More than 60 businesses across Pennsylvania signed a letter to legislative leaders, calling on them to focus on improving the economic climate and abandon efforts making it harder for people to vote.

The letter calls attention to the state's no-excuse mail voting law passed in 2019. It has faced legal challenges after a Commonwealth Court judge sided earlier this year with some Republican lawmakers, who believe it violates the state Constitution.

Richard Eidlin, national policy director at Business for America, said some businesses feel there's been an unnecessary amount of attention on relitigating the 2020 election.

"We feel that the Legislature has failed to address more important problems like recovering from the pandemic," Eidlin asserted. "So our intent with the letter was to make it known that the business community really expects Democrats and Republicans to find ways to work together."

The voting law is awaiting a decision by the state Supreme Court and is in place for next Tuesday's primary election. Eidlin pointed out Business for America has brought together Republican and Democratic leaders for a series of dialogues to find common ground on voting rights and election integrity and security.

Jabari Jones, president of the West Philadelphia Corridor Collaborative, a business association, said 92% of its businesses temporarily closed during the pandemic. He added he would like to see the state ensure more American Rescue Plan dollars reach businesses.

"We did a survey of about 100 companies in our district and found that the average business had about $9,000 in unpaid back-due expenses that are wrapped up from the pandemic," Jones observed. "So there was an opportunity to invest some of the disaster relief money to helping businesses get caught up."

Dennis Guy, CEO of First Sip Brew Box, a craft beer media company in Pittsburgh, said allocating funds for programs to drive revenue is key for businesses still recovering from the pandemic.

"Our electric bill needs to be paid at the end of the month," Guy stressed. "I need to be able to be a part of a program where you're actually creating assets, a tangible result for that business so that they can be around six months from now."

Pennsylvania has $1.7 billion in unused American Rescue Plan dollars to spend by 2024.

A new report outlined the importance of student debt relief to workers in New York and across the country.

An American Federation of Teachers analysis found rising education costs have forced people to borrow more than $1.7 trillion to attend college.

Amid that climate, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a Joint Resolution of Disapproval under the Congressional Review Act to overturn President Joe Biden's student debt relief program. The bill now heads to the Senate.

Mike Pierce, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, described how using the Congressional Review Act would disrupt student debt cancellation for public service workers.

"The student debt CRA scheme would reinstate the student loan debt of more than 260,000 public service workers nationwide," Pierce explained. "(It would) drop a nearly $20 billion debt burden onto the backs of these hardworking teachers, nurses, first responders and service members still emerging from the pandemic."

He pointed out the plan would roll back public workers' progress toward having more than $170 billion in student loan debt canceled. Prior to the invocation of the Congressional Review Act, court challenges had blocked Biden's plan before it began. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case earlier this year.

Michael Boucai, professor of law at the State University of New York-Buffalo, had $102,000 in student loan debt forgiven as part of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, and said although the process was somewhat arduous, it was worthwhile.

"I was able to start looking seriously into buying a house, and I was able to significantly increase the financial help that I give to my sibling," Boucai noted. "I was also able to just carry a whole lot more of the burden of running a household, with my partner."

Some education professionals identify the growth of the U.S. student loan program as erasing the benefits of going to college, with millions of loans going into default each year.

The Education Data Initiative finds almost 11% of student borrowers default on their education loans in the first year of repayment with another 25% defaulting in the first five years of repayment.

Although Missouri's 2023 legislative session was contentious and resulted in a historically low number of bills being passed, advocates for children applauded some significant wins for struggling Missouri families.

Jessica Seitz, executive director of Missouri KidsFirst, an advocacy nonprofit focused on preventing child abuse and neglect, said among the most important is the extension of postpartum Medicaid coverage from its current 60 days to one year. Seitz called access to health care a "proven prevention strategy against child maltreatment."

"Those wellness visits cannot be -- they can't be replaced," Seitz emphasized. "Extending and guaranteeing that postpartum coverage is all the way through the year just really helps guarantee at least that sort of support for a new family."

Missouri ranks 44th in the nation for maternal mortality rates, which Gov. Mike Parson called "embarrassing and absolutely unacceptable" in his 2023 State of the State address.

Seitz pointed out another huge win for struggling families is the change to a gradual "step-down" from access to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. Under the new system, a family will gradually lose benefits proportionate to their increase in income until they reach 200% of federal poverty guidelines.

She contended the "step-down" approach will help address the "disincentive" to earn more money, which can be a factor under the current system, because people can lose substantial benefits with only a small increase in their wages.

"Similar to the health care coverage, preventing food insecurity and promoting economic well-being are also two proven strategies at preventing child maltreatment," Seitz explained.

Seitz added the Legislature also addressed the high cost of child care.

"There was millions of dollars put into child care in the budget itself," Seitz noted. "They, for the first time, increased subsidy rates and there was an increase for providers. So, there were a lot of really great child care wins."

Seitz called it encouraging Missouri lawmakers -- who otherwise struggled to find much they could agree on -- could come together on "kids and family issues."

Rural advocates from around the U.S. recently gathered to lay out policy priorities at the state and federal levels in hopes of making smaller communities better. The summit included representatives from Wisconsin.

Dozens of advocates took part in the 2023 Rural Policy Action Summit. One of them was Heather DuBois Bourenane, executive director of the Wisconsin Public Education Network.

She pointed out that while most of the state's public school students reside in urban areas, the majority of school districts are rural. She said schools across Wisconsin are under-resourced, and the need is definitely felt in smaller districts.

"In some ways," said Bourenane, "it specifically impacts rural schools, which tend to have sparse populations, very high transportation costs and challenges with staffing, finding child care for educators."

She said districts remain handcuffed by a 30-year-old state law that imposes revenue limits. A special legislative committee has been looking at solutions.

Meanwhile, Bourenane said summit attendees found common ground on many issues - including keeping the federal Inflation Reduction Act in place.

Congressional Republicans want to scale it back over opposition to certain climate provisions.

But organizers say public polling indicates rural and small-town voters support the Inflation Reduction Act.

The Wisconsin Farmers Union's Director of Special Projects, Lauren Langworthy - who was also at the summit - said there was discussion about giving these communities more of a voice in carving out solutions as policies such as the new Farm Bill take shape.

"Those things for Wisconsin farmers union members include climate change," said Langworthy. "We also talked a lot about consolidation issues, especially in agriculture, and how that lack of competition is really causing harm to rural communities."

According to the 2022 Midterm Election Voter Poll, 82% of independents from rural areas said they would support a candidate who would be vocal about placing moratoriums on factory farms and corporate monopolies in food and agriculture.




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