News from around the nation.

GOP-controlled Congress seeks to avoid government shutdown early in Trump's term; FL lawmakers push to expand diabetes care with new bills; KY animal shelter expects to save money, energy with new solar panels; Mid-South farmers grapple with uncertainty of USDA funding freeze, layoffs.

Transcript

The Public News Service Monday afternoon update, I'm Mike Clifford.

House Republicans are pushing a not-so-clean spending patch through September that would add billions of dollars for deportations, veterans, health care and military and cut $13 billion in funding for non-defense programs.

That's the take from Politico.

They report the Speaker is planning to put the stopgap, known as a continuing resolution or CR, on the floor Tuesday and then send members home for recess before the Senate can send back any changes.

Politico notes Johnson is hoping to get the CR through the House without relying on Democratic votes.

House Democrats reaffirmed Saturday they are a no vote.

President Trump is publicly pushing GOP lawmakers to fall in line, but Johnson still got a few Republican holdouts.

Meantime Florida lawmakers are taking steps to address the state's growing number of people with diabetes by improving early detection and access to care.

More than 2 million Floridians are diabetic and another 5.8 million are at risk, according to the American Diabetes Association.

Community health centers serve patients no matter their income or insurance status.

Dr. Wilhelmina Lewis, who heads the Florida Community Health Centers, says these clinics will be key to curbing the state's diabetic crisis.

Because they really are whole person care.

They're addressing not just one problem and not just acute needs, but they're really looking at those social determinants or social drivers of health that can influence a person's health outcomes.

I'm Tramell Gomes.

Next up, solar energy is going to the dogs and cats in southeastern Kentucky.

A Leslie County animal shelter is in the final stages of securing solar panels.

We get more in this Resource Rural Kentucky News Connection collaboration.

Suggestions like changing to more efficient light bulbs and improving the shelter's heating and cooling system were made to Leslie County Special Projects Manager Anna Carey.

The group also asked if the county government or the shelter would be interested in a solar project.

Carey says without hesitation, she was on board.

And they were able to get some grant funding for us and get a solar installer to put up solar panels, but it's also tied to like a battery backup.

I'm Terry Dee reporting.

Next to Mississippi where farmers face mounting uncertainty as a federal funding freeze and layoffs at the U.S. Department of Agriculture have disrupted some of the programs they rely on.

Adam Chappelle, a fourth generation Arkansas farmer, shared his views in a virtual briefing by the National Sustainable Agricultural Coalition.

The reality is I may be the last one here and this funding freeze and all this uncertainty is not just affecting me, but you know, I've got to borrow money to farm.

And when we don't know if we're getting reimbursed for things that we've already done, you know, bankers don't like that.

The freeze has paused reimbursements and stalled contracts, creating stress and financial strain for farmers already grappling with rising costs and unpredictable markets.

This is public news service.

Next as federal government spending cuts loom, advocates for keeping Medicaid intact are calling attention to how the funding is used in public schools in states like New Jersey and nationwide.

Medicaid provides health insurance for more than 37 million children in the nation, but it's less well known that Medicaid funding also supports a number of services in public schools.

Jennifer Higgins, president of American Federation of Teachers New Jersey, says threats to the Department of Education along with Medicaid funding would affect millions of kids.

School districts can bill Medicaid for therapeutic and other services such as speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, audiologists, psychologists, social workers and nurses.

So when you combine the cuts to both, it's financially catastrophic to not only just New Jersey, but any state.

She says the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act funding supports more than 240,000 students in the state.

Brett Pivito reporting.

The state estimates up to 700,000 New Jerseyans would be at risk of losing health care.

And the Trump administration's recent executive order entitled "Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production" calls on federal land managers to ramp up timber production to protect the country's national and economic security.

Nick Cady is the legal director of Cascadia Wildlands in Eugene.

He says the order's claim that honors federal policies have forced the country to rely on imported lumber is incorrect.

In fact, he says the U.S. is one of the world's leading timber exporters.

There are miles and miles of deck logs that are raw, exported to Asia every day out of Coos Bay and the ports here in Oregon.

So the premise which all of this is based on is false.

The order also states that a lack of logging has contributed to wildfires and degraded fish and wildlife habitats.

Cascadia Wildlands and other environmental groups plan to take legal action against the order.

I'm Isabel Charlet.

We head finally to Tennessee, where Disability Day on the Hill is an opportunity for people living with a disability to unite and engage in the legislative process.

The CDC reports nearly 1.6 million Tennesseans have a disability.

Keri Carlson with the Tennessee Disability Coalition says people are encouraged to meet them for the Disability Day on the Hill in Nashville.

The event focuses on issues and challenges policies that threaten protections under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Disability Day on the Hill is a day where hundreds of people with disabilities will come to Nashville, to Cordell Hall, and get involved in the legislative process, meaning having meetings with their Senate and House of Representatives.

For Public News Service, I'm Danielle Smith.

This is Mike Clifford.

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