Rural America: Relief, Recovery, and Reimagination

RURAL AMERICA:

 Relief, Recovery, and Reimagination 

 A Federal Policy Agenda to Meet This Moment in Rural and Small-Town America 

Not only has the pandemic hit the rural communities extra hard, policymakers have done little to assist these communities, where rural healthcare already creates barriers and hoops to jump through.  The federal relief packages seemingly left rural Americans out of the conversation, without the targeted help they desperately need to stay healthy and fed.  Without the necessary health care infrastructure, as long gone are the hospitals, due to many  closures, and with a high level of chronic health issues, these communities will be less able to successfully combat the virus.

Compared to urban and suburban areas in America, rural communities are not only lacking in healthcare accessibility but the quality of care reported by 28% of rural Americans is less than desirable.  Costs are another challenge to rural Americans, with 25% indicating they are unable to afford health care expenses, and even more, at 27% of rural Americans, do not have a regular doctor nor are they able to take part in regular care from a doctor.

-As many Americans are moving to rural America due to rising property taxes and lack of affordable housing in the city and suburbs, the already lack of infrastructure has become more of a concern and challenge for people residing there.   -Rural towns are losing property tax income and severance tax income, resulting in funds to schools and government buildings in some counties like Lincoln County in which collected $7.4 Million years prior, collected only $25,000 last year.

DEEP DIVE: FALLS CITY Top Challenges:

1- Bad political decisions and bipartisan neglect for politicians of the past = rural towns are going bankrupt.     - Around half of Oregon's timber-dominant region, lost more money from tax cuts on private forests than from the reduction of logging on federal lands, according to The Oregonian/OregonLive and ProPublica.       - In addition to the severance tax that was lost, almost $30 never came into the town, per previous years due to lower property tax, gifted to private companies.       -Falls City, now a town of 1,000 residents, was forced to close it's library 2 years ago.      -Half of the families living in Falls City live on weekly food deliveries from the Mountain Gospel Fellowship.     -Timber in Oregon historically employed 1 in 10 => but now employs 1 in 50.

2- Gradually increasing the population, though slower to the surface, is resources in rural America.     -Most rural Americans travel a least 30 minutes one way to seek medical assistance.  3- Government Environmental Laws limited the amount of timber able to be logged.      -New restrictions left hundreds without work and millions from coming into these small towns.

4- Wall Street Strikes Again.      - Surprise!  Wall Street real estate trusts and investment funds began gaining control over the state's private forestland where they were able to log more aggressively while forgoing many of the restrictions and policies embraced by neighboring states thus able to take advantage of the gracious tax cuts.    - Private timber owners used to pay what was known as a severance tax, which was based on the value of the trees.  While the private companies logged around $67 Billion, which would have provided around $3 Billion going to the down, but instead they received $871 sing 1991.  The money earned from this tax went directly to schools and local governments, thus an enormous hit on local establishments in rural America.

- Today, in Western Oregon, private forest lands own at least 40% of private forest lands.    5- While the private timber companies are ranking in the dough, they are not bringing it back into the towns they tear up daily.       -Falls City is drowning in $200,000 road repairs needed and while a large timber company, Weyerhaeuser uses the road everyday to carry heavy truck loads of Timber out, they are MIA when it comes to the needed repairs.

WHAT ARE RURAL COMMUNITIES RELIEF NEEDS?

CLICK TO READ EFFECTS

Healthcare: 1-Free Covid-19 testing, treatment, and vaccines.  2-Eliminating ALL out of pocket health costs for every person in American during the Covid-19 crisis by passing the Health Care Emergency Guarantee Act. 3-Provide emergency funding for rural healthcare systems. 4-Provide support for patients seeking drug treatment during the pandemic.

Housing: 1-Establish a nationwide eviction and foreclosure moratorium, including for public housing. 2-Provide homes and expanded services for people experiencing homelessness. 3-Suspend rent payments and mortgage payments for the duration of the crisis. 4-Stop utility and water shutoffs.

In Rural Oregon, NeighborWorks Umpqua reported 4 million families in contract cannot close their section 502 loans, have their inspections reviewed, or appraisal ordered.  Agriculture:  1-Enact a moratorium on farm foreclosures until the immediate Covid-19 crisis is under control.  2-Require enforceable standards to protect all food chain workers, including migrant workers, forbid employees from accessing pandemic relief funding. 3-Prohibit federal loans of loan guarantees for new or expanding factory farms. 4-Prioritize help for farms and independent food businesses, not multinational corporations that should be prohibited from accessing pandemic relief funding.

Energy:  1-Increase funding for the U.S Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service programs that support rural electric cooperatives and energy efficiency loans programs as well as the Rural Energy for American Program. 2-Establish a moratorium on utility shutoffs, late fees, and negative credit reporting for all utilities including rural electric cooperative and community-owned utilities.

3-Increase funding for the low-income Home Family

For The Complete Guide While many people follow suit, out of sight out of mind, forgetting the many dedicated Americans that work hard to bring you recourse wherever you are.   "Southern states are predicted to see the greatest impact from climate change and are already being ravaged by the coronavirus at a rate that outpaces other parts of the country." Report's People's Action

Perhaps the most exciting of the detailed plan brings a vision to what the future of rural communities could look like.   The community members speak of wanting increased multi-racial, multi-generational communities, being anchored by towns that serve as rural hubs, fair farm policy that meant family farms can make it, and a safety net to allow people to take a risk to start a business or pursue creative endeavors, a healthcare system that is actually a source health instead of a source of worry and stress.  In addition, a Jobs Guarantee to build the new infrastructure they need for the future of and all the new opportunities for everyone. ALL HANDS ON DECK While we all struggle to grasp the devastating effects of the pandemic, we must not be too busy, we must never forget our fellow American rural living family.  The vision for rural America, is not one that will be eagerly supported by the right nor provided without a fight.

JOIN THE FIGHT  FOR RURAL AMERICA!