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Trump is terrible for rural America

The New York Times | Posted onMay 12, 2019 in Agriculture News

What, after all, is Trumpism? In 2016 Trump pretended to be a different kind of Republican, but in practice almost all of his economic agenda has been G.O.P. standard: big tax cuts for corporations and the rich while hacking away at the social safety net. The one big break from orthodoxy has been his protectionism, his eagerness to start trade wars. And all of these policies disproportionately hurt farm country.The Trump tax cut largely passes farmers by, because they aren’t corporations and few of them are rich.


USDA’s independent researchers vote overwhelmingly to form a union

The New Food Economy | Posted onMay 12, 2019 in Federal News

Employees of the Economic Research Service (ERS), an independent research office nestled within the Department of Agriculture (USDA), voted on Thursday to form a union. It was something of a landslide: 138 in favor to four against. There were a handful of contested votes, but not enough to sway the results. Both ERS employees and union organizers expressed hope that workers could gain the crucial leverage need to push back on controversial, upcoming changes to ERS.


U.S. farm incomes fall in 1st qtr; trade war remains top risk to agricultural economy -Fed banks

Reuters | Posted onMay 12, 2019 in Agriculture News

U.S. farm incomes in the Midwest and Mid-Southern states declined yet again in the first quarter of 2019 amid ongoing strain from low commodity prices, trade uncertainty and severe weather, according to banker surveys released on Thursday by the Federal Reserve Banks of St. Louis and Kansas City.


Diabetes mortality gap widens for rural Americans

Daily Yonder | Posted onMay 9, 2019 in Rural News

The rate of death from diabetes is decreasing in metropolitan America while the rate remains relatively unchanged in rural areas. Researchers aren’t sure of the cause.


In Trump vs. California, the state is winning nearly all its environmental cases

Los Angeles Times | Posted onMay 9, 2019 in SARL Members and Alumni News

More than two years into the Trump presidency, California has embraced its role as chief antagonist — already suing the administration more times than Texas took President Obama to court during eight years in office.It’s having an effect.California’s lawsuits have targeted the administration’s policies on immigration, healthcare and education.


Vaccination-boosting bill passes Oregon House

Oregon Live | Posted onMay 9, 2019 in SARL Members and Alumni News

The highly controversial bill to eliminate loopholes in the state’s vaccination law passed the Oregon House on Monday and is on its way to the Senate. Gov. Kate Brown has already said she plans to sign House Bill 3063.The 35-25 vote fell largely along party lines, with two Republicans -- including Bend Rep. Cheri Helt, who introduced the bill -- voting in favor of its passage. Four Democratic representatives voted against it.


Protection for pre-existing health conditions passes in Nevada

Las Vegas Review Journal | Posted onMay 9, 2019 in SARL Members and Alumni News

Nevada stands to become the fifth state to fully incorporate the federal Affordable Care Act’s protections for patients with pre-existing conditions into state law after unanimous passage of a bill in the state Senate.Assembly Bill 170, which also sets up a procedure to help health care consumers navigate and resolve problems with insurers, was rewritten to incorporate safeguards that were originally the basis of a different Senate bill that passed earlier.The Assembly version passed on April 23 by a vote of 40-1, with Assemblywoman Robin Titus, R-Wellington, voting no.


Ohio lawmakers seek to relax profit limits on FirstEnergy, other utilities

Cleveland.com | Posted onMay 9, 2019 in Energy, SARL Members and Alumni News

State rules to prevent significantly excessive profits by FirstEnergy and other Ohio utilities would be loosened by language slipped into Ohio’s massive two-year budget bill.


Proposed Changes Would Increase the Cost and Decrease the Benefit of Listing Species as Endangered

Choices | Posted onMay 9, 2019 in Rural News

Much of the debate concerning the ESA surrounds the role of economics, which plays an obvious role in determining the congressional budget allocations used to administer and implement the ESA. The ESA faces well-documented funding shortfalls (Miller et al., 2002; Stokstad, 2005), which may undermine the effectiveness of ESA recovery efforts (Ferraro, McIntosh, and Ospino, 2007) and have caused the number of species proposed for listing to outpace listing decisions, leading to backlogs (Stokstad, 2005).


Scientists warn a million species at risk of extinction

Reuters | Posted onMay 9, 2019 in Agriculture News

Loss of biodiversity stems from human activity, report says.* Wide transformation of economic systems needed-report says. Study is the work of 145 expert authors from 50 countries. Report echoes conclusions of U.N. climate change panel.


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