Six minutes of news from around the nation.

Sen. Chuck Schumer says he won't block Republican funding bill amid Democratic divisions over shutdown strategy; Health and climate: A growing crisis in Florida; PA faith leader part of TX protest of oil, gas subsidies; AZ groups file lawsuits to limit effects of Elon Musk's DOGE.

Transcript

The Public News Service Daily Newscast for March the 14th, 2025.

I'm Mike Clifford.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer indicated Thursday he would vote to advance the Republican six-month funding bill that passed the House to avert a government shutdown.

That from NBC News.

They report the move represents a major concession from Schumer, yielding to the GOP measure just one day after he vowed that Democrats wouldn't allow it to pass.

It means the bill is likely to find enough votes to clear the 60-vote threshold and eventually pass with a simple majority, even as a growing number of Senate Democrats came out in opposition on Thursday.

And as the warming climate continues to reshape the environment, its impact on people's health is becoming increasingly evident in states like Florida.

Doctors and other health experts are sounding the alarm, emphasizing the urgent need for action to address the intersection of climate change and public health.

Dr. Farhan Malik, a pediatric ICU doctor at Florida's Nemours Children Hospital, highlights the broad and often underestimated health risks tied to climate change.

He explains how environmental changes are affecting vulnerable populations, especially children.

I think everything that you could possibly encounter from a health perspective, we don't attribute enough to climate.

From my realm in the pediatric world, a lot of these kids are affected by infectious diseases.

They've got weak immune systems.

They've got immature lungs.

Malik points to the COVID-19 pandemic as an example of how environmental changes, from deforestation to rising temperatures, force animals into new habitats, increasing the risk of zoonotic diseases and global health crises.

I'm Tramiel Gomes.

And a Pennsylvania Buddhist minister joined 40 religious leaders in Texas this week to demand an end to fossil fuel subsidies and expansion of oil and gas production.

Our Daniel Smith has more.

Their protest at Sursa Week in Houston came ahead of the EPA's plan to roll back key environmental regulations.

Adam Lobel with One Earth Sangha says he stands in solidarity with the leaders and communities in Texas since he's fought oil, gas and petrochemical expansion in Pennsylvania for over a decade.

Lobel condemns fracking in the Marcellus Shell and Shell's Beaver County Cracker Plant for pollution and broken promises.

The plant itself is highly polluting.

The community is outraged at how much carcinogens and toxic substances are being released from the plant.

Shell promised to be a good neighbor and that was not the case.

And now the community is stuck with this giant plant that actually doesn't offer many jobs at all.

Lobel says the Shell plant produces 1.6 million tons of plastics annually and points out the state government has granted Rural Dutch Shell the largest tax break in Pennsylvania history.

This is Public News Service.

The Sierra Club and other partners are suing Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE over the mass firings of federal workers across multiple agencies.

The groups contend the purge will have devastating impacts on Arizona's public lands and parks.

Sierra Club managing attorney Gloria Smith predicts severe reductions in funding and staffing will affect visitor safety, wildlife protection, wildfire prevention and proper maintenance of lands.

The trails are likely to not be maintained.

There's a good chance that campgrounds will not be cleaned up and cared for.

There's a lot of work that goes into making a park presentable and safe for the high season when millions and millions of people visit.

The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management are two of the large federal employers responsible for hiring wildland firefighters.

If hiring stalls, it could spell trouble for the 40 percent of public land in Arizona.

I'm Alex Gonzalez reporting.

Meantime, Maryland is facing a $3 billion budget deficit and planned cuts in 2026 would include millions in disability assistance.

More than 20,000 Marylanders with disabilities receive state support to help their families afford caregiver services.

More than 3,500 families use self-directed services, which give families the ability to set up caregiving separately from traditional programs.

Those services in the proposed budget will face cuts, which advocates say would drive caregivers out of the system to better paying opportunities.

Hamza Khan, a disability rights advocate, has two siblings with special needs.

He says funding issues stem from the state overextending itself while getting federal COVID-19 assistance.

As the pandemic wind down, the state also received one-time federal injections of cash into our budget.

And it appears that the governor built those in to be long-term injections of cash.

He built those in structurally to the budget rather than accounting for them to be one time.

Governor Westmore's supplemental budget avoided steep cuts through the rest of 2025, but did not address more than $400 million in cuts for next year.

I'm Simone Perez.

Finally, Indiana lawmakers introduced a third property tax plan this week, aiming to protect local governments from funding cuts while offering minimal relief to homeowners.

The proposal, led by GOP Representative Jeff Thompson of Liston, would change how property taxes are calculated, including phasing out certain homestead deductions and shifting local income tax authority.

When you raise the rate, pocketbook lost some money.

You lower the rate, pocketbook gains some money.

That's the right system.

It won't be always smooth.

But the alternative is where we're at right now, and we can continue on down the path and we'll have the same result.

Thompson's plan joins competing proposals from Governor Mike Braun and Senate Republicans.

I'm Joe Ulari, Public News Service.

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

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