SALT LAKE CITY – Environmental advocates are calling on Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes to reject a plan to spend millions of dollars in public funds to help build a coal-shipping terminal in California.

The organizations sent Reyes a letter on Monday, asking him to block the Community Impact Board from giving $53 million to four Utah counties – so those counties can loan the money to a private developer who wants to build the terminal in Oakland, California.

In exchange, companies operating in those counties would get shipping rights to sell Utah coal abroad, thereby bringing in more tax revenue. Aaron Paul, staff attorney with the Grand Canyon Trust, says the plan goes against Utah law.

"The mineral-leasing money is supposed to be spent in Utah for the purpose of alleviating the burdens of mineral development in this state," he says. "This terminal would be used essentially for the exact opposite purpose, exacerbating the very problem the board is charged with alleviating."

The state receives royalties from oil and gas development on public lands, and by law 50 percent of those funds are supposed to go to public services in Utah.

Paul says this deal belongs in the private sector.

"You would expect private developers to pay for a project like this, which is going to really benefit private companies," he says. "If this is an attractive investment, you have to ask why the private sector is not stepping up to make that investment?"

The Community Impact Board approved the loan deal in April, but made it contingent on a legal ruling by Reyes, who has yet to issue an opinion. Calls to the attorney general's office for comment for this story were not returned.


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More officials from South Dakota's health care community are speaking out in support of Medicaid expansion. Voters will decide this fall whether to expand Medicaid to close insurance gaps around the state.

This week, the South Dakota Emergency Medical Services Association and South Dakota Firefighters Association publicly endorsed the campaign.

Maynard Konechne, a member of the South Dakota EMS Association, said expansion would provide greater assurances first responders would be at least partially reimbursed for all their calls. He explained not having expenses covered in certain situations hurts an EMS operation's budget, including maintenance.

"You can't upgrade certain pieces of equipment, that you use daily, if they break down," Konechne pointed out. "I mean, you struggle to try and have a fundraiser and stuff."

He added volunteers for those fundraisers are getting older, and not enough people are filling their shoes.

It is estimated roughly 40,000 state residents would receive coverage if Medicaid expansion moves forward. Opponents, including Gov. Kristi Noem, cited cost concerns, but a nonpartisan state report said most expansion costs would be covered by the federal government.

Sandy Frentz, a retired public health manager for the City of Sioux Falls, applauded the new endorsements. She said the delivery of health care is a united front, and emphasized first responders are crucial in a rural state like South Dakota.

"If we lose our rural ambulance services, for example, then who takes care of that rural patient that needs to be transferred to a larger, tertiary health care system?" Frentz stressed.

Frentz, who also co-chairs the American Heart Association's South Dakota cabinet for Medicaid expansion, argued the plan can strengthen the state's economy by keeping more people in the workforce. This fall's Amendment D is supported by South Dakotans Decide Healthcare, a broad, nonpartisan coalition of organizations, including the Heart Association.

President Joe Biden will sign the CHIPS and Science Act Tuesday, a landmark measure lawmakers say could create thousands of jobs here in the Buckeye State.

Supporters of the $280 billion package say it will encourage domestic semiconductor manufacturing and strengthen supply chains. And it could mean an even bigger investment from Intel, which is already spending $20 billion on a new computer-chip facility near Columbus.

Christina Muryn, mayor of Findlay, predicts it will have a ripple effect on the entire state.

"We also have a lot of manufacturing, which requires microchips and semiconductors, with a lot of automotive suppliers nearby," Muryn pointed out. "One key area is supporting the industries that are already here and helping ensure that there's stability within their market."

The Intel facility is expected to create 20,000 jobs, and the company has hinted even greater investments are possible with passage of the CHIPS and Science Act. Despite the technology being created in the U.S., about 90% of current manufacturing is overseas. Not all Republicans voted for the bill, however, citing concerns about its focus on increasing diversity in research and STEM fields.

The legislation includes funding for training, research and workforce development. Muryn emphasized Ohio needs to ensure it creates an environment to attract young professionals interested in going into technology and manufacturing fields, and supporting educational opportunities.

"Whether that means looking at educational programs in K-12 or in higher ed, and partnering with apprenticeship programs," Muryn suggested. "Continuing to ensure that we're supporting not only front-line manufacturing but also, higher-tech positions and professional degrees is going to be really critical."

Other measures in the bill could help level the playing field by including more underrepresented groups and companies in CHIPS-funded projects, and diversifying STEM research capacity at minority-serving institutions. It will also promote clean-energy innovation in diverse geographic areas and provide block grants for economic development in underserved communities.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.

Child care advocates say there is a big hole in the reconciliation package being considered by the U.S. Senate.

Support for the child care industry is not yet part of negotiations on a bill known as the Inflation Reduction Act, which does include provisions to address climate change and the cost of health care.

Gabriela Quintana, senior policy associate for the Seattle-based think tank Economic Opportunity Institute, said the industry is in dire straits.

"It's really disheartening that once again we have to beg for some attention to these really important issues that are so closely correlated to our economy and our recovery from COVID and other things going on," Quintana observed.

Earlier versions of President Joe Biden's Build Back Better framework, which has been scaled back significantly in the Inflation Reduction Act, included provisions to support families and child care workers. Washington state has lost child care providers since 2017, despite an increase in the number of children, according to Child Care Aware of Washington.

Quintana argued one area policymakers should zero in on is pay for people in the industry, who often make poverty wages.

"Given how fragile the system is, I think we really need to focus on child care teacher wages to ensure that they are sticking to the profession that they love and that they want to do," Quintana asserted. "They're just not able to earn the wages and so a lot of them are leaving the industry to go get other jobs."

Quintana noted some child care teachers leave for jobs in public school instead. The Inflation Reduction Act could get a vote as soon as this week.