News from around the nation.

Trump may restore Ukraine aid pending confidence-building measures, White House says; Cuts to Medicaid considered to extend Trump's 2017 tax cuts; Iowans react to nation's first law removing gender identity protections; EBT skimming scandal: no reimbursement for Ohioans who lose SNAP benefits.

Transcript

The Public News Service Wednesday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

President Donald Trump will consider restoring aid to Ukraine if peace talks are arranged and confidence-building measures are taken, White House National Security Advisor Mike Walsh said today, that from Reuters.

They report Trump halted military aid to Ukraine on Monday, his latest move to reconfigure U.S. policy and adopt a more conciliatory stance toward Russia.

Reuters notes Trump said Tuesday night that Ukraine was ready to sign a minerals deal with the U.S., which Washington says is crucial to secure continued U.S. backing for Ukraine's defense.

Meantime, the budget resolution recently passed by the U.S.

House calls for cutting $2 trillion in government spending to extend tax cuts passed during the Trump administration, including $880 billion from the committee that funds Medicaid health coverage.

Polly Anderson with the Colorado Community Health Network says those cuts would have immediate catastrophic impacts for health centers that treat all patients regardless of their ability to pay.

Currently, about 50 percent of patients are on Medicaid, and so it is the single largest payer for health centers in the state, and so very essential to keep providers working, to keep patients flowing through the health centers, and to keep the lights on.

Seven in 10 Trump voters say cutting Medicaid is unacceptable, according to a recent survey, and Republicans note the budget resolution does not include the word Medicaid a single time, but according to a nonpartisan watchdog group, it would be virtually impossible for the Energy and Commerce Committee to meet its $880 billion target without cutting Medicaid or Medicare.

I'm Eric Galatas.

Next to Iowa, where Governor Kim Reynolds has signed a measure that removes gender identity protections for LGBTQ+ people from the state's Civil Rights Code.

Senate File 418 makes Iowa the first state in the country to remove civil rights protections for a group of people who've been protected by law, taking the words "gender identity" out of its code.

Iowa executive director Ann Disher says the measure belies Iowa's open-minded reputation and sends the wrong message to the rest of the nation.

Basically it is saying that it's okay to discriminate against trans people in the workplace, in housing, in school, and in their financial lives.

Iowa passed its Civil Rights Act in 1965.

I'm Mark Moran.

And thousands of folks in Ohio relying on SNAP benefits to feed their families are finding their accounts drained due to electronic skimming fraud.

Audrey Van Zandt of the Ohio Association of Food Banks says victims often don't realize it until it's too late.

They're taking their account information and draining their accounts.

So then when that mother or that grandparent goes to swipe their benefit card, it's coming up that they have a zero dollar balance.

Until recently, federal reimbursements helped people recover stolen benefits, but that funding ended in December.

Now, Ohioans who fall victim to skimmers have no way to reclaim lost benefits.

This is Public News Service.

Next to South Dakota, where a Senate committee considers several bills today that would overhaul rules for getting citizen-led measures on the ballot.

Republican lawmakers want stricter requirements for ballot questions when South Dakota residents or affiliated organizations seek things like a constitutional amendment.

One bill calls for raising the approval threshold to 60 percent of the vote when a measure gets onto the ballot.

Stacey Roberts with Dakota Rural Action says this attempt appears to undermine voters' intelligence.

They're basically telling the population of South Dakota that they don't know what they're voting for.

And I think that's very untrue.

Whether it's signing a petition or deciding a ballot measure on Election Day, Roberts feels voters are well-informed.

She likens these bills to sour grapes following the success of recent initiatives like Medicaid expansion bill Sponsors say the ballots have been cluttered with too many citizen-led initiatives and that higher standards are needed for constitutional changes

I'm, mike Moen and environmental groups are voicing concerns about plans to build the nation's first small modular reactors or SMRs At the palisades nuclear plant in covert township, Michigan Holtech International says it aims to revive Palisades later this year after it was decommissioned in 2022 and in five years installed the nation's first SMRs.

Critics warn the reactors would still produce radioactive waste without long-term disposal solutions and pose accidental risk like leaks and meltdowns.

Michael Keegan with the grassroots group Don't Waste Michigan says about 80 companies are competing to market their SMRs, which he argues aren't really small nuclear reactors.

A colleague of mine refers to them as small mythical reactors because they don't exist.

They're PowerPoint reactors.

It's hyperbole.

And they're all chasing Department of Energy money.

We're talking billions of dollars.

Crystal Blair reporting.

And finally, bad air quality days are a heightened concern as ozone season begins in North Carolina.

Ozone season in the state lasts from March through October when hot weather increases the prevalence of ground-level ozone.

Education manager for Clean Air NC, Rafaela Vaca, says there are health impacts from poor ozone days.

"Symptoms like shortness of breath, coughing, and throat irritation as short-term impacts, but over time it can cause inflamed airways and worsening conditions like asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, and also increase your susceptibility to lung infections." ground-level ozone forms from chemical reactions between nitrogen oxides and organic compounds emitted from car exhaust, aerosol, and manufacturing facilities.

I'm Eric Tegethoff reporting.

This is Mike Clifford for Public News Service, member and listener supported.

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