One Country Project

Good afternoon and thanks for joining us in 2024!

So, this is the new year, but with Congress floundering to keep the lights on, things don't feel any different.

Congress has decided to start this year off stronger than the last and put forward a proposed budget of $1.590 trillion. But the government will start to shut down on January 19, giving Congress only 10 days to pass the first set of appropriations bills. After passing just 27 bills in 2023, Congress would be moving at a lightning pace to pass four in less than two weeks. It's even more troubling because the Ag-FDA bill spent last year languishing in limbo while Republicans tied its passage up with a "poison pill" amendment that would block access to abortion medication. If Congress's New Year's resolution was to pass more than they did in 2023, they've got their work cut out for them – or their resolution to pass the FY2024 bills will turn into yet another continuing resolution.

While we await a USDA funding bill and a Farm Bill, OCP will continue to bring you the latest news affecting rural America, from agriculture to education and health care to housing. Here's a look at how these issues are shaping up in the states:

PRO-WORKER PAID FAMILY LEAVE

The bipartisan House Paid Family Leave (PFL) Working Group put forward a legislative framework to expand workers' ability to take paid leave.

The U.S. is one of only seven countries in the world that does not provide some guarantee of paid family or medical leave, forcing Americans to take unpaid medical leave or outright leave the workforce to care for family members.

The lack of paid leave has a disproportionate impact on workers in rural America, which is why OCP proposed creating a FAMLY Plan to instate a PFL program that can improve worker retention for employers, increase productivity, and provide an overall increase in workforce participation across the country

We look forward to partnering with the PFL Working Group and other key stakeholders to develop a national PFL system that ensures the availability and equity of benefits to workers across states. Read OCP founder Heidi Heitkamp's full statement here.

DECEMBER JOBS REPORT

In any election year, the economy is sure to take center stage, so here are some numbers: December saw the addition of 216,000 more jobs to the economy ― that makes 2.7 million jobs that were added to the U.S. economy in 2023.

The Biden administration's efforts to build resilient and sustainable growth are creating an optimistic outlook for hardworking Americans, particularly farmers, the majority of whom are forecasting cooling inflation in 2024. Read OCP's full statement on the December jobs report here.

EDUCATION EDICTS

School vouchers continue to be championed by Republicans in state legislatures. There are voucher programs in 14 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Vouchers have long been criticized for diverting taxpayers' dollars from public schools to private schools with no transparency or requirement to adhere to federal protections for children, and for leaving rural students in the dust.

In December, the Wall Street Journal reported that these initiatives, heralded as allowing "school choice," are not expanding opportunities for low-income students, but merely subsidizing more wealthy families who children already attend private school.

States without income limits on vouchers risk eating up state budgets. In Arizona, Governor Katie Hobbs is looking to rein in the program that analysts say could exceed $900 million and establish accountability. A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers in the Texas House voted against instating a voucher system which would drain essential funds from rural school districts and disadvantage rural students who live in areas where private schools are few and far between.

	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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HEALTH CARE ACCESS

Rural health care is greatly limited by residents' zip code and access to transportation. Certain policies are now restricting access to care further. After the fall of Roe v. Wade, states with abortion bans have seen maternity care coverage shrink dangerously.

The issue is particularly harmful to Indigenous women, who often live over 30 miles from the nearest obstetric unit. Barriers to care prevent pregnant women from receiving necessary check-ups and have lead to an increase in disease transmission endangering babies' lives.

Abortion will be on the ballot in 2024. Initiatives will do more than protect a women's right to choose whether she has an abortion – they'll determine whether she has access to nearby life-saving maternity care if she wants to have a baby, too.

HOT DISH WITH MONTANA SENATOR JON TESTER

2024 OCP Rural Champion Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) joined co-hosts Heidi Heitkamp and Joel Heitkamp to discuss crafting a Farm Bill for small farmers as well as rural outreach and revitalization. Listen here.