Biden Administration’s initial budget request for fiscal year 2022, released last month, shows attention to rural needs, but it’s too early to predict which portions will make it to the final bill. The long-awaited budget does propose increases in some U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs. Those funds would help address rural […]
Posted inPolitics and Government
Commentary: Rural Americans Need to See Themselves as Part of America’s Diversity
This article is republished with permission from the Carroll Times Herald in Carroll, Iowa. In the age of scarcity (for many) and excess (for the few), the language and policies of diversity become zero-sum. What another gets, you lose, so goes the polarized thinking that has turned our public square into a fever swamp of […]
Posted inEnergy
Locals Worry Wind and Solar Will Gobble Up Forests and Farms
This article is republished from Stateline, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts. Massachusetts has installed solar panels faster than almost any other state as it seeks to reduce its carbon emissions. But some activists say the state’s transition to renewable energy has come at a cost. “We have big multinational solar companies coming and […]
Posted inHealth
Congress Fixed an Old Bill Threatening Fiscal Health of Rural Clinics
Legislation designed to prevent further financial instability for rural health clinics passed in the Senate, and soon after cleared the House. The bipartisan Strengthening Rural Health Clinics Act of 2021, introduced by U.S. Senators Mark Warner (D-Virginia) and Roy Blunt (R-Missouri), fixes a technical issue to protect existing rural health clinics from a sudden, unexpected […]
Posted inRural Life
Accidental Rancher: On Wanting and Needing, and the Perspective Gained on the Prairie
I met Mason in college. He was athletic, charming, and played bass in the coolest band on campus. I didn’t know him well, but I liked him. Everyone did. One night at a loud, crowded house party, we ended up in a small group talking about music. “The Stones were really on to something with […]
Posted inHealth
Getting Vaccinated: More Rural Readers Share Their Experiences
Last week, all U.S. adults 16 and older became eligible to receive Covid-19 vaccines in accordance with the Biden administration’s April 19 deadline for nationwide eligibility. Three days later, the CDC reported that as of April 22 one third of U.S. adults over 18 were fully vaccinated, and more than half had gotten at least […]
Posted inPolitics and Government
Too Poor to Protect: When Cost-Benefit Analysis Leaves Towns to “Wash Away”
“The town is flooding!” a worker at the Nicholas County Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Richwood, West Virginia, yelled to Nancy Mullins around 1 p.m. on June 23, 2016. Thinking of her children, Mullins, a cook at the nursing home, raced to their home a block from the Cherry River, moved them to safety, and […]
Posted inRural Voters
Commentary: Can Democrats Compete Again in Rural Missouri?
Barron: Describe your work with the Missouri Democratic Party and why you left that position? Logan: In 2020, I was the Rural Director for the Missouri Democratic Party (MDP), meaning I covered about 110 counties in the state. I handled the political role in those rural counties by liaising with the local committees, clubs, and […]
Posted inEconomy
Local Governments Plan for Direct Aid Infusions, Await Exact Guidance
The American Rescue Plan, signed into law on March 11, 2021, included historic investments in county and municipal governments. But local government officials are still awaiting guidance from the Treasury Department on how exactly they can spend the $130.2 billion in aid. The first tranche of aid is due to be released by May 10, […]
Posted inEconomy
Commentary: The Last Mile for Stimulus
This commentary was originally published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. In the past year or so, Congress has passed the largest stimulus bill in American history — twice. Almost $6 trillion has been allocated in response to Covid-19 to date, and at least $3.7 trillion has been disbursed or committed. These have been […]
