One Country Project

Good afternoon,

Shutdown swirl is all over the news this week as Congress shuffles towards September 30th with little indication of swerving back towards functionality. Yes, you heard that right: the federal government is once again facing a financial cliff as far-right Republicans make extremist demands instead of keeping our democracy running, which one would think is their job. As much as we'd like to say wake me up when September ends, all eyes remain open and trained on Speaker Kevin McCarthy as he attempts to navigate between a rock and a hard place and keep his job all at once.

CLIMATE CUTS

With Climate Week in full swing and the Farm Bill due to expire at the end of the month, Republicans have decided there is no better time to try to attack the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) conservation funding.

The landmark climate law included $19.5 billion for climate-smart agriculture to help farmers adopt low-emission agricultural practices – and, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, demand for funding far exceeds what's available. It's no surprise that farmers, who are on the frontlines of climate change and have already seen productivity decreased by increasingly erratic and extreme weather, are interested in getting help mitigating and adapting to climate change.

Nevertheless, Republicans in Congress are looking to move that IRA money into the Farm Bill to support commodity programs, rather than keeping it intact as a supplemental program for farmers.

Lawmakers have talked a lot about the bill, but even an extension – less than two weeks from expiration – looks questionable. OCP has some ideas of what our next Farm Bill should look like. Check them out here.

LINES OF INFLUENCE: LEADER DANIELS ON REDISTRICTING

Voting rights and redistricting disputes are hot-button issues across the country. These court cases can allow Americans the incredible opportunity to finally have their voices heard – and shape a new Congress in the 2024 elections. On the Hot Dish, OCP founder Heidi Heitkamp caught up with board member Anthony Daniels, Alabama's House Minority Leader, about the recent voting rights victory in Alabama.
A federal court has struck down the state's proposed congressional map, noting that the Republican supermajority still failed to create a second majority-Black district as the Supreme Court had previously ordered. "The state of Alabama focused more on defiance instead of compliance," Daniels said.
Daniels and Heitkamp discussed how the matter of voting rights has been obscured by partisanship: "It's not about Republican or Democrat. It is about African Americans having the ability to elect their candidate of choice." Listen here.

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HOPE FOR HEALTH WITH ANGELA KENNECKE

Angela Kennecke, a journalist in Sioux City, South Dakota, host of the podcast Grieving Out Loud, and founder of Emily's Hope, also joined Heitkamp on the Hot Dish. Her own family's journey with addiction and loss has inspired her to turn heartbreak over her daughter's death from fentanyl poisoning to ensure no other families endure the same experience.

Kennecke says, "The problem you have in rural areas is that there just aren't enough resources, there aren't enough beds, there aren't enough mental health professionals, and we have to find ways to fund that, to attract people to rural areas, and to also take away the stigma, not only for getting help for addiction, but also for getting help for mental illness." Listen here.

Heitkamp, in a blog post, explained how the ongoing opioid epidemic and limited broadband access to receive telehealth services have exacerbated the rural mental health crisis and outlined how lawmakers can help fix our health care system so rural Americans can receive life-saving care.