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.

Sequester Arrives: ND Poised to Lose $25-Million

play audio
Play

Friday, March 1, 2013   

FARGO, N.D. – Some $85 billion in automatic spending cuts nationwide begin to take effect Friday as mandated under broad federal budget cuts known as sequestration.

The reductions will be rolled-out over the next seven months.

Tim Trithart, chief executive officer with the Community HealthCare Association of the Dakotas, says the association is in line to lose some federal funding, and in the end, that will most hurt those who can't afford it.

"Community Health Centers, they're not run to make a profit,” he says. “And every little bit of money that we make we end up putting towards our patients, which are low-income. So, this basically means you end up cutting staff or cutting the availability of services."

It's estimated that under the sequester, North Dakota will lose around $25 million in funding along with a number of public and private sector jobs in the aftermath.

Trithart calls the automatic cuts "penny-wise and pound foolish," noting that many are aimed at programs that pay dividends in the long run, like helping the poor get regular health care so issues can be treated before they become major health concerns.

"You can choose not to get the oil changed on your car for only so long before your transmission blows,” he says. “And that's sort of how I see Community Health Centers, is we're sort of that standard oil change that you need to make sure is accessible, because you'll end up paying for it one way or another. It's a lot cheaper to just take care of that routine maintenance whether it's your body or your car."

Another area that will lose out under sequestration is nutrition assistance for seniors in North Dakota, facing an expected cut of more than $200,000.

Brian Arett, executive director of Valley Senior Services in Fargo, says that will mean 50,000 fewer meals – meals that can help a senior citizen stay healthy and in his or her own house, versus a nursing home, which is vastly more expensive and taxpayer subsidized.

"So, by providing this $4 meal and a few other services,” he says, “we're able to help people stay where they want to be, but even more than that, save a tremendous amount of taxpayer dollars. So I just can't believe that that's the way that Congress wants to balance our budget, because it's not going to work."

Congress and President Barack Obama agreed on the sequester last fall, hoping to come up with a more fleshed-out plan on spending cuts before today's deadline. That never happened.




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

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

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 …


Organizations fighting wage theft said it harms affected workers and surrounding communities because the money withheld is not being circulated through the local economy. (Adobe Stock)

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 …

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

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

Environment

play sound

A farm group is helping Iowa agriculture producers find ways to reduce the amount of nitrogen they use on their crops. Excess nitrates can wind up …

 

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