The Political Bridge

Senator Jon Tester Proposes An Amendment to Boost Rural Health Care

From the Billings Gazette

The Tester(D-Montana) amendment (to the Senate’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,l)  would require at least 20 percent of $15 billion worth of public health grants in the bill to be set aside for programs in rural areas.

 

The money could be used, for example, to develop outreach programs for rural communities to offer screenings for diabetes, or offer other medical or educational efforts to combat chronic disease, he said.

 

“It’s a solid amendment. It helps bring rural America up to the priority it should be, and it will help rural health care in America,” Tester said.

The NY Times Profiles the 39, Mostly Rural Democrats, Who Voted Nay on the House Health Care Bill

An overwhelming majority of the Democratic lawmakers who opposed the bill — 31 of the 39 — represent rural districts that were won by Senator John McCain in the 2008 presidential election, and a third of them were freshmen. Nearly all of the fourteen freshmen Democrats who voted “no” represent districts that were previously Republican and are considered vulnerable in 2010. Geographically, 22 lawmakers from southern states formed the largest opposition bloc.  

For more information on these 30 Democrats click Nay on Health Care.

Health Care Bill: Compromise won over Rural Democratic Holdouts

Information from the Washington Post, January 9, 2009

Reps. Baron P. Hill(Ind.), Dan Maffei (N.Y), and Tom Perriello(VA) are Democratic Congressmen from predominantly rural districts. All three voted yes after concessions from the House Leadership.

For Hill the decision came down to a last-minute compromise that paved the way for an amendment ensuring that no federal funding would go to abortions.  For Tom Perriello the decision involved provisions for bigger payments to rural doctors..

 

 

Gov. Beshear Announces that $800,000 in American Reinvestment and Recovery Act Funds are Now Available to Kentucky’s Farmers

Governor Steve Beshear's Communications Office

Press Release Date:  Wednesday, October 28, 2009  

Contact Information: 

Jay Blanton
Jill Midkiff
502-564-2611  

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Gov. Steve Beshear today announced that $850,000 in American Reinvestment and Recovery Act funds are now available to Kentucky’s farmers on approved energy efficiency cost-share items.

“In September, I announced the awarding of stimulus funds for on-farm energy efficiency improvements to Kentucky,” said Gov. Steve Beshear. “Now, I am pleased to announce that these funds are available for farmers to access for making their operations more energy efficient.”

The energy stimulus incentive program will provide 25 percent reimbursement of the actual cost of a federally qualified energy saving item, up to $10,000.  Permissible items include, but are not limited to, energy audits, energy efficient farm building components, on-farm energy upgrades and on-farm energy efficiency training.  Only expenditures made after Oct. 15, 2009 will be eligible for reimbursement.

“These on-farm energy efficiency incentives represent only a small part of Kentucky’s State Energy Program award,” said Roger Thomas, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy (GOAP). “But they will provide enormous benefit to Kentucky’s farmers and position Kentucky agriculture as a leader in on-farm energy efficiency.”

Producers may apply for these funds in two ways.  First, producers in all counties who have completed a sign-up period for the County Agricultural Investment Program (CAIP) will have their requests from the “On-farm Energy Efficiency and Production” investment area automatically forwarded to GOAP by their county’s program administrator.

Farmers in each of the 49 counties that will not have completed a sign-up period for CAIP prior to Nov. 15, 2009 may apply directly to GOAP for these energy stimulus incentives. GOAP will accept direct applications from Nov. 2-13, 2009.  For a list of counties that will follow this alternate application process or to download the application, visit agpolicy.ky.gov.

All applications received from across the Commonwealth will be reviewed and scored by a committee comprised of representatives from GOAP, the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board, the UK College of Agriculture and a Rural Electric Cooperative.  A representative from USDA Rural Development and the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet will each serve in an ex-officio capacity.

All applications meeting the minimum requirements of eligibility will be considered for funding.  If the total eligible applications exceed the available funds, the committee will rank the applications using the scoring criteria.  Applicants will be notified of their approval.

Any energy stimulus funds remaining after the 2009 sign-up will be made available to producers in all Kentucky counties in 2010.  Additional information will be disseminated as it is available.

If you have any questions about this application process, please contact Bryan Thomas at (502) 564-4627 or [email protected].

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Energy bonus incentives are made possible through the Renewable Energy Partnership between  the Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy and  the Energy & Environment Cabinet’s Department for Energy Development & Independence. Funding comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Governor Steve Beshear and the Kentucky Legislature continue to make great strides toward lessening Kentucky’s dependence on tobacco production while revitalizing the farm economy by investing 50 percent of Kentucky's Master Settlement Agreement into the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund.

A Preliminary Analysis of the Effects of HR 2454(The Waxman-Markey Climate Legislation) on U.S. Agriculture

 Office of the Chief Economist

Economic Research Service

U.S. Department of Agriculture

 

July 22, 2009

 

Executive Summary

USDA performed a preliminary economic analysis of the impacts of House-passed climate legislation, HR 2454, on U.S. agriculture. The analysis assumes no technological change, no alteration of inputs in agriculture, and no increase in demand for bio-energy as a result of higher energy prices. Therefore, it overstates the impact of the climate legislation on agriculture costs in the short (2012-18), medium (2027-2033), and long-term (2042 to 2048). In USDA’s analysis, short-term costs remain low in part because of provisions in HR 2454 that reduce the impacts of the bill on fertilizer costs. In fact, the impact on net farm income is less than a 1% decrease. In the short run, agricultural offset markets may cover these costs. Over the medium-term and long-term, costs to agriculture rise but remain modest (3.5% and 7.2% decreases in net farm income, respectively). However, benefits to agriculture from an offsets market rise over time and will likely overtake costs in the medium and long term. Other studies that account for the impact of higher energy prices on input substitution and demand for bio-energy find that HR2454 leads to higher agricultural incomes, even without offsets. In summary, USDA’s analysis shows that the agricultural sector will have modest costs in the short-term and net benefits – perhaps significant net benefits – over the long-term.

 To read the entire report, Download HR2454

 

The Rural Blog: The Possible Undereporting of Rural Foreclosures

The Rural Blog, October 16, 2009

 U.S. efforts to reverse the housing crisis may not be correctly considering rural foreclosures. "A company called RealtyTrac provides some of the most widely followed statistics on home foreclosures, but it fails to report on more than 900 rural counties," Scott Finn of West Virginia Public Broadcasting reports for National Public Radio. Critics say failing to include these counties promotes the myth that there is no foreclosure crisis in rural America.