Letter to the Editor: Wahpeton Daily News: Farm Bill impacts everyone in North Dakota, including our children.

Farm Bill impacts everyone in North Dakota, including our children

Lisa K. Dullum, West Fargo

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program formerly known as food stamps, is the front line defense against hunger and food insecurity and is part of the Farm Bill. At this time, the Senate and the House of Representatives each have passed a different version of the Farm Bill. The U.S. House of Representatives’ version includes changes to SNAP that could result in more than 1.2 million people, including children, losing access to critical food assistance each month. Worse yet, it takes money away from food and families to create a new bureaucracy and increase paperwork requirements. And it would place unfunded mandates on state government agencies at a time when states like North Dakota can least afford it.

Nearly half of North Dakota’s 53,269 SNAP recipients are children. SNAP kept 6,000 North Dakota children out of poverty in each year between 2009 and 2012. By providing much needed economic support, SNAP allows families to have sufficient nutrition during times of unemployment, fluctuating incomes, and low-wage work.

Under the language in the House Farm Bill, children in households losing SNAP eligibility might also lose access to free lunch and breakfast at school. Taken together, it will mean more children going without meals at home and at school. As an educator, I know that coming to school hungry is one of the most serious roadblocks to successful learning. And children whose families don’t have basic food security are much more likely to face other problems at school and are less likely to grow up to become healthy contributing members to society.

I urge Congressman Kevin Cramer to support a Farm Bill in conference committee that looks more like the Senate’s bipartisan version that supports and strengthens SNAP. Our children and our future are counting on you.

From EPI: Census Citizenship Question

The Trump administration’s attacks on immigrants have far reaching implications. This past March, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross―with the support of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions―announced that he was instructing the Census Bureau to add a question about citizenship to the 2020 census. The constitution mandates that our government undertake a count of every person in the United States every ten years. The census impacts more than just congressional district lines. It impacts the allocation of more than $700 billion in federal government resources to states and localities. It is a pillar of our democracy and if we get it wrong it distorts political power and the funding of our communities for the next decade. Past Census Bureau directors and a bipartisan pair of past Commerce secretaries warn that adding a citizenship question to the census will under-count already hard-to-reach populations―in low-income urban and rural areas alike. And the Census Bureau itself has told Secretary Ross that the question “harms the quality of the census count.” Right now, the Census Bureau is holding a public comment period―asking for our feedback on the Trump administration’s citizenship question. This is our chance to make our voices heard.  Click here to submit an official public comment opposing the citizenship question in the 2020 census and help ensure the accuracy of this critical once-in-a-decade census. (Comments submitted will become a matter of public record.) The administration’s attacks on immigrant populations―separating families at the border, increased ICE deportations, and targeting of immigrant Muslim populations―are already having a chilling effect on communities throughout the country. Adding this UNTESTED census question will have the likely effect of depressing response rates and distorting the accuracy of information.It will only add to the stresses and inequity recent immigrants are facing while taking resources away from already underserved communities. Stand with EPI and our partners in opposing the Trump administration’s citizenship question in the 2020 census. Click here to submit your official comment. At a time when Congress is cutting funding for critical programs―education, Medicaid, food stamps and more―it is crucial that we conduct an accurate census that properly allocates those limited resources. Thank you, Thea Lee President, Economic Policy Institute

From EPI: The New Gilded Age - Income Inequality by State

Income inequality is on the rise. Even as incomes of the bottom 99 percent improve with a strengthening economy, the gap between the top 1 percent and everyone else continues to grow. EPI is out with a new report, “The new gilded age,” which shows that income inequality is not just a problem in big cities and coastal states. The report breaks down what it takes to be in the top 1 percent in every state, county and metropolitan area—and shows that income inequality is a problem throughout the country.  Click here to share this map on Facebook, which shows the level of inequality in each state.

Share this graphic on Facebook

Share this graphic on Twitter

From 2009–2015, the incomes of the top 1 percent grew faster than the incomes of the bottom 99 percent in 43 states and the District of Columbia. And in nine states the top 1 percent captured at least half of all income growth. Nationally, in 2015, families in the top 1 percent made 26 times as much as the bottom 99 percent.  Click here to view the state-by-state interactive feature and see how the average income of the bottom 99 percent in your state compares with the average top 1 percent income. These data are also broken down by county and metropolitan area. Since the 1970s, income inequality has risen in every state. But this trend can be reversed if we begin making different policy choices, such as raising the minimum wage, strengthening collective bargaining, and providing paid sick leave. Together we can rebuild the middle class and create an economy that works for everyone, not just the wealthy few. Thank you, Dan Crawford Media Relations Director, Economic Policy Institute

From Public News Service: Are All ND Millennials Benefiting from State's High Incomes?

Are All ND Millennials Benefiting from State's High Incomes?
July 23, 2018 - Eric Tegethoff, Public News Service (ND)

Play Audio in Browser Window

While workers in the oil fields are earning high wages, other occupations in North Dakota may not be keeping up. (Lindsey G/Flickr)

BISMARCK, N.D. – A new report finds millennials can earn the most money if they move to North Dakota.

But does that apply for every occupation?

The Hamilton Project found that, adjusting for cost of living and income taxes, median earnings for people aged 25 to 34 in the Bismarck metropolitan area were highest in the nation, at more than $33,000 a year.

The rest of the state isn't far behind.

Nationally, the average is just below $26,000. But while workers in the oil field fare well, Jay Shambaugh, director of The Hamilton Project, notes wages haven't necessarily kept pace in other fields.

For instance, teacher pay is much closer to the national average.

"Teachers would be one that makes sense,” he says. “They sign longer-term contracts, they're public workers.

“You could see how oil drilling, if they really need someone and they can make money hiring them, they're going to keep offering higher and higher wages if they need to get the person there.

“In some of these other fields where you set the wages over longer horizons, they may not have adjusted as quickly."

For its analysis, The Hamilton Project used U.S. Census data and created an interactive map from the results.

When cost of living and income taxes aren't taken into account, San Jose, Calif.-area millennials fare best, with a median income of more than $50,000.

Shambaugh says the nation needs to watch the discrepancies in pay across occupations.

"The variation is across region, but it's also within region across the industries,” he points out. “North Dakota is a great example with the oil and drilling, but it does mean that different people are struggling in different places even when the place is doing well sometimes, and that's something people have to keep an eye on."

Shambaugh adds that this report simply catalogs the data and notes that people don't necessarily pick the place they're going to live only based on income.

In other words, there are other reasons people might be attracted to living in North Dakota.

From ND AFL-CIO: July 16 Weekly Update

Rebuilding Power in Open-Shop America: A Labor Notes Guide The moment you may have been dreading arrived June 27, when the Supreme Court imposed the open shop on the public sector nationwide with its decision in Janus v. AFSCME District 31. Instead of the usual mix of articles, this month we’re sharing a special expanded issue of Labor Notes devoted to one topic: our survival guide for rebuilding power in open-shop America. (Are you in the private sector and think this won’t affect you? Don’t get too cozy.) Tell The Senate: Stop Brett Kavanaugh Judge Brett Kavanaugh has a dangerous track-record of protecting the privileges of the wealthy and powerful at the expense of working people. Any Supreme Court nominee must be fair, independent and committed to protecting the rights, freedoms and legal safeguards of all Americans. Judge Kavanaugh does not meet this standard and must not be confirmed. South Dakota Labor Movement Reflects The Shifting Needs Of Working America The role of unions has changed over time. Union members pioneered changes in America's work life such as weekends off and pay for overtime hours. Kooper Caraway is the president of Sioux Falls AFL-CIO. Employers will do almost anything to find workers to fill jobs — except pay them mor Of all the addictions that undermine stability in communities and society at large, surely one of the worst and most persistent is the addiction of corporate managements to pleasing their shareholders. UPCOMING EVENTS Fargo-Moorhead Campaign School - July 17- 5:30pm to 8:30pm Are you going to be heavily involved in the Labor 2018 campaign to elect candidates who share our values? If so, join the Minnesota AFL-CIO, North Dakota AFL-CIO, and the West Area Labor Council to learn the latest tips and tactics for a successful Labor campaign. Labor 2018 Kickoff - Bismarck - Saturday July 21 - 1-5 Can we count on you to roll up your sleeves with the AFL-CIO and volunteer with phone banking or door knocking efforts in order to elect candidates that will stand for the issues that matter to YOU? Compassionate and Just Immigration Reform The history of the labor movement is full of "divide and conquer" tactics that powerful elites have used to weaken us, many times pitting worker against worker based on differences of ethnicity, gender, religion, or immigration status. We also know that the labor movement, at it's best, marched with civil rights leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and stood on the line with farm workers like Cesar Chavez. We know that when we stand together and refuse to be divided, we are strong, and we can win a better life for all working people.

From ND AFL-CIO: Immigration Reform; American Workers Gettin Ripped Off; Campaign School, Door Knocking, and Kickoff!

Compassionate and Just Immigration Reform The history of the labor movement is full of "divide and conquer" tactics that powerful elites have used to weaken us, many times pitting worker against worker based on differences of ethnicity, gender, religion, or immigration status. We also know that the labor movement, at it's best, marched with civil rights leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and stood on the line with farm workers like Cesar Chavez. We know that when we stand together and refuse to be divided, we are strong, and we can win a better life for all working people. We understand that immigration is a complex and difficult conversation, but one that we as a nation, must have sooner than later. Like any complicated conversation, we don't have to start from scratch. We can look to the rocks of our community, our faith and our unions, for a foundation sturdy enough to build something lasting. Please read the powerful statements made by the Catholic Bishop of Bismarck, the Catholic Bishop of Fargo, the Catholic Bishop of Crookston, the North Dakota Eastern Synod Lutheran Bishop and Western Synod Minnesota Lutheran Bishop, the President of the AFL-CIO, and a local community pediatrician. ND and MN Bishops' statement on immigration to the United States A Statement on Immigration by the Catholic Bishops of North Dakota Broken Immigration System Hurts Working People - Statement from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka Miller: My immigrant story We ask you to contact your representatives in Congress and urge them to support immigration reform that respects the dignity of all workers and their families.  Click Here to Email. New Study Confirms That American Workers Are Getting Ripped Off America’s unemployment rate is hovering near half-century lows. There are now more job openings than unemployed workers in the United States for the first time since the government began tracking that ratio. For America’s working class, macroeconomic conditions don’t get much better than this. And yet, most Americans’ wages aren’t getting any better, at all. Over the past 12 months, piddling wage gains — combined with modest inflation — have left the vast majority of our nation’s laborers with lower real hourly earnings than they had in May 2017. On Wall Street, the second-longest expansion in U.S. history has brought boom times — in the coming weeks, S&P 500 companies will dole out a record-high $124.1 billion in quarterly dividends. But on Main Street, returns have been slim. UPCOMING EVENTS Labor 2018 Doorknocking - Fargo - Thursday July 12 - 5:30-8 We will be knocking doors and making calls, talking to union members about our ticket of labor-endorsed candidates, Heidi Heitkamp for US Senate, Mac Schneider for US House and Josh Boschee for ND Secretary of State. Fargo-Moorhead Campaign School - July 17- 5:30pm to 8:30pm Are you going to be heavily involved in the Labor 2018 campaign to elect candidates who share our values? If so, join the Minnesota AFL-CIO, North Dakota AFL-CIO, and the West Area Labor Council to learn the latest tips and tactics for a successful Labor campaign. Labor 2018 Kickoff - Bismarck - Saturday July 21 - 1-5 Can we count on you to roll up your sleeves with the AFL-CIO and volunteer with phone banking or door knocking efforts in order to elect candidates that will stand for the issues that matter to YOU?