The number of weeks Kentuckians can receive unemployment benefits will soon be cut by more than half.

Last week, state lawmakers overrode Gov. Andy Beshear's veto of House Bill 4, which reduces the amount of time a person can get unemployment benefits from 26 weeks to 12.

Dustin Pugel, senior policy analyst at the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, said the move will push more laid-off Kentuckians into poverty and lower-paying jobs. He noted in eastern Kentucky and other regions seeing declines in coal and manufacturing, jobs are not easy to find.

"So, what we're going to have is a lot of folks losing work," Pugel projected. "Being pushed into lower-wage jobs, and then turning to programs like SNAP and Medicaid for help."

He added while the statewide unemployment rate has averaged 6% over the past decade, counties like Magoffin have seen unemployment rates 30% higher.

Supporters argued the law will spur more people into finding work amid a labor shortage and a strong economic bounce-back from COVID-19. Kentucky now joins fewer than a dozen states in providing fewer than 26 weeks of unemployment.

Pugel pointed out the increased requirements and the back-and-forth necessary between claimants and the state's outdated unemployment processing system realistically means many people could lose benefits after a little over a month.

"After having your benefits for six weeks, you have to accept the first job that's offered to you," Pugel explained. "So long as it pays a little over half of what your last job did, and so long as it's within 30 miles of where you live."

Pugel believes the cumulative effects of weakening Kentucky workers' safety net will hit underserved communities the hardest.

"Particularly for folks that the economy doesn't work for them," Pugel outlined. "Like, again, people in rural Kentucky, Black workers, workers with disabilities, folks who are leaving incarceration looking for a job."

State data showed Black Kentuckians made up around 16% of unemployment insurance claims in December 2021, despite comprising just 9% of the workforce.

Community health centers are calling on state and federal lawmakers for added protections against drug manufactures for drastically cutting them out of a federal drug discount program.

The 340B Drug Pricing program allows health centers to purchase outpatient medication at reduced costs, so they can then provide it to a greater reach of patients while drug companies get reimbursed. But in the past two years, drug producers and third-party prescription drug benefit managers have been restricting centers, threatening their financial stability.

A survey by the National Association of Community Health Centers shows more than half their patients would go without needed medications, including insulin for diabetes patients and inhalers for children with asthma, if they are cut out of the program.

Ben Browning, vice president and CEO of the Florida Association of Community Health Centers, explained the importance of the program.

"These contract arrangements are really the lifeblood," Browning contended. "They are the lifeline for a lot of the patients that may not otherwise have access to these reduced-cost, reduced-price medications."

But the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the lobbying arm of the drug-manufacturing industry, countered the program needs to change, claiming there is little to no evidence patients are benefiting. They also are calling for centers to share data in an effort to tamp down on potential fraud and abuse in the system.

Browning argued the centers continue to fill a critical need because many health care providers do not have the financial resources to support an in-house pharmacy. The survey showed 86% of health centers utilize contract pharmacies, allowing them to serve hundreds of ZIP codes.

"Put some protections in law, in regulations, in statute, that said the 340B program is a vital component of the health care system," Browning urged. "This is a vital component of maintaining and securing the safety net."

It is estimated enrolled hospitals and other covered entities in 340B can achieve average savings of 25% to 50% in pharmaceutical purchases. The issue is also playing out in courts with conflicting rulings across the country.

A new coalition of businesses and nonprofits in West Virginia is ready to create at least 3,000 new green industry jobs. They say they just need the funding to do so.

Brandon Dennison, founder and CEO of the nonprofit Coalfield Development, is leading the coalition called Appalachian Climate Technology (ACT Now). Dennison said the coalition is a finalist in the Biden Administration's Build Back Better Regional Challenge, and if selected will be awarded $100 million to jump-start the region's economy in expanding the solar industry, sustainably reclaiming former mine lands, retrofitting buildings to be more energy efficient, and attracting green manufacturers to the area.

"There's a unique opening in time right now, where we can really take a leap forward for this region, and that would have tremendously positive outcomes for our country," Dennison asserted. "And if you think about it from a climate-change perspective, really positive outcomes for our planet. "

Dennison added they will find out if they've been selected in the next few months.

Numerous studies have pointed to renewable energy such as wind and solar as a way to create good-paying jobs for Appalachian communities left behind. One report released by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory found the Mountain State has the potential to create thousands of jobs in solar energy, wind energy, battery storage and energy efficiency.

Dennison noted many West Virginians are not counting on coal as a means to support their families or supply the next generation with a livelihood.

"In many ways, we've sort of gone through the stages of grief with the coal industry, and come to an acceptance that coal is never going to be what it was," Dennison observed. "We might not be happy about that, but if we are going to survive, we're going to have to adapt."

Federal data show U.S. coal production has decreased by more than 24% since 2019.

Since then, the average number of employees at U.S. coal mines decreased by more than 10,000 employees. Supporters of the coal industry argued fossil fuels are essential to keeping Americans' power supply affordable.

Pennsylvania's budget deadline is looming on Thursday. Gov. Tom Wolf is calling for a minimum-wage increase that would get the state to $15 an hour by 2028.

A new brief gives a profile of the workers who would benefit.

The analysis from Keystone Research Center found an estimated 1.46 million Pennsylvania workers would see higher wages through the increase.

Keystone Research Center Senior Research Analyst Claire Kovach said the workers who would most benefit are the ones who were deemed essential during the pandemic, such as those in health care, retail, social services and more.

She said the state minimum wage has been stagnant for far too long.

"One of the minimum wage jobs that I worked 12 years ago is still advertised at $7.25 per hour today," said Kovach. "So the minimum wage worker who stands where I stood a dozen years ago, they're getting paid a wage with around 25% less buying power than I was back then."

The increase to $15 by 2028 would amount to a $3,800 raise for the average-year round worker, Kovach said.

If passed, the gradual increase would start with a boost to $12 an hour in July. Opponents to a minimum wage increase are concerned about the costs to businesses.

The brief also finds that across the proposed minimum wage increase from July 2022 to July 2028, an estimated $30 billion would be put back into the state economy.

Kovach added that with inflation climbing and more Pennsylvanians experiencing financial insecurity, an increased minimum wage could be a lifeline for families.

"There's an interesting thing that happens when you give low-wage workers a raise," said Kovach. "They don't store this money in off-shore accounts. This money is spent directly back into the economy and actually generates more economic movement and more economic benefits for communities than some other economic stimulus items."

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Living Wage calculator shows that today, a single adult in Pennsylvania needs to earn nearly $17 per hour to support themselves - while a single adult with one child needs nearly $33 per hour to support their family.