As the week kicks off, here's what's happening...
BIDEN'S BROADBAND PLAN
Yesterday, President Biden <a href="[link removed]">announced plans</a> to dedicate $42.25 billion to ensuring every American has access to affordable and reliable high-speed broadband internet.
Internet service is <a href="[link removed]">increasingly necessary</a> for life in the 21st century, but rural Americans disproportionately miss out on the benefits of the digital age. Rural residents are almost <a href="[link removed]">twice</a> as likely as those in urban areas to lack high-speed internet, creating a "<a href="[link removed]">digital divide</a>" that has <a href="[link removed]">compounded consequences</a> for people of color, particularly Native Americans, in rural regions.
<a href="[link removed]">OCP commended</a> the Biden administration for prioritizing the buildout of rural broadband so that farmers can utilize innovative agriculture techniques that rely on internet-based analysis, rural students can receive equitable education, small businesses can tap into online markets, and rural residents can take advantage of life-saving health care through telehealth services.
<a href="[link removed]"><img alt="" src="[link removed]" style="max-width:100%" /></a><br />
There is still so much more we need to do! In a <a href="[link removed]">2021 survey</a> from the Pew Research Center, 60 percent of lower-income broadband users said they often or sometimes struggled during the pandemic to use online services as a result of slow speeds. Nearly half said they also worried at the time about their ability to afford their internet bills.
According to an American Indian Policy Institute <a href="[link removed]">analysis</a> of FCC data, "just 67 percent of tribal lands in the continental U.S. have access to broadband internet, with the majority only having access to broadband speeds considered by the FCC to be less than minimally acceptable."
USDA FUNDING FEUD
Last Thursday, the Senate unanimously approved a bill to fund the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) through fiscal year 2024 in accordance with President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy's (R-CA-25) debt limit deal.
The Senate bill <a href="[link removed]">provides</a> $26 billion of funding to the agencies, whereas the House bill funds them at only $17.8 billion. While the Senate funds the <a href="[link removed]">Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC)</a> at $6.3 billion, the House bill would cut $3 million in funding from this program that is critical for American families' health and well-being.
The bill could reach the floor as soon as July and provide some indication of where lawmakers stand on the Farm Bill. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) and other Democrats on the Senate Agriculture Committee have <a href="[link removed]">already expressed concern</a> about how the debt limit deal will affect SNAP.
Each week, this newsletter highlights what's going on in rural states, counties, communities, and what One Country Project is up to around the country. If you value this content, please consider donating to One Country Project. Your contribution supports our efforts to connect with rural voters and to promote greater opportunities for rural communities.
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ROE REVERSAL: ONE-YEAR RECAP
This weekend on June 24th marked the one-year anniversary of the <i>Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization </i>decision that overturned <i>Roe v. Wade's </i>federal protections for women's abortion access.<br />
States' increasingly restrictive abortion laws have resulted in the closure of dozens of clinics and forced <a href="[link removed](17)30158-5/fulltext">31 percent</a> of women in rural areas to travel 100 miles or more to access abortion care. Abortion bans are opposed by a majority of Americans, so it's no surprise that abortion has been a <a href="[link removed]">galvanizing force for political action</a>, and will likely play a significant role in the 2024 elections.<br />
In her <a href="[link removed]">NDxPlains column</a>, OCP Executive Director Tessa Gould wrote about North Dakota's dog days in the wake of <i>Dobbs</i>. This April, Governor Doug Burgum signed one of the strictest abortion bans, even though the ND Supreme Court argued last year that the state Constitution includes "<a href="[link removed]">a fundamental right to an abortion in the limited instances of lifesaving and health-preserving circumstances</a>". This new ban outlaws all abortions except pregnancies in which women face death or "serious health risk," or those caused by rape or incest – but only in the first <i>six weeks</i>.<br />
Get the <a href="[link removed]">Hot Dish</a> on the post-<i>Roe </i>landscape with activist and former Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards and Planned Parenthood North Central States Chief Medical Officer Dr. Sarah Traxler. <a href="[link removed]">Listen here</a>.<br />
In Case You Missed It
The New York Times: <a href="[link removed]">How a Year Without Roe Shifted American Views on Abortion</a>
Forbes: <a href="[link removed]">What Dobbs May Mean for Motivating Women Voters in Election 2024</a>
NPR: <a href="[link removed]">China owns 300,000 acres of land in the U.S. Here's where</a>
USA Today: <a href="[link removed]">What if the Ambulance Doesn't Come? Rural America Faces a Broken Emergency Medical System</a>
Vox: <a href="[link removed]">The American Doctor Deserts</a>
Reuters: <a href="[link removed]">US lawmakers float possible farm bill extension amid delays</a>
Reuters: <a href="[link removed]">US Farm Agency to Spend $2.3 Billion on Food Programs as Pandemic Aid Ends</a>
Daily Yonder: <a href="[link removed]">Hiding in Plain Site: Women Are Part of 'Invisible' Labor Market Building Maine's Fiber Networks</a>
Be sure to follow the One Country Project on </strong><a href="[link removed]" target="_blank"><strong>Twitter</strong></a><strong> and </strong><a href="[link removed]" target="_blank"><strong>Facebook</strong></a><strong>, and check out </strong><a href="[link removed]" target="_blank"><strong>The Hot Dish</strong></a><strong> podcast.
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