News from around the nation.

Day 3 of federal funding deadlock brings Trump layoff fears; Fate of Farm Bill overlooked in government shutdown; End of federal EV tax incentives will set back economy, advocates say; Pennsylvania cities rank among nation's 'asthma capitals.'

Transcript

The Public News Service Friday afternoon update.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Today marks day three of the government shutdown.

NBC News reports the Senate will vote this afternoon on the Democratic and Republican short-term spending bills, which have failed to advance several times.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Republican of South Dakota, said if the measures are blocked again, the Senate will adjourn until Monday, extending the government shutdown into a sixth day.

NBC notes the majority of Trump supporters back tax subsidies for Affordable Care Act plans the new poll conducted in the days before the shutdown was found.

An extension of Obamacare subsidies, which expire at the year's end, is a key sticking point for Democrats in the fight.

Meantime, the government shutdown is getting attention, but farmers in South Dakota also wonder where things stand with agriculture programs now that the Farm Bill has expired.

Without new action, some critical programs will continue, but others are paused.

Michael Happ of the Midwest-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy says Congress should know farmers are operating under a much different model than 2018, the last time a farm bill passed.

Input costs are through the roof.

Corn prices in particular are way down.

And then, yeah, we have the uncertainty from the tariffs.

Economists say tariffs were felt during President Donald Trump's first term, but now global customers like China are buying commodities from other nations.

I'm Mike Moen.

And federal tax credits for electric vehicles Vehicle standards ended yesterday.

Advocates say the end of the policies will put the US at a disadvantage.

President Donald Trump signed his budget reconciliation bill in July, ending federal EV tax credits and fuel economy standards.

EV sales represent 12 percent of cars sold in 2024, according to the Maryland Department of Transportation.

The end of the tax credits may also pump the brakes on the state's plan to have all model year 2035 vehicles sold in the state be electric.

Ingrid Malmgren with Plugin America says there's been a concerted effort to ensure vehicles in the U.S. are run on gasoline or diesel.

There's been a lot of money spent in the 2024 election cycle by oil and gas interests, and this appears to be the administration and congressional leadership's way of paying back for all of those donations and funding.

Republican lawmakers and Trump have railed against EV tax credits.

They argue the market should determine what vehicle consumers drive, rather than government incentives to prop up the industry.

I'm Zimone Perez.

Next to the Keystone State, where Philadelphia and Allentown are among the toughest U.S. cities for people with asthma, Anna Santos-Rushman of Villanova University says Allentown ranked first last year, while Philadelphia's situation is worsening.

There's the urban part of things, so you're seeing, you know, relatively large cities being listed.

Pollution is another of the big factors here, asthma.

By the way, Pittsburgh is faring better at 44th and Harrisburg at 15th.

According to the latest Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America report, more than 28 million Americans have asthma.

This is Public News Service.

As the contested case hearing for the Enbridge Line 5 relocation project wraps up today in Madison, supporters of the project are urging people to remember what's at stake for rural Wisconsin.

Environmental groups and the Bad River Tribe are challenging permits the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources issued to Enbridge in November for rerouting the pipeline.

After weeks of testimony, final statements are expected today.

Nate Zimdars with Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation emphasizes what's at stake for farmers who depend on propane, a byproduct from Line 5.

Oftentimes our farmers are forgotten about in conversations like this.

Just think about the food that's getting put on your table.

It's got to come from somewhere. comes from our farmers who are working really hard during this time of year and are dependent on that energy.

He emphasizes farmers are already experiencing the strains of the federal government shutdown and difficult economic conditions.

Opponents of the pipeline are just as determined saying rerouting Line 5 would be detrimental to the environment, increasing water contamination and threatening cultural resources.

I'm Judith Ruiz Branch reporting.

And the number of women behind bars in New Mexico and across the globe has increased by nearly 60 percent in the past 25 years, according to a new Prison Policy Initiative report.

New Mexico ranks 17th among the states, with women ages 29 to 49 making up 9 percent of the confined population.

Wanda Bertram with the initiative says many states are doubling down on prosecuting low-level offenses that women are vulnerable to when going through hard times.

Offenses that are associated with homelessness, right, like sleeping on the street, panhandling, trespassing offenses that are correlated with poverty, like petty theft, drug offenses.

Among U.S. states, South Dakota had the most women incarcerated, followed by Montana and Idaho.

I'm Roz Brown.

Finally, an environmental group is voicing concerns about the safety of drinking water in Tennessee.

According to the EPA monitoring data, 14 water systems in the state show PFAS levels that exceed federal limits.

Dan Firth with the Sierra Club Tennessee says the EPA issued a drinking water standard for what are often called forever chemicals.

And it was expected that the water treatment plans would need to remove them.

But under the Trump administration, Firth says the EPA is now delaying or scrapping those rules.

In regards to the reason why we still have them is because the EPA is not letting the rules go into force that would require the treatment of that water to bring it down to regulatory acceptable limits.

EPA data shows more than 172 million people have been exposed to these forever chemicals this year.

Danielle Smith reporting.

This is Mike Clifford.

Thanks for ending your week with Public News Service.

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