skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

MI Small Businesses: "Over the Fiscal Cliff" with the Farm Bill?

play audio
Play

Wednesday, November 14, 2012   

LANSING, Mich. - The so-called “fiscal cliff” – and what might be cut to prevent the nation from careening off that cliff – has generated a lot of talk. Farmers and rural Michigan residents are hoping that a new Farm Bill won't get lost in the shuffle, or important parts of it negotiated away.

Chuck Hassebrook, executive director of the Center for Rural Affairs, is especially concerned about rural-development funding that helps people start small businesses in northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula.

"This farm bill needs to fund loans for small businesses, because most of the new jobs come from the smallest businesses."

For example, it was rural-development funding that helped build a cedar-mulch and fence-post production company in Menominee County, where the jobless rate is near 12 percent. It also helped a maple-syrup producer in Mackinac County as well as cherry and apple producers create new products and find new markets, Hassebrook says.

While the election focused on the successes of automakers and manufacturers, Hassebrook says Congress also needs to remember how desperately small towns in Michigan need new jobs.

The Farm Bill stalled in Congress over the issue of food stamps, with the House demanding deeper cuts than the Senate. Hassebrook says that's an important topic, but bringing new opportunities to small towns and rural areas also is important.

"Financing for small-business development is absolutely essential if the average person is to have hopes of having a job and a future in their community."

The Senate cut $23 billion from the Farm Bill. The House wanted to cut $35 billion. The nation's previous Farm Bill expired Sept. 30 and some in Congress are talking about extending it for a year. But Hassebrook thinks pushing it into next year risks even more cuts for farmers and rural Michiganders.

More information is online at cfra.org.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021