don’t get any universal state-sponsored support at all, beside a tax credit.

Some people argue that this means we need government-funded pre-schools. This is a dumb idea that only exacerbates the problems of the existing educational system. For one thing, it only helps families with dual incomes, which is already enough of a trap as it is. It’s great for single parents, I’ll give you that, but if one parent wants to stay home with the baby, they don’t get any benefit out of it.

Of course, a lot of universal pre-k proponents want to make it mandatory, which again, stop with the child jail.

The better option is obviously to just give money to parents. Get rid of the child tax credit (it’ll make filing easier) and just give the parents money. They can choose to spend it however they see fit. Some will waste it. Some parents waste the child tax credit, too. But on the bright side, #ChecksChecksChecks helps all parents, not just those who earn enough to make it worthwhile to itemize their deductions.

My proposal partially sidesteps this objection by keeping public K-6 in place. We can get the money for the child benefit from the existing expenditure on 7-12. Currently, at all levels of government, the US spends around $700 Billion per year on education. If we assume that roughly half of this is spent on elementary schools, that leaves on the order of $350 Billion to work with. There’s roughly 70 million minors in the US, so that works out to about $5000 per year, per kid. The child tax credit, by comparison, is $2000. If we roll the two together, the benefit approaches $7000 per year, per kid.

And, of course, any emancipated minor receives the checks themselves.

The other argument has to do with food insecurity. I think this argument is also pretty weak. For one thing, you can buy a lot of Lunchables for $7000. For another, five meals a week (maybe ten, if the school has a breakfast program) is not that much of a stopgap against malnutrition, especially when we consider the whole summer vacation thing.

I want to be extremely clear, though: I am willing to sacrifice literally anything in the education budget to make sure the kids are getting lots of nutritious food. This is more important than even learning how to read. Childhood nutrition has a major impact on adult IQ, and while IQ is a lossy measure, the thing it’s measuring is real and extremely valuable at both the individual and population level. Helping people with small children get good food for those kids is probably one of the biggest things we can do to reduce multi-generational poverty.

This is also the strongest argument for universal pre-school, but for the same reasons as with K-6, it’s not very persuasive compared to a proper childcare benefit. Simply sending people money is a much more direct strategy for getting their kids fed. To be clear, a $7000/year child benefit would probably not cover the cost of daycare. It would cover a significant fraction, however, and bear in mind that I haven’t included other governmental supports in this calculation. Nor the possibility that daycare costs could go down over time if more people are in the market for it.

We might also bias the child benefit towards younger children, since my proposal allows kids to begin working at an earlier age. I’m not sure if that’s really the best idea, though, just something to consider moving forwards.

If we really wanted to, we could do food vouchers in the vein of WIC. My point here isn’t that there’s any specific policy would should definitely pursue without further study. Instead, my goal here is to show that there are alternatives, many inexpensive or even budget-neutral, to the existing public education mishmash. We should be actively pursuing these—oh, and there’s a pandemic going on. But that’s only the second-most dangerous thing about sending your kids back to child jail this year.

#education reform #effortpost

4 notes · View notes

jennymanrique · 4 years

Text

Hunger in the pandemic: 14 million children in the U.S. do not eat the foods they need

Photo: Bloomberg

The number is five times higher than before the coronavirus crisis. And at the recent Democratic and Republican conventions nobody spoke of the hunger ravaging 54 million people in this country, a number that comes close to the levels of the Great Depression.

When Jovanna Lopez realized that the food that immigrants, Blacks and Native Americans received, after waiting in long lines, at the food banks in San Antonio, Texas, was expired or rotten, she tasked herself with working so that these communities could get access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Even more so when organic markets were brimming with producers who only focused on the well-off customers, with astronomic prices, and who refused food coupons.

That’s how, in 2015, this food promoter co-founded People’s Nite Market, a nocturnal market, where nutritious foods replaced the ruined avocados and salads that were being distributed in the food donations. “The situation was difficult before COVID-19,” said Lopez during a press conference organized by Ethnic Media Services. “But when the pandemic started all this poverty and hunger rose and the people with disabilities, or without access to transportation to go anywhere, or even those with immunological problems, all had to stop eating.”

One 85-year-old resident was just eating bread for weeks because no one could visit her due to social distancing, until Lopez’s organization took her a box of rice and beans. Since the beginning of June, thanks to a hard-won grant of $600,000 from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the People’s Nite Market has been able to feed 150,000 families in the area, including undocumented immigrants, with the weekly delivery of 5,000 boxes of products like fruit, vegetables, eggs and rice.

According to Lopez, the San Antonio Housing Authority decided to cancel the food delivery as soon as COVID started and people were trying to help each other, especially those with immunological problems or those under 60, since aid to young people was scarce. “I spoke with a lot of activists and we had the residents start their own community network to access all the resources they might need.”

As an urban farmer, Lopez works with the Garcia Street Urban Farm, a four-acre farm in the western part of San Antonio. It allows people to grow their own food. But this model, though successful, requires an initial investment of $20,000 that many people don’t have. “We’re fighting to get the development department to change its use of public space policies and the government to support community organizations so that families may be farmers,” Lopez pointed out.

54 million hungry people

The situation in San Antonio is the microcosm of a panorama that pales nationally. According to the Census Office weekly surveys (analyzed by the Hamilton Center on Budget and Policy Priorities), in the first two weeks of August, around 14 million children were not receiving the food they need. This amount is equal to the minors living in one-sixth of American homes and is five times higher than before the pandemic.

And according to the economic model by Feeding America, a non-profit organization that has a national network of more than 200 food banks, 54 million people, including 18 million children, will experience food insecurity in 2020. During the Great Depression of 1929 the number was 60 million.

“Since the middle of March we have seen an increase in scarcity of food across the country,” said Ami L. McReynolds, Chief Equity and Programs Officer at Feeding America, an organization that was already helping 37 million people before COVID at 60,000 distribution centers in all the United States.

“The cost of living keeps going up and people are being left without food because their income covers the basic needs of housing, food and transportation. But food costs are flexible. They are the first to get cut when there are problems with resources in the home,” McReynolds added.

Native American, Black and immigrant communities suffer 2.5 times more hunger that white people, and are more affected by unemployment, which is already close to 11%. These households can cover a maximum of $400 in emergencies, have less access to transportation in order to go to the food distribution points, and due to discriminatory practices, they are not homeowners so they live in neighborhoods with less infrastructure and access. Not to mention that they have been the most affected by COVID-19.

“There has been a 60% increase in our services during the pandemic. Many individuals that now come here to our food centers used to be volunteers or donors of the food banks. They are some of our most recent customers,” McReynolds sustained.

Their organization has mutated to new distribution models, like grocery and canned food home deliveries, in order to minimize contact with people, especially senior citizens, of which it is estimated that there are 5.5 million going hungry. There are also technological applications, through which people can order food on line from nearby supermarkets in order to reduce lines at satellite distribution sites. And many banks that work specifically with Latino communities have created alliances with grass root organizations to understand cultural preferences as far as food and to reduce the trust barriers as far as access.

“We know that fear prevents access to food. It’s a concern. We want communities to feel comfortable and safe coming to these centers.”

McReynolds says that even though they have the support of a network of almost 2 million volunteers and even the National Guard, which helps to maintain the health protocols dictated by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), they are still looking for allies.

Federal Aid

Feeding America, for example, provides only one-ninth of what federal programs like SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, more commonly known as food stamps) and WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children) provide. But in the new relief packages to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, resources for these programs run the risk of being cut or approved with insufficient funds.

“Republicans as well as Democrats want to pass certain aid, but the problem is that they want it to be one third of what was approved by the House of Representatives,” said Reverend David Beckmann, president of the Bread for the World institute. “Cutting programs like SNAP in schools, even when they’re closed, will be devastating for many people.”

Beckmann also reminded that this federal aid is not available for undocumented people. Even for resident immigrants, the change by the current administration to the public charge law, makes them hesitant to request aid due to fear of affecting their future immigration legalization process. That’s why other measures are urgent, like immigration and labor reform in order to end hunger, because “it is not enough to just give people food, rather people must be allowed to earn that food.”

The expert said, however, that the absence of the topic at the Democratic and Republican conventions reflects the impact of consultants, who have asked politicians to not use the word ‘poverty’ in the richest country in the world. “Joe Biden’s program would give us a better option to create a healthier economy and reduce poverty,” said Beckmann about the Democratic candidate’s platform. “We can end hunger in eight years if we wanted to,” he concluded.

Originally published here

Want to read this piece in Spanish? Click here

#English #covid_19 #pandemic #hunger #Donald Trump #democratic convention #republican convention #undocumented people #food #food banks #immigrants #african american #indigenous people #urban farm

0 notes

gfiedlerbi214 · 4 years

Text

Unit 6

(Healthy Relationships) Social Health, Spiritual Health, and Community Health

Browse the Overview and Lecture pages. How much/what do you already know about this topic? What are you interested in learning about/initial questions.

The topic of healthy relationships through social practices, social health, and public health were already subjects I am familiar with. Whether it was outlined through different subjects I have previously studied or experienced in real life, there is much to infer about the topics. I believe going into this unit will be a great overview of understanding each topic further. I would be interested in specifically expanding my knowledge of effective communication practices. Lately I have been having difficulty communicating with my spouse. Hopefully, I may be able to benefit from the unit’s takeaways.

Go through the lecture. For each item, take general notes. What facts seem important to know?

Healthy Communication

There is an extensive unofficial list of the many effective ways we can communicate together as human beings.

Healthy communication plays a large role in healthy relationships.

Spiritual Health

Spiritual health is about finding purpose, meaning and value in your life with or without organized religion. It includes participating in activities that are consistent with your beliefs and values, and contributing to the larger society.

Communal spiritual practices can do a great job of connecting us to the larger world, it's also important to consider individual spiritual practices.

What was the point of the videos? What are a few things I learned on the websites, and might the site be useful in the future? What questions do these resources bring up? If you were telling someone else about this class, what would you share from this unit.

The first couple of videos in the unit were Ted Talks. The first was a talk regarding how to have a good conversation. It was pretty insightful because I sometimes find myself having trouble communicating.

youtube

Discussion

Unit 6 Discussion Question: This question focuses on public health, our relationships, and our values. Many Americans live under a constant shadow of "food insecurity", and some live in "food deserts". Do some quick internet searches or watch these videos:

Links to the supplemental videos: https://youtu.be/kQeorPkPLmU

https://youtu.be/uV2XCQZWf_g

My discussion response: America’s hunger-relief organization known as Feed America and networks hundreds of food banks around the nation. The organization ensures that different demographics of our community that are impacted by poverty and hunger the most are provided food and services. There is also a focus on children obtaining nutritious meals despite family financial hardships. The government should look upon the idea of caring for the welfare of their citizens as an outlined responsibility to the job. I believe our government strives to ensure there are accessible resources to those that need assistance but unfortunately this is not always the case. I understand there are programs like WIC and food-stamps but I believe there are still circumstances that fall upon families that still bring hardships. Charities and nonprofits are doing great work providing for those in need. I do feel like it is the responsibility of the individual to feed their family but if there are complications there should be resources available. Stigmas surrounding people “on food stamps” typically mention the idea that these individuals take advantage of this benefit and have no means of financial prioritization. Unfortunately, there is a small amount of truth to this stigma but it most definitely doesn’t characterize the entire population. I feel like this very small percentage of individuals have been overdramatized over several years by Hollywood and media by putting distasteful ideas towards welfare programs and food stamps. I personally feel like there is a true injustice being placed on those that desperately need these programs to be in place.

Food insecurity is a very intimidating problem to have, especially when you have a family to care for or are encountering financial hardships. As a mother, I feel there is no greater fear than to not be able to provide the bare essentials to my child. The provided video about food insecurity in our nation and our gracious food assistance programs was very humbling and addresses such a large issue. We need more funding to go into these smaller organizations that are providing for families they may not have all of the resources, especially those that reside in food deserts. The first video denotes individuals that live in food deserts as, “[someone that comes from a] low-income community, has no access to a car, and lives a half a mile away from a grocery store” (Food Deserts in D.C. | Let's Talk | NPR (2018).). Featured in the second video is The Mitchell County Food Bank, run by community volunteers that strive to ensuring that their neighbor can have a good meal to eat. The idea of “taking care of your neighbor” (A Family Faces Food Insecurity in America’s Heartland | National Geographic, 2014) is the complete opposite of the harshness behind the stigma placed people “on food stamps”. I think those that influence in federal and state levels need to ensure that these great food programs are being created and funded. I think during the current pandemic now more than ever will we be needing more assistance and funding to ensure families that have been affected by job-loss are being given assistance. This could call for an allocation of funding and hope for more community donations. There’s only so much we can do while still balancing the preservation of the health and wellbeing of those around us.

Citations:

A Family Faces Food Insecurity in America’s Heartland | National Geographic (2014). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/uV2XCQZWf_gAbout Us.

(n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.feedingamerica.org/about-usFood Deserts in D.C. | Let's Talk | NPR (2018). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/kQeorPkPLmU

After completions of the discussion I feel as if my peers and myself have similar perspectives on what food insecurities and food deserts are. I found the information in the video eye-opening. I was able to relate the issues back to the current food problems taking place during the quarantine. With a rise of food shortage and millions filing for unemployment, there is a whirlwind of questions circling the community regarding these issues.

After you complete the Homework: What did you learn? What do you want to know more about?

The assignment required us to fill out a Values Assessment Worksheet and a Communications Style worksheet. I learned about the four major communication styles; passive, aggressive, passive-aggressive, and assertive.

1. PASSIVE COMMUNICATION is a style in which individuals have developed a pattern of avoiding expressing their opinions or feelings, protecting their rights, and identifying and meeting their needs. As a result, passive individuals do not respond overtly to hurtful or anger-inducing situations. Instead, they allow grievances and annoyances to mount, usually unaware of the buildup. But once they have reached their high tolerance threshold for unacceptable behavior, they are prone to explosive outbursts, which are usually out of proportion to the triggering incident. After the outburst, however, they may feel shame, guilt, and confusion, so they return to being passive.

2. AGGRESSIVE COMMUNICATION is a style in which individuals express their feelings and opinions and advocate for their needs in a way that violates the rights of others. Thus, aggressive communicators are verbally and/or physically abusive.

3. PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE COMMUNICATION is a style in which individuals appear passive on the surface but are really acting out anger in a subtle, indirect, or behind-the-scenes way. People who develop a pattern of passive-aggressive communication usually feel powerless, stuck, and resentful – in other words, they feel incapable of dealing directly with the object of their resentments. Instead, they express their anger by subtly undermining the object (real or imagined) of their resentments.

4. ASSERTIVE COMMUNICATION is a style in which individuals clearly state their opinions and feelings, and firmly advocate for their rights and needs without violating the rights of others. These individuals value themselves, their time, and their emotional, spiritual, and physical needs and are strong advocates for themselves while being very respectful of the rights of others.

I would definitely love to learn more about appropriate practices to ensure I am choosing healthy methods of communication between my loved ones. I hope I can improve all aspects of my communication

After you complete the Project: How was the experience? Any take-aways?

The project requires that I choose a stress management technique and track four days using this technique. I am too describe me feelings going into the practice, after the practice, along with general details regarding the surroundings of where I perform. For the project I decided to choose yoga. My general experience was that I finished feeling refreshed and energized. The yoga techniques correlated back to my weightlifting regime and was able to feel better about my performance in that activity. My biggest takeaway from the project is that I am in full agreement to adding this practice to my daily routine. I was lucky enough to find a plethora of resources that gave instructions to simple, beginner-friendly, daily yoga routines. A lot of which were free resources.

The project’s instructions are as followed:

Practice your chosen technique 4 different times/days, this week.

Write a journal entry to track each attempt. What did you do? When and where did you do it? How did you feel before doing it? How did you feel after you did it? What, if anything would you do differently the next time? Other thoughts or comments? Be detailed.

Write a paragraph or two summarizing the experience. What do you think about this method? In what circumstances is it most effective? Would you recommend it to others? What tips might you give someone starting out with this technique? If you had to do this project again, would you use the same technique or try something different? Why or why not?

General reflection over the unit? Major Takeaways?

Similar to my takeaway from the project, my biggest takeaway from the unit is that I am in full agreement to adding the practice of yoga to my daily routine.

0 notes

un-enfant-immature · 5 years

Text

Amazon’s new rewards card targets those with bad credit

Amazon this morning announced the launch of Amazon Credit Builder, a new secured credit card offered in partnership with Synchrony Bank. As the name implies, the card is aimed at those who are looking to build their credit history — either to recover from bad credit or to establish new credit. Like other credit products Amazon has launched, the card’s big perk is cash back on Amazon.com purchases — in this case, 5% back on purchases if the cardholder is a Prime member.

The Credit Builder card also has no annual fee, offers special financing on purchases, and includes protection from unauthorized charges. As a secured card, Amazon Credit Builder requires that cardholders submit a refundable security deposit in order to get a line of credit from the bank. This funding isn’t available for purchases made with the card, but rather serves as a way to establish a credit limit.

The deposit can range from $100 to $1,000, says Amazon, and is submitted either by electronic transfer (ACH transfer on Amazon) or via mail.

To pay off purchases, the card is unique in that it allows customers to either choose to make 12 months of equal payments or 6/12/24-month 0% periods for select purchases.

Also a part of the product is the ability for cardholders to track their credit improvement over time as they use the card to make purchases on Amazon.com.

The cardholders receive access to their own personal TransUnion CreditView Dashboard, where they can view their VantageScore credit score for free, use a simulator to understand how different activities will impact that score, get fraud alerts, and access credit education to help them further improve their credit score.

Other financial education provided by Synchrony is also available.

Amazon says that Credit Builder customers may become eligible for an upgrade to the Amazon Store Card after as little as seven months after opening the Credit Builder account, at which time their initial security deposit would be refunded.

Typically, secured credit cards are offered to people looking to improve their credit — but it’s unusual for a retailer to provide their own secured card. For Amazon, however, offering credit to the under-banked or unbanked is another way of expanding its business to a broader market.

Like many online retailers today, Amazon believes that shopping online shouldn’t be a privilege only for the middle class and up. After all, e-commerce sites may often have better deals than brick-and-mortar stores, and the convenience of shopping online can help customers save both gas money and time — the latter a particular issue for those working multiple jobs to make ends meet.

To cater to the under-banked and low credit customers, Amazon already offers a low-cost version of Amazon Prime for those on government assistance programs in the U.S., including including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and Women, Infants, and Children Nutrition Program (WIC) and, as of last year, Medicaid.

More recently, it and other retailers like Walmart began participation in a USDA trial focused on allowing SNAP recipients to shop for groceries online.

While Amazon’s new card may make sense for those on a path to building better credit, it may be better for those who are looking to upgrade to the Amazon Store Card in the future, rather than simply repair their poor credit history.

The card, consumers should note, carries a high APR of 28.24% — higher than the average median APR for retail cards (25.64%).

“This is a solid option for people who are new to credit or rebuilding their credit after prior missteps, but there are some risks to be aware of,” notes Ted Rossman, Industry Analyst for CreditCards.com.

“It’s always important to pay your credit card bills in full, and that’s especially true with this card. The interest rate is very high – 28.24% – and if you fail to pay a 0% promotional offer in full by the time the term expires, you’ll be charged retroactive interest on the average daily balance going back all the way to the original purchase date,” he says.

However, Rossman concludes that when the card is used properly, the card could be useful in improving credit while receiving the cash back perk.

Customers can visit the Amazon Credit Builder page to sign up for the card.

#TechCrunch

0 notes

misst1967 · 4 years

Text

I don’t think they realize that we’re paying for this same 🥛 🥚 butter 🧈 🐓 🥩 Art least 3 times before you get to @Walmart @Aldi @Kroger or other @grocery chain! They @receive government funding (@rescue packages/bailouts/other) EVERY YEAR @USA pays for @WIC @food_STAMPS @new @farming equipment .. @TAXPAYERS @$.$$ then you go @shopping 🛒 spend some more then what’s not used is @trashed and @written off for more @deductions ... #yay they then get more @tax @incentives & @brake’s @oil @household items .. everything’s a tax break .. not look at your @check ✅ 👀 the difference? Try opening a @business withOUT any @expenditure’s #WINNING especially if you’ve already got more than 500 employees and 20 plus locations 🧐

0 notes

actutrends · 4 years

Text

Congress debuts $1.37T spending deal that sidesteps border fight

One plan consists of four expenses, consisting of the Defense, Homeland Security, Commerce-Justice-Science and Financial Solutions costs steps. The other “minibus” holds eight costs to money the departments of Farming, Labor, Health and Human Being Solutions, Education, Energy, Interior, Transportation, Housing and Urban Advancement, Veterans Affairs and State, in addition to the EPA, congressional operations and water tasks.

The agreement in between Democrats and Republicans consists of long-sought cash for research into gun violence, irreversible repeal of 3 major medical insurance taxes, no brand-new financing for international family planning assistance, millions for election security grants, billions in added Pentagon cash and a 3.1 percent pay raise for federal civilian staff members. On tap are billions more than requested by the White Home to help bring out the 2020 census and record funding for the Head Start program for at-risk young kids.

The impasse over border wall funding was solved this time with a compromise. Money for the U.S.-Mexico barrier will remain fixed during the existing fiscal year, at about $1.4 billion, rather than the president’s ask for $8.6 billion. Budget plans for the nation’s two immigration enforcement agencies– Custom-mades and Border Defense, and Migration and Customs Enforcement– are also largely flat-lined.

However the offer does not connect Trump’s hands in having the ability to shift money from other pots of cash, as he has actually carried out in trying to siphon more than $6 billion from military construction tasks, a Treasury forfeit fund and Pentagon counter-drug efforts. While the variety of immigrants ICE can keep detained at any one time will remain the very same under the measure, the compromise does not bar the administration from transferring money to increase that detention number if there is a rise in inbound undocumented immigrants.

The wall funding likewise comes with less stipulations than previously, providing the Trump administration more flexibility to continue constructing the structure in brand-new areas if Congress keeps spending static next time by turning to a stopgap costs bill.

While the hype over the spending offer is largely consisted of to the country’s capital– where the rollout is perhaps the most awaited legal debut of the year– the impacts of the 12 spending bills will be felt in every corner of the country.

The sweeping financing deal would set spending plans for loans to U.S. farmers, financial investment in broadband internet gain access to in rural America and support for state transportation tasks. It would pump cash into initiatives to enhance election security, offer extra food to low-income households through programs like food stamps and WIC, and subsidize energy expenses for individuals who can’t manage to keep the heat on.

” When you’re dealing with 12 costs that affect every community around the nation, you attempt and do the best you can and make sure you’re making life much better for the many individuals you can.

Congressional leaders struggled over the weekend to finish up the remaining disagreements over what would be consisted of in the nearly $1.4 trillion financial 2020 costs text and which policy expenses would ride in addition to the appropriations procedures.

Like every year-end fiscal deal, the “must-pass” procedures ended up being something of a legal “Christmas tree” during those endgame settlements. Because the steps will be the last significant costs to clear Congress prior to your house and Senate adjourn for the vacations, legislators and industry advocates defended their pet policy measures to be tacked on.

In a win for the health care market, leaders accepted include language that would completely reverse three significant health taxes that were supposed to help spend for Obamacare, including the Cadillac tax on costly company strategies, a 2.3 percent tax on medical gadgets and a health insurance charge.

Provisions to fortify retirement advantages for 10s of thousands of coal miners will likewise sail to enactment upon the coattails of the appropriations expenses, as well as a seven-year extension of the Export-Import Bank. The National Flood Insurance Program would be extended through Sept. 30, and the Secure Rural Schools program would be extended for two years.

For the first time in more than two years, Democrats notched a triumph in funding for research into weapon violence.

The legislation would also offer $417 billion for medical research study at the NIH, a nearly 7 percent boost over current funding.

Republican leaders are touting the reality that the deal does not consist of brand-new funding or directives for worldwide efforts to help household preparation and reproductive health. They are happy that the legislation would deliver a $22 billion increase in defense spending, as well as a 3.1 percent military pay increase– the biggest bump in a decade.

Democrats are especially pleased the costs include $425 million for election security grants that were not moneyed throughout the previous fiscal year, the 3.1 percent pay raise for federal civilian workers and $7.6 billion for the 2020 census, in an increase of nearly 23 percent above the president’s request. The legislation would supply record-high funding for Head Start, so-called Title I grants the federal government doles out to schools with high concentrations of low-income families, and grants that assist states improve the quality and affordability of child care.

Although political sparring triggered congressional leaders to blow beyond the start of the fiscal year by more than two months, their struggles this time were a far cry from the appropriations fiasco of December 2018 and the record-setting federal government shutdown that followed. The compromise emerged from uncommonly collegial settlements in current days in between leaders in both parties, with motivation from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Trump’s leading delegate, in the deal-making talks.

Just like other spending negotiations since Trump took office, discord over financing for the border wall was the primary problem that postponed the final arrangement, even after Mnuchin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi struck the initial budget deal the president signed in August to avoid sequestration cuts and set greater general spending limitations for the military and non-defense programs.

On the border wall problem, Congress likewise rejected the president his dream of renewing the $3.6 billion the administration took from the military building tasks.

The post Congress debuts $1.37T spending deal that sidesteps border fight appeared first on Actu Trends.

0 notes

bountyofbeads · 5 years

Text

Food stamps, housing subsidies and other services for America’s poor at risk as shutdown drags on

https://wapo.st/2Fm9KRw

#Trump, and the #GOP, have for a long time wanted to get rid of these programs. The GOP, and especially Trump, have not one human cell of empathy and compassion for the most vulnerable among us.

#TrumpShutdown #trumpgop #impeachtheMFNow

Food stamps, housing subsidies and other services for America’s poor at risk as shutdown drags on

By Tracy Jan and William Wan | January 09 at 3:40 PM EST | Washington Post |

Posted January 9, 2019 |

The waterlogged ceiling of Betty Gay’s rural Kentucky home sags so low that she hits her head on the light fixture. She’s only 5-foot-1. When it rains, the retired nurse’s aide covers her bathroom floor with buckets and towels. Mold festers on the damp walls.

Gay, 70, was counting on a $20,000 loan from the Agriculture Department this winter to patch the hole in the roof of the ranch-style Mount Sterling home she’s lived in for 30 years.

But the money is on hold.

The agency can’t process Gay’s application because its workers have been furloughed. Also suspended: the processing of thousands of USDA loans to low-income rural Americans to help them build or buy homes.

As the partial government shutdown continues into its third week, the impacts are falling hardest on those who can afford it the least — and the effects will grow even more punishing if key agencies remain paralyzed beyond Feb. 1 and into March. At risk: food on the table for millions of vulnerable households, rental assistance and other safety net programs.

“I’m just at my wit’s end,” said Gay, who’s been living with the leaky roof for a year, and now the front door hardly closes. Still, she counts herself among the lucky. “I just thank the Lord I don’t have small kids to feed.”

Trump last week threatened to keep the government partially closed for months, even years, if the impasse over the border wall continues.

Under criticism, the Trump administration this week moved to shore up one of the most important pillars of the social safety net, the food stamp program, which benefits 38 million Americans and whose funding was due to run out at the end of January.

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said Tuesday that the agency would rely on a little-known budget provision to give states the money for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for the month of February ahead of time — by Jan. 20 — to circumvent the expiration of federal appropriations.

Perdue also ensured that other nutrition assistance programs, including school meals and a program for mothers and young children, would be funded through February. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) provides food, baby formula and breast-feeding support to 7.3 million mothers and children under 5 years old.

But officials could not promise that those benefits would continue if the shutdown lasts until March. The food stamp program has a $3 billion reserve, which would cover less than two-thirds of the $4.8 billion in benefits distributed each month.

Beginning in March, families could see an average cut of at least $90, or close to 40 percent, assuming the agency spreads the $1.8 billion shortfall evenly across the 19 million households receiving SNAP benefits, according to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

The USDA has not said what it would do in the event the shutdown lasts that long. When the SNAP contingency money runs out in April, the food assistance program will probably be closed altogether, anti-poverty advocates said.

“At that point, it will take Congress taking some sort of emergency action to fund the program if the government doesn’t reopen,” said Rebecca Vallas, vice president of the Poverty to Prosperity Program at the left-leaning Center for American Progress. “We will see hunger in America skyrocket. It’s going to take more than just flipping a switch to make things right after this.”

Already, more than 2,500 grocers and other retailers are no longer accepting food stamps because their SNAP licenses were not renewed before the shutdown started Dec. 22, according to the Food Marketing Institute, an industry group.

Federal funding has also been shut off for cash welfare benefits, known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), for 3.4 million of the poorest Americans, the majority of whom are children. For now states are picking up the financial burden — $4.2 billion they were to have received from the Department of Health and Human Services to cover January through March. States are providing benefits by cobbling together previously unspent federal funds with state dollars.

“We don’t know at what point states will start to panic and that will start to affect people relying on TANF,” said Elizabeth Lower-Basch, a social safety net expert at the Center for Law and Social Policy.

If the government does not fully reopen by Feb. 1, nearly 270,000 rural families who receive federal rent subsidies through the Agriculture Department would also be at risk of eviction because their landlords would no longer be paid, said Bob Rapoza, executive secretary of the National Rural Housing Coalition.

“These are the poorest rural people in the country,” Rapoza said. “They’re farmworkers, they’re senior citizens, they’re disabled.”

An additional 2.2 million low-income households receiving rent assistance could be put in jeopardy in March when funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Section 8 voucher program runs out.

State and local public housing agencies would also stop receiving money to operate more than 1 million public housing units in March.

And another 100,000 low-income tenants are already at risk because HUD did not have staff in place during the shutdown to renew at least 1,150 affordable housing contracts that expired in December.

That means apartment owners will not be paid and must now dip into their reserves to cover their mortgages — which they may not be able to do indefinitely.

HUD officials told The Washington Post this week that furloughed staffers have been called back to work to scour agency accounts for money that could be used to cover contracts that expired before the shutdown. But those that expired after Dec. 22 remain in limbo, with payments possible only after the earlier batch of contracts are renewed.

The agency sought to downplay the impact of the expired contracts.

“No one has ever been evicted because of a shutdown, and the landlords have always been made whole,” said HUD spokesman Jereon Brown.

But he acknowledged that more contracts expire with each day that the government remains closed. Another 500 contracts are scheduled to expire by the end of January, and 550 in February, the agency said.

The risk of eviction for low-income tenants grows the longer the government remains closed, say housing advocates.

“The longer the shutdown continues, the more the lowest income people will be hard hit,” said Diane Yentel, president of the National Low Income Housing Coalition. “If we get to March, we’re going to be looking at a potentially significant number of evictions.”

HUD also announced Wednesday there could be major delays in the disaster relief funding it sends to Puerto Rico, Florida, and a number of other places because of the shutdown, saying it likely would not be able to meet a timeline set by Congress.

The shutdown has hit Native American tribes especially hard because so many of their basic services depend on federal funding, as a legacy of their negotiated treaties with the U.S. government.

U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kan.) — a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation and one of two Native American women newly sworn into the U.S. House of Representatives this month — said one tribe witnessed a member die during the shutdown because road crews did not plow snow-filled roads and an ambulance could not get through. She did not provide further details, saying she wanted to respect the tribe’s privacy.

Several tribes have reallocated funds to keep hospitals and clinics open on their lands. But staff at those hospitals has already grown thinner, Davids said.

“For many in these communities, this is the only way people can access health care,” she said.

Kerry Hawk Lessard, executive director of Native American Lifelines — a Baltimore-based group that provides health assistance to Native Americans living in urban areas — said she’s had to turn away members seeking rides to doctor’s appointments and halt funding for previously promised eyeglasses as a result of the shutdown.

Nonprofit groups in Washington, D.C., say they are making contingency plans after facing an uptick in calls from furloughed federal workers — with 362,000 of them living in the area — as well as families starting to panic about losing a slew of social safety benefits.

The Capital Area Food Bank in Northeast Washington revamped its website to lead with a tutorial on how to get food during the shutdown. The food bank sought assurances from federal authorities that the government will continue supplies of food and is trying to persuade grocery stores and other partners to help shore up dwindling supplies.

“We’re hearing from first-timers trying to understand how we work, what the hours are, whether there’s any near their homes,” said Radha Muthiah, the nonprofit’s president and chief executive.

Valerie Beaudin, 51, who was furloughed from her job as U.S. Census geographer, spent Tuesday morning handing out supplies at a food pantry in Huntingtown, Md., during a special event for federal workers.

Some were young, newly hired workers with no savings. Others were couples where the husband and wife both worked for the federal government.

“They were grabbing everything from luncheon meat to oranges to diapers and baby supplies,” Beaudin said.

Muthiah said Capital Food Bank has started talking about creating a fund for future shutdowns.

“We have an emergency cushion we use for natural disasters like floods, tornadoes,” Muthiah said. “We’ve never had to allocate for shutdowns before, but given how things are shaping up, this may be the new norm.”

Jeff Stein, Damian Paletta and Amy Goldstein contributed to this report.

#donald trump #u.s. news #politics #trump administration #republican politics #immigration #president donald trump #trump #republican party #politics and government #white house #borderwall #trumpshutdown

0 notes

stogutrosenberry · 7 years

Text

New NACCHO president on Zika, equity & the ACA: ‘We can’t do this alone. We have to do it together’

Umair Shah’s story isn’t an uncommon one in public health. Starting out in medicine, with a career as an emergency department doctor, he said it quickly became clear that most of what impacts our health happens outside the hospital and in the community.

Today, that philosophy drives his work as executive director of Harris County Public Health (HCPH) in Houston, Texas — an agency that serves the third-largest county in the nation, home to about 4.5 million residents. In fact, Shah, who first joined the agency in 2004 and become director in 2013, said the agency’s mantra is this: “Health happens where you live, learn, work, worship and play.” Last year, HCPH became the first public health department in Texas to be selected as Local Public Health Department of the Year by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), which recognized HCPH for its commitment to engagement, equity and innovation.

Take for example, its work with Microsoft on mosquito “smart traps.” The traps, now being piloted in Harris County, can identify a mosquito by the oscillation of its wings and capture data on the environmental conditions at the time it was caught. The hope is that public health practitioners like Shah can eventually use all that data to predict where disease-carrying mosquitos will show up and where the agency should deploy the preventive measures that head off potential disease outbreaks.

“We’re not looking at the public health of yesterday or today, but toward the public health of tomorrow,” Shah told me. “That’s how we’re positioning ourselves.”

In July, Shah became the new president of NACCHO. He spoke with the Pump Handle last week about achieving healthy equity, the impact of the Affordable Care Act and elevating the public health narrative. (The following has been edited for clarity and length.)

Pump Handle (PH): In becoming NACCHO’s new president, you talked about changing the “invisible narrative” around public health. Why do you believe this is important and how do you recommend local public health workers go about that?

Shah: The challenge we have in the public health field is that we’re all very good at what we do and yet our work is largely invisible — like the disease outbreak that doesn’t happen — and so it’s hard to show the value of that work. So raising the visibility, drawing attention to actual work being done…that helps people value that work and then they become interested in investing in that work.

Here in Texas — because we’re such a football-loving state — I like to describe public health as the offensive line of the team. There’s lots of other players on the team that often get the recognition… but it’s public health doing all the blocking and pushing that allows the rest of the team to be successful.

We have an investment issue in our country. The vast majority of health-related expenditures go to health care delivery systems and not to public health and prevention. So we need to be thinking about how we can reframe that and I believe the public health workforce has role in that. We are the ambassadors of our field and when we’re willing to raise the visibility of the work we do, it translates into reframing the value proposition, if you will, of public health.

PH: Your agency has a strong focus on embedding health equity principles in everyday public health work. Why do you believe equity-focused work is so important at this particular time?

Shah: Equality really is the lens by which we approach so many of the activities we’re engaged in. At HCPH, we have a strong stance toward incorporating the social determinants of health into everything we do, from theoretical modeling to our response to Zika — we even have a health equity coordinator embedded in our multidisciplinary (Zika) response team.

We’re finding that communities are feeling that they’re being left out. …They feel like they don’t have a voice or don’t see a role for themselves in the decision-making process. Health equity really allows us to (elevate) community voices and perspectives as well as the social factors that determine health. Often, we find that it’s the areas not traditionally in the purview of public health that we need to be focused on. That’s why we’ve taken such an assertive role in incorporating health equity into our work.

PH: You work in a state at high risk of Zika virus. Can put in context just how much work and coordination it takes to prepare for Zika and the possibility of a local outbreak?

Shah: HCPH confirmed the first Zika positive case back in January 2016, and it was before a lot of the interest happening around Zika domestically. That meant we had to build the plane while we were flying it.

We worked very diligently with our federal, state and local partners, and with a number of health care organizations, hospitals systems, providers, medical societies — all sorts of different stakeholders. At the end of day, it was an incredibly instructive process in the real need for government to work together with the public in ensuring the health of our community and in preventing what could have been a remarkably worse situation.

Our department spent $1.5 million of its resources on Zika last year. We waited quite a bit of time for things to come through from the federal level and for Congress to approve a package, but we couldn’t rest on our laurels. We had to be very aggressive.

We’ve been investing an incredible amount of resources, staffing and capacity building not just in mosquito control, but in epidemiology, communications, policy work, environmental and veterinary work. This multidisciplinary approach gives us the best opportunity to respond to Zika in our community. That said, it only takes one mosquito to get Zika from a traveler from a Zika-affected area and — boom — now we have Zika in the community. We have to stay vigilant and that’s the real challenge.

PH: According to recent data from your agency, Harris County’s infant mortality rate is higher than both the state and national averages, with black families experiencing a disproportionate amount of that burden. What is your agency doing to address this?

Shah: This goes back to the health equity issue.

There’s a number of things we’ve been doing. We’re participants in Global Latch through our WIC program, which is an opportunity to remind new mothers about the importance of breastfeeding. We’re members of the Harris County Child Fatality Review Team, where we review cases of children who have died through a prevention and policy lens. We operate 16 different WIC sites or prevention clinics throughout the community, where we use an equity lens approach to address the mitigating factors that impact health with a particular family.

We see this as a global issue that requires a multifaceted approach from the health department. So it’s not just an approach of our clinics and WIC sites or just the human health side; but really believing it requires a look at the (social) conditions too.

PH: How important has the Affordable Care Act been for the community you serve?

Shah: The ACA has had a great impact both in widening access and in creating opportunities for us to partner with the health care sector.

Sometimes there’s this perspective that because Texas didn’t expand Medicaid, that we haven’t made any efforts, or few efforts, to improve coverage. But even without Medicaid expansion, the uninsured rate has dropped both statewide and locally. Enrollment increased in the marketplace from 135,000 in 2014 to almost a quarter-million in 2017. But we still have a good portion of our community, especially in certain communities, who aren’t aware of how to access health care coverage. We have to make sure people are aware they may be eligible for subsides.

But we also have to recognize that while health care coverage is important and necessary, it’s not sufficient. We need to recognize that health goes beyond health care…and when health care and public health work together, we can leverage the entirety of our systems to improve the health of our community.

What’s been missing in all the discussions around the ACA repeal is that a significant portion of CDC funds is in the ACA’s Prevention and Public Health Fund (PPHF) — if that fund went away, you’d have a 12 or 13 percent cut to CDC’s budget. We receive about $1.5 million through the PPHF…and so if you have a reduction in dollars at the federal level, you start to have an impact on what’s happening in Texas to the tune of about $28 million. That’s just through the health departments — the PPHF monies also go to community groups. We have to remember public health in all of this.

PH: The PPHF has become a critical source of funding for a variety of public health activities at the local level. Can you provide a couple examples of what we stand to lose if that fund disappears?

Shah: We’d lose dollars for surveillance, epidemiology, infectious disease response, health promotion. Many of those dollars aren’t just about disease, but about infrastructure and capacity. For example, when we have something like Zika or Ebola, we can chase the dollar by being reactive or we can have a system where local and state public health are well-resourced. That means we’re not being reactive to the next disease of the day, but proactively building capacity so we’re ready to respond to myriad issues.

PH: As a physician, you came to public health via the world of medicine. As such, what’s one thing you wish public health workers better understood about their colleagues in medical care? What’s one thing you wish those in medicine better understood about public health?

Shah: I don’t want to forget the importance of the public health-health care interface. What I would say is we can’t do our jobs effectively unless we work hand in hand with each other.

When you look back at Ebola, it is an incredible testament that only Mr. (Eric) Duncan (the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the U.S.) and two additional nurses were exposed. That is an incredible success story, and yet that is also the challenge for public heath. When I treat cancer in a child, I can show you a poster child for cancer treatment. But it’s much harder to show the image of the kids who were prevented from getting cancer in the first place.

At the end of the day, we can’t do this alone. We have to do it together.

Kim Krisberg is a freelance public health writer living in Austin, Texas, and has been writing about public health for 15 years. Follow me on Twitter — @kkrisberg.

Article source:Science Blogs

0 notes

csrgood · 7 years

Text

Western and Rust Belt States Experiencing Persistently High Levels of Need for Basic Services

The most recent update of the Human Needs Index (HNI), a joint project between The Salvation Army and the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, reveals that the level of American need in 2016 (1.239) remained fairly stable compared with 2015 (1.245). In the past decade, the HNI reached its highest level in 2012 (1.331). Several states, however, continue to struggle at levels of need that are above the national average.

The first multidimensional measure of human need based on objective data from a nonprofit on the front lines of providing social services, the HNI serves as a powerful tool to track basic human need, with different indicators and less lag time than conventional government data. A standardized index, the HNI includes seven types of services representing basic human needs: meals provided, groceries, clothing, housing, furniture, medical assistance and help with energy bills. The scale of the HNI begins at 0 – the lowest recorded level of need.

“When we look at the broad national picture, we see overall patterns of stability in the national Human Needs Index. National economic indicators, like the poverty rate, SNAP, and WIC, also showed stability from 2015-2016,” said Una Osili, Ph.D., Director of Research for the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. “Nevertheless, pockets of persistent poverty remain throughout the country. Need is especially prevalent in western and Rust Belt states.”

In 2016, the states with the highest Human Needs Index values were Nevada (4.409), Wyoming (4.026), Pennsylvania (3.234), Alaska (2.195) and Arkansas (2.194).

Regarding changes in need between 2015 and 2016, Wyoming, Minnesota and South Dakota showed the most dramatic increases.

Looking at the past three years of data, Nevada, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Kansas have remained among the 10 states with the highest level of need.

From 2015 to 2016, the data revealed double-digit percentage increases in requests for medical assistance (payments for prescription medicine) in 18 places: Tennessee, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Ohio, Hawaii, Maine, Florida, Mississippi, Maryland, Alaska, Missouri, New Hampshire, Delaware, Nevada, New Jersey, South Dakota, Oregon and Washington, D.C.

“The 43 million Americans still living in poverty must make choices every day – often between basic necessities like medicine or food,” said Lt. Col. Ron Busroe, National Community Relations and Development Secretary for The Salvation Army. “We hope that the ground-level insights revealed in the most recent update of the HNI can assist policymakers and other social services providers to better care for the people who need our help the most.”

About The Salvation Army The Salvation Army, established in London in 1865, has been supporting those in need in His name without discrimination for more than 130 years in the United States. Approximately 30 million Americans receive assistance from The Salvation Army each year through a range of social services: food for the hungry, relief for disaster victims, assistance for the disabled, outreach to the elderly and ill, clothing and shelter to the homeless, and opportunities for underprivileged children. Eighty-two cents of every dollar donated to The Salvation Army are used to support those services in 5,000 communities nationwide. The Salvation Army tracks the level of need across the country with the Human Needs Index (HumanNeedsIndex.org). For more information, go to salvationarmyusa.org or follow on Twitter @SalvationArmyUS.

About the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy The Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy is dedicated to improving philanthropy to improve the world by training and empowering students and professionals to be innovators and leaders who create positive and lasting change. The school offers a comprehensive approach to philanthropy through its academic, research and international programs and through The Fund Raising School, the Lake Institute on Faith & Giving and the Women’s Philanthropy Institute. Follow us on Twitter @IUPhilanthropy and “Like” us on Facebook. For more information, go to philanthropy.iupui.edu.

source: http://www.csrwire.com/press_releases/40002-Western-and-Rust-Belt-States-Experiencing-Persistently-High-Levels-of-Need-for-Basic-Services?tracking_source=rss

#CSR #corporate social responsibility #social good #philanthropy #employee engagement #workplace givi

0 notes

billgsoto · 7 years

Text

Wins for Sustainable Agriculture in FY 2017 Spending Package

US Capitol Building. Photo credit: Eric B. Walker.

After three continuing resolutions (CR), which cumulatively delayed the fiscal year (FY) 2017 appropriations package by over seven months, Congress has finally reached an agreement on funding levels for the remainder of FY 2017. Despite a particularly contentious political environment, one area on which Congress was largely able to agree in the omnibus spending bill was support for sustainable agriculture programs. Overall, we at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) are pleased with the bill, which includes increased funding for: the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program; Farm Service Agency (FSA) loan programs; Value Added Producer Grants (VAPG) program; Conservation Technical Assistance; the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service (ATTRA); and the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), among other programs. We are also thrilled to report that the bill does not cut mandatory farm bill funding from the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), our nation’s largest working lands conservation program.

Overview

After months of negotiations and delays, on Sunday April 30th Congress finally reached an agreement on FY 2017 funding, which will keep the government running until September 30, 2017.

Now that an agreement has been reached, the bill needs to be passed by the House and Senate, and then sent to President Trump for his signature. The current CR expires this Friday, so the bill will need to be acted upon before the end of the week to avoid a government shut down.

So far, there has been little to no signaling from the White House as to what the Administration thinks of the bill, which contains both wins and losses for the President. For instance, Congress’ budget agreement bucks the President’s request for border wall funding, but does include $15 billion in additional funding to “fight terrorism,” a top priority for the President.

The bill—known as an “omnibus”—is actually a package of 12 individual spending bills bundled together, including spending for the Department of Agriculture.

For the USDA and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the two departments that deal most regularly with food and agriculture issues, the bill provides $20.87 billion in discretionary funding – $623 million below the FY 2016 enacted level of $21.75 billion. While FY 2017 includes a few major funding increases over FY 2016, the bill manages to come out with a lower overall price tag due to a rescission of $850 million in un-obligated balances to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program. This means that WIC is costing less than expected, and that the savings can be used for other priorities without harming the program.

In a surprise to most observers, the bill does not contain any new assistance for cotton or dairy producers, a significant point of discussion over the last several weeks. More on that below.

This post breaks down the omnibus as it pertains to NSAC’s farm and food priorities for FY 2017, including:

Conservation

Energy

Research and Food Safety Outreach

Outreach to Socially Disadvantaged Farmers

Rural Development and Farm Loans

Legislative Riders

For detailed funding levels please see our annual appropriations chart.

Conservation and Energy Programs

NSAC applauds Congress for rejecting cuts to CSP in the omnibus package, one of our top priorities for FY 2017. By maintaining farm bill funding levels, CSP will be able to help farmers increase efficiency and improve and protect natural resources by enrolling 10 million acres of working lands this fiscal year. This victory is especially significant given that the House Appropriations Committee’s bill, approved last spring, would have cut the program by 20 percent (a reduction of 8 million acres).

We thank Senators John Hoven (R-ND) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), the leaders of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, as well as Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS), the former chair of the Subcommittee, for defending CSP against cuts.

Unfortunately, as in previous years, the omnibus does include a $181 million (11 percent) cut to the popular Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). This cut will have a direct impact on producers seeking financial and technical assistance to help them conserve water, soil, and other natural resources on and around their farms. Even without cuts, EQIP can typically fund only half of those who apply for the program. The cut included in the FY 2017 package will further increase waiting lists and mean that thousands of farmers and ranchers will be unable to secure the assistance they seek.

Moreover, the $181 million cut to EQIP has ramifications for the popular Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP); because RCPP draws its funding from CSP and EQIP, among other USDA conservation programs, the cut to EQIP means a $28 million cut to RCPP.

Recognizing the critical role that technical assistance plays in helping farmers, ranchers, and foresters plan and implement conservation activities, the omnibus increases USDA’s Conservation Operations budget from $850.9 million to $864.5 million. This is in line with the Senate Appropriations Committee approved level, which was nearly $10 million higher than what the House was seeking.

Conservation Operations is the primary means by which USDA offers conservation technical assistance (CTA) to farmers, ranchers, and foresters. USDA’s ability to deliver conservation programs to producers depends heavily on on-the-ground CTA, which makes up the bulk of the Conservation Operations account. NSAC thanks the leaders of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee for their efforts in securing this important funding.

Energy

We are pleased to report that the omnibus refrains from cutting farm bill mandatory funding for the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), which provides grants and loans to producers and businesses for energy conservation and renewable energy generation. In addition to protecting REAP’s mandatory funding, the bill also provides an additional appropriation for REAP loan guarantees (although slightly less than in FY 2016).

While the omnibus protects farm bill funding for REAP, it did not restore funding levels for the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP), which was cut by 88 percent last year and retains only $3 million of its mandatory farm bill funding.

On-Farm Research and Food Safety Outreach

We are thrilled to report that the budget agreement includes a $2.3 million (nine percent) increase in funding for the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, USDA’s only competitive grant research program with a clear and consistent focus on sustainability and farmer-driven research. This increase brings total SARE funding to $27 million, the highest level in the program’s nearly 30-year history.

This funding helps puts SARE on a solid footing as we head toward the next farm bill, when the program will need to be reauthorized for the first time.

In recent years, USDA has only been able to fund 7 percent of qualified pre-proposals for SARE Research and Education grants. As a result, agricultural advances have been stymied and family farmers have missed out on new innovations that could help them adopt and enhance sustainable farming systems. The increased funding in FY 2017 will help address this bottleneck and get additional worthy projects off the ground in the coming year. We applaud appropriators for investing in farmer-driven research, and particularly commend Subcommittee Ranking Member Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), who has championed this issue and doggedly pursued higher funding for SARE.

We are also pleased to report that the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service (also known as “ATTRA”) received a 10 percent increase in funding, bringing total funding to $2.75 million, in line with NSAC’s request. This increase will help expand ATTRA’s Armed to Farm Program, which helps to train veterans who are interested in pursuing agriculture as a career. Both the House and Senate bill included this funding level, despite a request of only $2.5 million from the previous Administration. We commend Congress for recognizing the vital importance of ATTRA, which serves millions of producers and conservation professionals each year, and hope the new Administration will avoid any future attempts to cut the program.

The omnibus increases funding for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), USDA’s largest competitive grants research program, from $350 million to $375 million. AFRI also received an increase of the same size in the FY 2016 budget. This sizable increase gives USDA the ability to fund more public plant breeding and cultivar development research. Investment in this work is further supported with report language that underscores that AFRI funding should be available to “all priority areas including conventional plant and animal breeding.”

The bill maintains level funding of $4 million for the Organic Transitions research program” and contains no cuts to the Organic Research and Education Initiative (OREI) which remains $20 million (minus a sequester cut of 1.4 million).

Finally, unlike its investment in agricultural research, the omnibus falls far short on funding for food safety training efforts. The Food Safety Outreach Program (FSOP) provides a crucial service to small and mid-sized farmers, processors and wholesalers by helping them to comply with the new and complex Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) rules. While NSAC requested increased funding for the program, the omnibus maintains level funding at $5 million. The major FSMA rules are now final; and farms will soon be required to comply. As smaller operations prepare to comply, now is the time to scale up critical training and technical assistance. Over a hundred thousand producers will be impacted by FSMA, and without adequate training and technical assistance, small and mid-sized farmers will be impacted disproportionately. As such, NSAC will continue to press appropriators to increase funding for this critical program in the next appropriations cycle.

Outreach to Socially Disadvantaged Farmers

Another major shortcoming of the omnibus is the lack of discretionary funding for the Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers program, also known as the 2501 program. While the bill does not cut the program’s $10 million in mandatory funding provided by the 2014 Farm Bill, it does not provide any of the $10 million in additional discretionary funding that NSAC sought, and it even rejects the $3 million that Senate Appropriators had included in their version of the bill. The 2014 Farm Bill cut the program’s mandatory funding in half and added veterans as beneficiaries. Ever since, NSAC has been seeking to restore the program to its former level through the appropriations process. We will continue to fight this fight as the FY 2018 funding cycle picks up.

Rural Development and Farm Loan Programs

The omnibus contains significantly higher funding levels for the Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) Guaranteed and Direct Operating loans as well as for Guaranteed Farm Ownership loans – increases NSAC led the fight for in 2016 when FSA was in danger of leaving thousands of approved farmers in limbo. Without operating loans and access to reliable and timely credit, many farmers would be unable to sustain their businesses, and those new to the industry would likely be unable to even get their operations off the ground. Given the ongoing struggles of the American farm economy, including a prolonged period of low commodity prices, this increase is particularly critical and much appreciated.

All FSA loan programs, with the exception of the Direct Farm Ownership Loan program, receive increases in the omnibus package. The biggest winner for FSA is the Guaranteed Operating Loans program, which receives an increase of $567 million (41 percent) in loan authority over FY 2016 levels. The increase for Direct Operating Loans is $278 million (a 22 percent increase), and Guaranteed Farm Ownership loan funding is increased by $750 million (38 percent). NSAC is hopeful that this large increase in funding for FSA loan programs will help FSA and their private bank partners meet new demand and prevent backlogs for loans in the coming months. NSAC thanks House and Senate agriculture appropriators for recognizing the dire need for this type of support, especially for beginning farmers and ranchers who are unable to secure capital in the private market.

As with loans, the omnibus provides robust funding for a number of critical rural development programs. We commend House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Robert Aderholt (R-AL) and Ranking Member Sanford Bishop (D-GA) for their leadership in securing $15 million in discretionary funding for the Value-Added Producer Grants Program, bumping the program up to a funding level not seen since 2014. This 40 percent increase, which is in line with NSAC’s request, is especially important in FY 2017 because the program has very little funding left from the 2014 Farm Bill. VAPG, one of NSAC’s top appropriations priorities for FY 2017, helps farmers and ranchers develop new farm and food-related businesses that boost farm income, create jobs that can’t be out-sourced, empower local communities and increase rural economic opportunity.

Also within the Rural Development section of the bill, the Health Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) received first-time USDA funding of $1 million. This program, which provides funding to address food deserts and other healthy food access issues has never before received funding through USDA. HFFI efforts are currently being funded through complimentary initiatives at the Treasury Department and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Unfortunately, the final bill provides no discretionary funding for the Rural Microenterprise Assistance Program (RMAP). The 2014 Farm Bill does provide $3 million in mandatory farm bill spending for RMAP in FY 2017, but that is insufficient to maintain the program at current levels. Without additional funding, RMAP is limited in its ability to provide much needed support to rural entrepreneurs during this time of low commodity prices.

As in previous years, appropriators provided no funding for the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Individual Development Accounts (BFRIDA) program. BFRIDA is designed to help beginning farmers and ranchers finance their new and growing agricultural businesses through business and financial education and matched savings accounts. This program could prove a critical component to helping farmers diversify their income during the current downturn in the farm economy if it were funded.

Legislative Riders

Heading into final negotiations, House and Senate leaders were negotiating a long list of policy riders, including provisions to: further obstruct implementation of the Farmer Fair Practices Rules (aka the “GIPSA rider”); add cotton back into Title I of the farm bill; help struggling dairy farmers; and block the implementation of rules regarding school meal nutrition standards, among other issues.

GIPSA Rider

We are pleased to report that the final bill does not include what has been referred to as the “GIPSA rider,” a policy provision used to blocked USDA from moving forward with a trio of rules to help protect contract farmers in their negotiations with multi-national livestock and poultry companies. USDA recently delayed one critical rule until October, but farmers are calling on President Trump to move forward quickly. The lack of a GIPSA rider in the omnibus removes one hurdle to finalizing the rules.

Cotton and Dairy

Though they were aggressively lobbied for, provisions to assist the cotton industry by restoring it to a Title I commodity program and adjusting the Margin Protection Program (MPP) to assist dairy producers were not included in the omnibus.

The omnibus does, however, include report language to benefit both commodities. It directs USDA to write a report within 60 days on the needs of cotton growers. It also asks USDA to consider immediate assistance for dairy producers and clarifies that USDA’S Risk Management Agency has the authority to develop dairy policies that are not constrained by the existing limits on livestock policies.

School Foods Nutrition Standards

The omnibus contains several riders related to delaying or eliminating school food nutrition standards set by the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010.

Language is included to allow a waiver from the current whole grain requirements if the school district can demonstrate any hardship, including a financial one. The current requirements state that all grains served must be whole grain rich, but the waiver will allow districts to reduce that requirement to 50 percent of grains. It also prevents any funds from being spent to strengthen sodium limits in school meals, and eases limitations on the types of milk that participating schools can serve..

National Organic Program Animal Welfare Rider

The omnibus does not contain a rider to prevent USDA from finalizing animal welfare rules for organic production systems. These rules would implement a comprehensive set of animal welfare standards for certified organic production of animals and animal products. The rule was originally published on President Obama’s last day in office with an effective date of March 20. The effective date has since been delayed until May 19. The lack of a rider clears the way for the rule to take effect on May 19, barring any further delays by USDA.

Looking Forward to FY 2018

While the wins for sustainable agriculture in FY 2017 are significant, we must now turn our attention to FY 2018 and a presidential budget request that proposes historic cuts to critical USDA programs.

Appropriators have already begun the process of debating funding levels for FY 2018, even while finishing the FY 2017 cycle. The country is also still waiting to see the full FY 2018 budget request from the White House; the “skinny budget” released last month was just the Administration’s first foray into the budget battlefield. The full budget request is rumored to appear later this month, and is expected to include deep cuts to many important programs.

After they have received the President’s budget, congressional appropriators will take that, and the hundreds of other budget proposals they receive from Members of Congress and stakeholders, and will draft funding bills for FY 2018. We expect this process to continue through the late spring and into the summer.

In the coming weeks and months, we will redouble our efforts to build upon successes and defend the programs that small and mid-sized family farmers, rural communities, and our shared natural resources depend upon. Stay tuned for more information as the FY 2018 process unfolds.

from National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition http://ift.tt/2pFqUSb

from Grow your own http://ift.tt/2pCzSxq

#Grow your own

0 notes

weeklyactionlist · 7 years

Text

Week of March 19, 2017: Action Checklist for Americans of Conscience

Put a great Democrat in Tom Price’s vacant seat.

Support Jon Ossoff for Georgia’s 6th district. Election is 30 days away.

Readers overwhelmed me with requests for this. Please help Georgia.

Donate or volunteer: https://electjon.com/.

I believe in a government led by qualified, trustworthy representatives.

Action: Support an independent investigation--even though nothing seems to be shifting yet.

Call: Your two senators (lookup).

Note: See if your senator is on the committee hearing this bill. Bonus points for calling them if they are. ;)

Script: Hi. I’m a constituent from _ZIP_ calling because I am angry about the appearance of corruption of the president and his team. Will _NAME_ co-sign Sen Cardin’s bill 27 for an independent commission to investigate Russia’s takeover of our elections? (If no or waffle-y:) This is not a partisan issue. Our democracy depends on truth and transparency. As a voter, this is a top issue for me. (If they’re on the committee, ask for a progress update.)

Action: Support the No TRUMP Act.

Call: Your one congresswo/man (lookup).

Script: Hi. I’m a constituent from _ZIP_ calling to express my support for HR 1452, the No TRUMP Act. Donald Trump should have divested of his businesses before entering office. Earl Blumenauer’s bill stops my tax dollar from lining the president’s pockets.

Action: Oppose Sonny Perdue for Secretary of Agriculture.

Call: Both of your senators again (lookup). Vote is this week.

Script: Hi. I’m from _ZIP_ and calling to oppose Sonny Perdue for Secretary of Agriculture. His history of corruption as governor of Georgia has no place in America’s leadership. How does _NAME_ intend to vote on Perdue?

Action: Share your creative skills to support progressive candidates.

Join Prolog: Prolog is a searchable database of professionals who offer their expertise – everything from graphic design to catering to copywriting and fundraising – to Democratic candidates and campaigns, free of charge, in order to regain a Democratic majority in 2018: www.weareprolog.org.

Note: The creator of Prolog is one of our own! Brava!

I believe in my Constitutional right to free speech.

Action: Share with someone who wants actions in Spanish.

Acción: Compartir con alguien que quiere acciónes en español.

Mis amigos tienen buenas ideas participar en la resistencia.

Sitio: https://www.resistancetrpa.org/spanish.

I believe in quality, affordable healthcare for all Americans.

Action: Sway key Republicans to oppose the health care plan.

RISE Stronger made a list of the ten most likely Republicans to oppose the new healthcare bill. If one of them is yours, call and ask them to oppose it.

Check the list: Click here for the image.

Call (only your rep.): (lookup).

I believe my taxes should be used to support the common good.

Action: Oppose 45’s new budget proposal.

Call: Your three MoCs. Make this a separate call from other issues (lookup).

Script: Hi. I am a constituent from _ZIP_ calling to express my deep concern over the president’s proposed budget. Specifically, (choose one or two that concern you most and share a personal story related to it):

I don’t want my tax dollars paying for his wall or a bigger military.

I don’t want to pay a higher TSA fee or to privatize air traffic control.

I support national parks, the prevention of wildlife trafficking, and superfund pollution cleanup.

I support scientific research on the climate crisis and cancer.

I support the EnergyStar program that rates appliances’ efficiency.

I support loan guarantees for small businesses.

I support the arts and humanities, including quality programming like Sesame Street, NPR, and Public Broadcasting.

I support programs like WIC, school meals, housing subsidies, and medical care for people in need.

Honestly, it’s not just the budget, it’s the belief that my tax dollar should support people in need and programs for the public good. Where does _NAME_ stand on this proposed budget?

Deep breath innnnnnn… Deep breath ouuuuuuuut… Only three more to go.

I believe in a woman’s right to quality reproductive health care.

Action: Support funding birth control medication and reproductive care.

Look up: Your MoCs on Planned Parenthood Scorecard.

Call: All three MoCs.

Script: Hi, I’m from _ZIP_ and calling to thank/take issue with _NAME’s_ voting record on women’s health issues. There are several current efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, under cover in the AHCA and in bills like H.R. 354/S.241. I’m asking that s/he vote no on these efforts. In attempting to prevent abortion, they will severely limit access to birth control and other basic reproductive care, especially for those who have few or no alternatives. (Share your own story.) Thank you for advocating for women/Please tell _NAME_ to show his/her constituents that women’s health matters to him/her.

Action: Get involved in the campaign to defend Planned Parenthood.

Click: Go here to discover how you can help.

I believe in the value of my vote.

Action: Support changing to the popular vote model in the US.

Click: http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/.

Use their tools to advocate for your state to elect a president by popular vote.

Acts of Gratitude

Get out your stamps, postcards, and sparkle markers for some gratitude mail.

Thank Sen. Kristin Gillibrand, for speaking out against dangerous firearm accessories.

Address: Leo W. O’Brien Federal Office Building

11A Clinton Avenue, Room 821, Albany, NY 12207

Thank Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), for his new No Hate Act and sending a message that hate and discrimination are un-American.

Address: 90 State House Square, 10th Floor, Hartford, CT 06103

Thank Derrick Watson, the judge who blocked the second Muslim travel ban, for his good judgment and courage.

Address: Hon. Derrick Watson, United States District Court, District of Hawaii, 300 Ala Moana Blvd C-338, Honolulu, HI 96850

Thank Enda Kenny, Ireland’s Prime Minister, for his courage and integrity in explaining to 45 the role of immigrants in America.

Address: PM Enda Kenny, Department of the Taoiseach, Government Buildings, Upper Merrion Street, Dublin 2, D02 R583, IRELAND

Use $1.15 in US stamps or an international stamp..

Thank Kristina Dunz, German reporter, for showing American media how to hold 45 accountable with honest questions.

Address: Kristina Dunz, Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Mittelweg 38, D - 20148 Hamburg, GERMANY

Use $1.15 in US stamps or an international stamp..