Monthly Archives: June 2023

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 1 that the International Brotherhood of Teamsters must defend itself in court over allegations that a 2017 drivers strike in Washington state damaged a concrete supplier when trucks were left with full loads as the strike was called.

While CalPortland, the concrete supplier, and construction groups applauded the 8-1 ruling, labor unions insist it will change nothing in construction law.

Although were disappointed in todays result, the Courts opinion leaves intact both the federally protected right to strike and the basic framework for determining when labor disputes should be decided by the National Labor Relations Board instead of state courts," said Darin M. Dalmat, senior partner at Barnard Iglitzin & Lavitt, the law firm that represented the Teamsters in the case, in a statement.

Glacier Northwest, Inc., a division of CalPortland, employs truck drivers that are members of the Teamsters Local No. 174. After a collective-bargaining agreement between Glacier and the Union expired in 2017, the union called for a work stoppage on a morning it knew the company was in the midst of mixing substantial amounts of concrete, loading batches into ready-mix trucks and making deliveries.<

The union directed drivers to ignore Glaciers instructions to finish deliveries in progress. At least 16 drivers who had already set out for deliveries returned with fully loaded trucks and some even stopped where they were and left their trucks on roadsides. By initiating emergency procedures to offload the concrete into environmentally safe catch basins, Glacier prevented significant damage to its trucks, but all the concrete mixed that day cured andbecame useless.

The union moved to dismiss Glaciers claims, arguingthat the National Labor Relations Act preempted the lawsuit and protected a union's right to strike.

In the Teamsters'view, the NLRA protected the drivers conduct. The trial court agreed with the union, but the appellate court reversed that decision and the Washington Supreme Court reinstated the trial courts decision which set it up for the 8-1 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that sent it back to the trial court.

The Unions actions not only resulted in the destruction of all the concrete Glacier had prepared that day; they also posed a risk of foreseeable, aggravated, and imminent harm to Glaciers trucks." Because the Union took affirmative steps to endanger Glaciers property rather than reasonable precautions to mitigate that risk, the NLRA does not arguably protect its conduct," Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote for the 8-1 majority, sending the matter back to the trial court. Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the only dissenting justice, with all others concurring with the majority.

Construction groups praised the decision, particularly the Associated Builders and Contractors of America, which represents mainly non-union contractors.

Theprecedent is clear that the National Labor Relations Act does not give unions a free pass to intentionally destroy an employers property during a labor dispute, said Ben Brubeck, ABC's vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs, in a statement.The Washington Supreme Court decision "left employers without a remedy for the intentional destruction of their private property, causing businesses, workers and communities to suffer."

Brubeck's statement added that intentionally destroying another persons property should not and cannot be the norm in the construction community.

While agreeing with the decision in principle, the Associated General Contractors of America, acknowledged that there were differences between the hastily-called Washington state strike and general labor actions by unions against their contractor employers.

"This decision will have no impact on the National Labor Relations Act and how it governs the relationship between employers and unions, including the protections in place for employees right to organize and engage in legal labor disputes." said Brian Turmail, vice president of public affairs and strategic initiatives at the AGC of America. "However, it does reaffirm that union officials cannot knowingly engage in deliberate acts of sabotage as part of a labor dispute, as 8 of the 9 justices rightly concluded."

CalPortland Co., the owner of Glacier Northwest, said that it was only protecting its property rights in what it called an unprecedented labor dispute.

CalPortland is very pleased with todays 8-1 decision by the United States Supreme Court in the case..." said Robert M. Binam, senior vice president and general counsel for CalPortland Company in a statement. "The decision confirms the well-established legal principle that a labor union cannot take affirmative steps to endanger or destroy an employers property in furtherance of a strike, and then claim such tortious acts are somehow protected by the National Labor Relations Act."

Both Justice Jackson in dissent, and Associate Justice Clarence Thomas in concurrence, drew attention to a 1959 precedent, San Diego Building Trades Council v. Garmon. That decision had the effect of giving the National Labor Relations Board a benefit of the doubt that other federal agencies do not usually receive from the high court.

While federal law generally preempts state law when the two conflict, in Garmon the Supreme Court ruled the NLRA preempts state law if the two even arguably conflicta type of deference as to the NLRBs presumed jurisdiction. Jackson wrote that Congress had chosen to entrust broad power to the NLRB given its specialized expertise.

The decision in Glacier denying that special deference could apply to other debates over how much deference courts should accord government agencies.

"Six years ago, this company forced us out on strike by refusing to bargain in good faith, and theyve been coming after us in court ever since," said CalPortland driver Mark Hislop in a statement released by Teamsters Local 174. "As far as Im concerned, todays decision changes nothing for us Teamsters, and it will not stop us from fighting as hard as we can for strong contracts."

For Glacier Northwest and CalPortland drivers, the fight over contracts continues. As recently as August, more than 100 Local 174 drivers walked off the job in another contract dispute with CalPortland and other suppliers.

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US Supreme Court Rules Against Striking Drivers Who Abandoned ... - Engineering News-Record

Jon Eatons recent letter notes the town has followed the old maxim of first, do no harm. Were that only so. For the past 18 years, the advocates for building on the Thomaston Green (i.e. commercial and private development) have failed to find takers.

One major developer who looked closely at private development on the Green walked away telling us what many already knew that the Green really should become a park. It has remained Thomastons only large, open space and informal park since the prison was demolished.

The upcoming votes at the June 14 Town meeting are an attempt to permanently develop the Route 1 frontage on the Green through a series of Warrant Articles (5 in total) that can only be voted on in person.

This is an intentional, underhanded maneuver by the Select Board and Mr. Eatons Economic Development Committee to wrest the fate of the Green away from its own residents. This antiquated and, frankly, undemocratic process purposely excludes many potential votersthose without transportation, parents on a school night, conflicting work schedules, the home-bound, etc. It at the heart of why many people are outraged at this most recent attempt find somethinganythingto build on the Green and open the floodgate to future private development. As one resident recently remarked, its sneaky.

Once parts of the Green are covered by buildings and pavement, the Green as a potential multi-use, multi-generational park space is gone forever. Wording that reserves parts of the Green does not permanently protect it. Reserve contains no legal commitment against future development. Residents no long trust their own government to keep its promises due to exactly this kind of backdoor and disingenuous deception.

If our own Select Board and their puppet masters on the Economic Development Committee were at all forward looking, they would know that parks and open space in communities throughout Maine and the nation are drivers of significant and importantly, long term, economic benefit, along with recreational and health (mental and physical) and environmental benefits.

Look at Rockports proposed park at the intersections of Route 1 and Route 90. Even South Thomaston is looking to create a community park.

Mr. Eaton believes any development on the Route 1 frontage should be required to enhance the public good and public enjoyment of the Green Most folks would agree.No developmenton Route 1 frontage can also be viewed as a way to not only enhance butpreserveand increase the public good and public enjoyment of the Green.

Health care can find another homeeven one more centrally located for the needs of their clients; open space on the historic Green cannot be moved elsewhere.

The future of the Green should be made by democratic choice not arrogant dismissiveness and certainly not by legalistic plays to hide the ball and sweep aside public sentiment and the publics right to vote on measures that will permanently change and affect each of our lives in Thomaston. Forever.

Christopher Crosman lives inThomaston

Excerpt from:

The Future of the Thomaston Green is Green (or should be) - PenBayPilot.com

Nancy Pelosi famously said that Congress had to pass the Affordable Care Act so that we could find out whats in it. Perhaps misconstrued, the line still perfectly captures modern legislative practice at the federal level. Congress produces enormous laws filled with broad general directives; government agencies, trade associations, pressure groups, and regulated entities then hash out what the actual rulesthe true substanceof those laws should be. A striking example of this process is playing out at the Federal Communications Commission, where progressives, latching on to an obscure provision in one of Congresss latest mega-bills, seek a government takeover of the broadband industry.

Enacted in late 2021, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act runs more than a thousand pages. The table of contents starts off tolerably enough: early headings include Bridge investment and National highway performance program. Scan down, though, and you can practically watch the legislators lose focus. Before long they drift into Sport fish restoration, Best practices for battery recycling, and Limousine compliance with federal safety standards. But dont nod off. On page 10, youll abruptly stumble on Broadband. (If you hit Indian water rights settlement completion fund or Bioproduct pilot program, youve gone too far.) This rather cryptic caption refers to a segment that begins on page 754. Start reading there, and youll eventually arrive at the last section of Title V of Division FSection 60506, to be precise, on pages 817 and 818which contains about 300 words on digital discrimination.

The relevant provision directs the FCC to adopt rules to prevent digital discrimination of [broadband] access based on income level, race, ethnicity, color, religion, or national origin. Note the phrase based on: the Supreme Court has held that similar language, such as on the ground of, refers to intentional discriminationalso known as disparate treatment. Everyone agrees that the FCCs Section 60506 rules should bar deliberately withholding broadband service from an area out of animus for people in one of the protected classes.

But progressive advocacy groups want to go much further, arguing that Section 60506 targets not disparate treatment but disparate impact. Under that standard, a risk of liability arises whenever outcomes among classes differ, even when the gap is entirely unintended. The progressive groups rely on Texas Department of Housing v. The Inclusive Communities Project (2015), in which Justice Anthony Kennedy, joined by the Supreme Courts liberals, found that disparate-impact claims are allowed under the Federal Housing Act. That statute bars discrimination because of a renters or buyers membership in a protected class. The four dissenting justices objected that the phrase because of prompts only disparate treatment liability and laid out the Courts precedents confirming as much.

Inclusive Communities is an outlier. Todays Courtwhere three of that decisions dissenters now form part of a six-justice conservative majoritywould likely decline to extend its holding. But at least the ruling placed reasonable limits on disparate-impact liability. A plaintiff suing under the Fair Housing Act must show that the defendant created the imbalance in question, and that it did so for no economically sensible reason. Imposing liability based solely on a showing of a statistical disparity, the Court observed, would raise serious constitutional questions. All nine justices wanted to avoid reading the statute as a push to perpetuate race-based considerations rather than move beyond them.

The progressive groups seeking to exploit Section 60506 have no such concerns. They believe that existing broadband infrastructure is infused with structural racism. Race-neutral decision making, in this telling, is racist decision making; whats needed instead is race-driven decision making. Broadband providers must make affirmative efforts, as one group puts it, to remediate historic inequities. A finding of unlawful discrimination can stand, the groups contend, on a statistical difference in broadband access between any two communitiesor even between any two census blocks.

The progressive groups comments to the FCC set forth a social-justice wish list that has almost nothing to do with the law Congress wrote. Access means Internet availability and performance. Yet the groups press for the concept to embrace such factors as the caliber of customer service, the timeliness of resolving outages, the amount of notice regarding upcoming or past-due bills, and approaches to advertising. (They also want businesses that offer Wi-Fithink of Starbucksto fall within the rules.) There can be no doubt about which classes are protectedthe statute provides a list. Yet one group urges the FCC to add in disability status, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender and identity expression, familial status, domestic survivor abuse status, homelessness, English language proficiency[,] and citizenship status. (For good measure, this outfit invites the FCC to pitch any additional historically marginalized groups that it can think up.)

Under the Constitution, civil rights laws generally must protect individuals rather than cohorts. If blacks may complain of mistreatment, so may whites. In the same spirit, Section 60506 prohibits discrimination in any direction. It bans discrimination based on income, for example, rather than just poverty. The progressives granular, expansive, trigger-happy system of liability would give everyone grounds for complaint. The upshot is that broadband providersand even, perhaps, stores, restaurants, and hotels that offer Wi-Fiwould have to provide exactly the same products, terms, and services to every person at every place at every time, with every shortfall worthy of government investigation.

Just a few years ago, the FCC repealed its short-lived net neutrality regime for the Internet, which treated broadband providers as common carriers in certain respects. Democrats breathlessly asserted that, without the net neutrality rules in place, people would get the Internet one word at a time. Obviously, they were wrong. Yet activists persist in claiming that the repealwhich simply returned broadband to the light touch form of regulation that prevailed until 2015was a disaster. They seek not just to restore the old net neutrality order but to transform broadband into a utility.

The progressive groups insist that, in enacting Section 60506, Congress reject[ed] the FCCs light touch deregulatory approach and reimposed common carrier rules insofar as necessary to achieve . . . universal service. Dont be fooled: this is not a call for net neutrality. It is not even a bid for common carriage. It is a demand that broadband providers construct new facilities, on government order and without regard to rudimentary business logic, and then provide service subject to price controls. In the words of one group: [Section 60506] require[s] providers to build out to areas where otherwise they would not. In the words of another: consumers ability to pay must be balanced against the providers ability to provide service with less profit, at cost, or even at a loss.

These advocates are not bothered by the fact that (as some candidly acknowledge) Congress has tried and failed to reimpose common-carrier status on broadband providers via legislation. Nor do they have a good explanation for why, if Section 60506 all but nationalizes the broadband market, Congress bothered to set aside tens of billions of dollarsin the same statute of which Section 60506 is a part, no lessfor broadband providers that voluntarily expand into underserved areas. This subsidy program, not an investment-killing command-and-control scheme, is Congresss chosen means for trying to bridge the digital divide.

Can a small provision buried deep in a thousand-page law revolutionize an entire industry? The answer, the Supreme Court has said with increasing clarity, is no. It is by now a clich, among lawyers, that Congress should not be assumed to hide elephants in mouseholes. The line comes from an opinion authored by Justice Antonin Scalia in 2001, and it stands for the proposition that big, bold policy decisions require big, bold legislative statements. The Court recently formalized this principle, known as the major questions rule, in West Virginia v. EPA (2022), which tells Congress that it may not convey extraordinary grants of regulatory authority through modest words, vague terms, or subtle devices.

The FCC has until November to issue its Section 60506 rules. What will the agency do? It can adopt rules that prevent intentional discrimination in future broadband deployment. Or it can let ideologues lead it by the nose to attempt a surprising and dramatic expansion of broadband regulation. Option one is sound. Option two defies the text of the statute, the major-questions rule, and common sense. The right answer is clearno more passing laws so that we can find out whats in them.

Photo: johnason/iStock

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The Elephant in the Ethernet Port - City Journal

Why its important to anyone who cares about student success

Ive heard the word diversity quite a few times, began U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and I dont have a clue what it means. It seems to mean everything for everyone.

That is how the justice responded to an opening statement made last fall by legal counsel defending affirmative action in college and university admissions.

Seemingly casting doubt on the underlying premise of race-conscious policies i.e., that a diverse student population performs better academically Thomas incredulousness runs counter to a robust consensus around the meaning of diversity and the value it has in education and society more broadly. I confirmed this consensus through my work producing a literature review looking into the meaning and value of diversity in public education.

In that review, which the NH Center for Justice and Equity made available at the end of May, I identify three cases in which diversity has been conceptualized.

The legal case is grounded in the origins and intent of the 14th Amendment, which establishes rights to due process and equal protection, and which serves as the bedrock foundation of the courts own decades-old line of precedent.

The business case reflects empirical findings that a diverse workforce is more creative and productive, which is pure gold in a context where efficiency burnishes the bottom line.

The belonging case, as I have termed it, turns the focus of diversity efforts toward the individual, to their needs and rights.

What became clearer to me is that the idea of diversity, like dignity, accommodates many definitions depending on whom you ask, but in a way that reinforces the concept rather than rendering it meaningless. The idea has been discussed and conceptualized widely enough that even a studied skeptic should be able to make an educated guess and hit the bulls eye.

Diversity is important to folks who careabout student success and who believe that measures of educational excellence should consider students holistically and not just as test-takers.

Instead of simply pointing to rises or falls in aggregate test scores as proof of success or failure at the level of the public school or district, educators, parents, students and policymakers should look to the ways schools promote a culture of respect and inclusivity; provide relevant training and education to staff and the wider community; address discrimination and bias; advocate for marginalized students; and more generally create a sense of community that extends beyond the schoolhouse gate.

Reporting test scores doesnt move the needle on DEIJ concerns. Those other activities are, by contrast, time-consuming and can be costly to plan and execute, requiring intentional collaboration, cross-disciplinary expertise, and the understanding that change requires long-term commitment and buy-in from the ground up.

That means bringing in all the relevant stakeholders in each school district and its constituent communities and figuring out what needs exist there and what will work to meet them. As noted by others, this is a question of adequate budgeting and commitment and cannot be answered by one solitary DEIJ hire per district.

Theres been a lot of ink spilledrecently by detractors of diversity, equity, inclusion and justice (DEIJ) efforts who claim that the salaries paid and the money spent on programming and development are wasteful and divisive, serving only to segregate students and sow division.

These claims fly in the face of studies showing that matching students with teachers from the same race or ethnicity can positively impact academic performance, test scores and behavioral outcomes, and others showing the significant educational and social-emotional benefits to students who learn from at least one teacher who shares their race or ethnicity.

Of course, in New Hampshire the overall population is 89 percent white with an educator workforce that is 97 percent white, so it is likely that many students of color never encounter a single teacher of the same racial or ethnic background. Even in states with more diverse populations, educator workforces are, on average, whiter than the student populations they teach.

Demography is destiny, and shifts in New Hampshire show that minority populations, especially among children under the age of 18, have grown considerably as of the last census. This fact underscores the importance of public school systems meeting the needs of a changing population.

To meet the challenge and the opportunity of this change, greater attention must be given to increasing recruitment of teachers of color and providing adequate support and development to them after hire, so as to avoid burnout, demoralization and resignation. Rather than stand back and rest contented with the addition of a few DEIJ officers to the ranks of New Hampshires educator workforce, we should consider their roles mere starting points.

Dr. Jacob A. Bennett is affiliate assistant professor of education at the University of New Hampshire. His research now focuses on issues of agency, autonomy and belonging, in and out of the workplace.

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(Opinion) Nurturing diversity is good for kids, schools and NH - New Hampshire Business Review

In the technology-driven, hustle-glorifying era we live in, it can feel like life is whizzing past us faster than a rocket-powered cheetah on espresso. A world where speed limits are optional and tranquility reigns supreme, then, feels like a distant dream. Enter: slow living, a valiant endeavor to save the day and restore our sanity, one leisurely step at a time. Referring to a more chilled-out, intentional existence as the antidote to our fast-paced, instant-gratification-obsessed world slow living preaches a lifestyle where stop and smell the roses is not just a clich, but a way of life.

The origin of this lifestyle can be traced back to Italys slow food movement reportedly kicked off by political activist Carlo Petrini in the 1980s, in a bid to protest the growing popularity of fast food chains like McDonalds, and shine the spotlight on traditional food production techniques. Slow living expands upon this idea, encompassing various aspects of life, including work, leisure, and personal wellbeing. And with time, the idea gathered momentum, and its appeal drew in more followers in particular, because of its perception as a lifestyle opposed to capitalism, consumerism, and mindless destruction of the environment. Some sources suggest that the term slow is, in fact, an acronym: S stands for sustainable; L for local; O refers to organic; W to whole, or non-processed.

I think of slow [living] as more of a mindset than anything else. Its quality over quantity. Its doing things with presence, being in the moment. Ultimately, its about doing everything as well as possible instead of as fast as possible, says Carl Honor, author of In Praise of Slowness: How A Worldwide Movement Is Challenging the Cult of Speed. [I]ts actually a profoundly revolutionary [idea] in a roadrunner culture where every moment [in] a day is a race against the clock. In a sense, then, the slow living movement attempts to deliver from the clutches of perpetual rush-a-holism that has us running like a juiced-up squirrel on a hamster wheel.

While the movement advocates for slowing down, it doesnt preach sloth especially not in situations where doing so would border on ludicrous, like running into the arms of ones lover for a passionate embrace, but in slow motion, la Bollywoods romantic comedies. I think in our fast-forward culture, where the taboo against slowness runs so deep, we just assume that the only way to slow down is for everything to become incredibly slow motion, which would be absurd Slow living [is] about doing things at the right speed. So, understanding that, sure, there are times to go fast and be busy but there are other times when it pays to put the brakes on and slow down, explains Honor.

With more than 5.5 million posts tagged under #slowliving on Instagram, and over 8 million views for #slowliving on TikTok, the popularity of the movement appears to be on an upswing.

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Is Intuitive Eating the Answer to Tackling Diet Culture?

In fact, Google Trends observed a stunning 4X increase in views of videos with slow living in the title in 2020 compared to 2019, noting: One of the cultural side effects of the Covid19 pandemic has been the marked slowdown in the pace of our lives. Were in a new era of slow living and many consumers are embracing it. Indeed, by forcing people across the globe to confront the fragility of life and reevaluate their priorities, the pandemic made the lifestyle appear more tempting.

The sudden halt in daily routines and the need to adapt to new circumstances offered people an opportunity for reflection coinciding with a moment where they were simultaneously grappling with uncertainty about the lives of their loved ones, as traditional markers of success, such as wealth and professional achievements, suddenly began to matter a lot lesser than before. Everything I do seems so futile right now Im starting to wonder whats even the point of working so hard that we dont even get to spend time with our family and friends, especially when we dont know what the future is going to hold? Prakrati, then 25, had told The Swaddle during the second wave of the pandemic in India. This pushed many to focus on their mental health and the quality of their relationships with their friends and family, over career ambitions.

Not only that, but as research has shown, living through the pandemic also ushered a marked increase in environmental awareness inspiring many to begin consuming mindfully, reducing waste, and appreciating nature, in their bid to embrace a more eco-conscious lifestyle. This shift in their perspectives drew them towards the slow-living lifestyle whose core values emphasizing balance, self-care, and a strong sense of community, while challenging the prevailing notion of productivity and advocating for a healthier work-life balance resonated deeply with the transformation that their outlooks were undergoing. The slow living attitude is, after all, about setting boundaries an approach that has a lot of takers among the millennial and Gen-Z cohorts.

A cornerstone of being slow is saying no relearning the lost art of saying no, of prioritizing, of taking the time to pause, reflect, and look at your life and say, What is really important? Then focus your time and attention on those things and let everything else go, explains Honor.

In a sense, then, the trend of slow living is driven by our frustration with a capitalist society. However, like most other wellness trends with similar motivations like self-care, digital detoxes, and plant-based diets not everyone may have the privilege to pursue slow living. While the allure paints a picturesque scene of tranquility and mindfulness, its also pertinent to acknowledge slow living often requires time, financial stability, and resources that may not be readily available to individuals from rungs of the socio-economic strata that force them to make their peace with the daily grind for survival, leaving little room for luxuries like leisurely strolls or extended periods of self-reflection. Moreover, marginalized communities often face systemic barriers that limit their access to green spaces, quality healthcare, and mental health support all vital components of the slow living experience.

Related on The Swaddle:

Why Mindfulness During Sex Is Linked to Greater Satisfaction, More Orgasms

At the end of the day, the fact that we live in a capitalist world, makes wellness trends like slow living, capitalist trends. Why? Well, it requires a lot of capital to actually be able to live slowly especially without making those less privileged on us pick up our slack. First, being able to pass the burden is a privilege; second, by doing so, were simply following the capitalist mindset, not battling it.

Having said that, Slow living isnt at odds with being successful or productive. Rather, its about living up to your own idea of success and prioritizing whats most important to you, explains an article, addressing a prominent misconception about slow living. But in a world where we are pushing ourselves till we burnout simply to afford shelter and sustenance, the option to choose our idea of success and set our own ambitions, is a privilege.

The philosophy is shrouded in other myths, too like the belief that it espouses a tech-free lifestyle. It doesnt. As Honor notes, [S]low living is [about] forging a more balanced, healthier, happier, and more humane relationship with our technology knowing when to go on and use that incredible thrilling speed of technology and then knowing when enough is enough and to stop scrolling through Instagram or stop surfing the net while watching Netflix or just simply stop being in front of a screen.

Slow living, then, is like the pause button for our hectic existence offering a chance to embrace the art of unhurried living and savor lifes little pleasures. So, for those longing to rid themselves of frazzled nerves, and leisurely stroll into a life, where they have the time to actually taste their food, find their socks, and maybe, even remember their own names, slow living is probably the way to go only if one can afford to live slowly, that is.

The takeaway: yes, slow living sounds great in theory; in practice, however, trends like slow living individualize our struggle against capitalism, and in doing so, end up bowing down to the status quo and perpetuating it selfishly, instead of registering any systemic change.

Read the rest here:

'Slow Living' Is an Antidote to Exhaustion Under Capitalism -- But ... - The Swaddle

OLATHE Gov. Laura Kelly and U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids said Friday that 120,000 Kansans allowed to remain in Medicaid due to a three-year suspension of eligibility reviews during the pandemic were in jeopardy of automatically losing coverage by not applying for renewal.

The hiatus in annual eligibility assessments adopted during the national public health emergency was lifted in April by the federal government. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has started a 12-month process of determining whether about one-fourth of 530,000 Kansans who were in the program amid COVID-19 still qualified under the law.

KDHE has been challenged to accurately direct renewal notices because contact information for many participants werent updated since 2020. KDHE officials extended the application window by 30 days for cases scheduled for examination in April and May, in part, due to delays in delivery of mail by the U.S. Postal Service.

Individuals who failed to meet the deadline for submitting required information to the Medicaid clearinghouse even if unaware it was requested would lose coverage.

Health insurance is foundational to healthy communities, which is why Im glad to join forces with Representative Davids to make sure qualifying Kansans know what they need to do to keep their coverage, Kelly said.

Davids said it was essential to make more people aware of alterations to Medicaid, which is known as KanCare in Kansas.

Were going to need to be really intentional and focused on getting the word out to make sure that every Kansan that can possibly stay covered actually gets to do that, she said.

The Democratic governor and congresswoman took the opportunity of a news conference at Health Partnership Clinic, to renew their call for Kansas to follow 40 other states and the District of Columbia that expanded eligibility for Medicaid. The clinic provides health care to children and adults primarily in Johnson, Franklin and Miami counties regardless of clients ability to pay.

While Im glad we could help ensure qualifying Kansans dont lose their health care during the KanCare reviewal process, its far past time for Kansas to expand Medicaid coverage, Davids said. Ive worked for years to ensure all Kansans can receive the affordable, quality health care they deserve, but certain actors at the state level have forgone already-paid-for federal dollars as part of a political agenda.

Kelly said complications of the so-called unraveling process to update Medicaid rolls made the need to expand in Kansas that much clearer.

It will boost our economy, bring hard-earned tax dollars back to our state, and most importantly, save lives, she said.

States have been allowed to amplify eligibility for Medicaid coverage since 2014. In 2017, Republican Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback vetoed an expansion bill passed by the GOP-led House and Senate. He said the cost to the state would be irresponsible and unsustainable.

In 2019, the Kansas House passed another Medicaid expansion bill but it wasnt passed by the Kansas Senate. More recent efforts at the Capitol were derailed despite bipartisan support for action.

House Speaker Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, has denounced Medicaid expansion as a budget busting bloating of government, while Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover, complained it would cater to able-bodied adults while diminishing the states opportunity to serve people with disabilities.

Kelly, who as governor has proposed five expansion plans to the Legislature, pointed to a poll indicating 80% of Kansans supported expansion. Kansas has forgone more than $6 billion in federal funding by prohibiting Medicaid expansion, and the governor said those resources would have been useful to Kansas hospitals struggling to care for the uninsured.

The governor said her Medicaid expansion recommendations were shaped to deal with objections from Republican legislators, but her ideas didnt move the needle because GOP lawmakers controlling the debate calendar were ideologically opposed to reform.

During the news conference, Kelly said persistent rejection of health and financial arguments for expansion was stupid and foolish.

Every year, I tailor the proposal to address concerns expressed by legislative leadership, Kelly said. Every year, they would move the goalposts. As a result, Kansas is now a Medicaid desert.

She vowed to introduce a new Medicaid expansion proposal in her budget recommendations to the 2024 Legislature. She also urged Kansans to pressure senators and representatives to demand Senate and House GOP leaders allow votes on Medicaid expansion. All states surrounding Kansas have adopted Medicaid expansion.

Amy Falk, chief executive officer of the Health Partnership Clinic in Olathe, said the decision by Missouri voters to expand Medicaid a year ago prompted some Kansans without health insurance to move across the state line.

Absolutely, all the time, she said. Especially where we see patients who have needs beyond walls of the partnership, that have critical illnesses, need surgeries. They bring it up and, yes, that is an issue.

Davids, who serves the 3rd District covering the Kansas side of metropolitan Kansas City, said Kansas was in a shrinking pool of states unwilling to address health care needs of their residents through Medicaid expansion.

Im that much more committed to continuing to push back against any partisan politics or gamesmanship that might stop us from doing what we need to do to save lives, she said. Because thats what were talking about, is keeping people healthy and saving lives.

The congresswoman said she supported alternative federal legislation that would enable individuals to apply for Medicaid directly through the federal government. The measure would offer residents in non-expansion states the chance to take part in a program mirroring Medicaid. Congress would provide additional funding to states to serve that population, Davids said.

If we continue to see partisan actors at state levels blocking expansion of Medicaid, then I think that federal option is a good direction, she said.

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Kelly, Davids urge 120,000 Kansans to take part in post-coronavirus ... - Kansas Reflector

The day before Commencement, five graduating masters students in the School of Public and International Affairs and 11 graduating bachelors degree students were honored with awards and prizes at respective gatherings of their classmates.

At the Hooding and Awards Ceremony, held Monday morning, May 29, in McCarter Theater, SPIA recognized its MPP and MPA graduates. Five honors were presented:

The Bradford Prize, awarded to the Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy student who has achieved both a distinguished academic record and a record of service to the STEP program, was awarded to Jessie Press-Williams. The award is named for SPIA's late associate dean David Bradford, who played a key role in the creation and administration of this program.

Press-Williams, of Charlottesville, Virginia, graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering from MIT, where she also focused on international development. After graduating, she worked in Zambia on a major sanitation rehabilitation project. Immediately before coming to Princeton, Press-Williams lived in Ghana working as a program officer at an NGO dedicated to improving water and sanitation outcomes for poor and vulnerable populations.

At SPIA, she concentrated in Field II, International Development, and she served as the STEP representative to the Princeton University Policy Student Government (PUPSG). Press-Williams interned last summer at the Department of State, in the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.

Press-Williams co-founded the Climate Club to provide a space for students interested in environmental policy issues to connect and learn about opportunities at Princeton, and she was one of the student leaders behind the Center for Policy Research on Energy and the Environments Environmental Policy Associates program. She played a crucial role in some of the most important STEP-related activities over the past year, including the Climate 101 Workshop, sending students to attend COP27, and the environmental policy career trek to Washington, D.C.

Jessie was always collaborative in her leadership approach, said Keely Swan, C-PREEs assistant director. Her contributions to C-PREE and the SPIA community have been truly exceptional. Her efforts beyond the classroom have had a tremendous impact on STEP and C-PREE.

The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leadership and Service Award, recognizing exemplary student leadership, initiative, and advocacy for issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion, was presented to Rougiuatou Diallo. The award is fully student-nominated, and submissions were evaluated based on excellence in leadership, and a deep sense of service.

Before coming to SPIA, Diallo was chief of staff at Resilient Coders, a workforce development organization that trains people of color from Bostons low-income communities for high-growth careers as software engineers and connects them with jobs. she earned a bachelors in political science and government from McGill University.

Last summer, Diallo served as a Community Organizing Fellow at the Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO), a worldwide network focused on empowering the working poor, especially women, in the informal economy to secure their livelihoods. She spent time in Dakar, Senegal, where she engaged with the challenges of informal workers and the formalization of policy space.

At SPIA, Diallo served as a co-chair of the Students and Alumni of Color student organization.

Our DEI team has had the privilege to work closely with her on two signature SAOC events, and her incredible work ethic, professionalism, and passionate dedication to this work made her an incredible partner, said Rayna Truelove, associate dean of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Among many glowing comments from nominators, Diallos peers described her as clearly committed to this community and to ensuring there is a space for everyone here at SPIA. Her radical love for this community was infectious.

The MPP Prize, awarded to the Master in Public Policy student who has achieved an outstanding academic record and demonstrated a commitment to public service, was given to Emily Conron.

Conron was praised as a passionate advocate for global health, science, and innovation, with a decade of experience in policy and resource mobilization. She developed her interest in global health and development as an undergraduate at the University of Notre Dame, where she first discovered and pursued her passionate interest in Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs). Before coming to SPIA, Conron worked with the Sabin Vaccine Institutes Global Network for NTDs; for World Vision United States; and with the Global Health Technologies Coalition, where she drove the launch of the Bipartisan Global Health Research and Development Congressional Working Group.

At SPIA, Conron concentrated in Field II, International Development. She took a very challenging set of courses at the intersection of international relations, international development, ethics, health, and philanthropy, and she achieved an outstanding academic record. Conron contributed to the SPIA community with her extraordinary attendance at the weekly MPP Forums, where her own presentation was one of the most intentional and effective in integrating her professional experience with new insights and intellectual challenges from her coursework.

Emily is an exceptional student who demonstrated leadership, engagement and a deep commitment to public service through her participation in this seminar, said one SPIA faculty member. Her contributions were invaluable; her energy and enthusiasm, infectious and inspiring.

The Somers Prize, established by the late Anne Somers to honor the memory of her husband, the late Herman M. Red Somers, a former SPIA faculty member, was awarded to Haley Lemieux. The prize is awarded to a student with domestic policy interests who has a distinguished academic and public service record.

Originally from Maryland, Lemieux attended the University of Oxford and graduated in 2017 with a degree in philosophy, politics, and economics. She started her career working in San Antonio, helping to build the capacity for the Eastside Promise Zone to evaluate and monitor its community impact. She went on to work for the City of San Antonio, most recently as a senior economic development specialist helping to revise their tax incentive guidelines from an equity perspective.

At SPIA, Lemieux concentrated in Field III, Domestic Policy, with outstanding academic performance. She earned rare A+ grades in both of her statistics courses. Kathryn Edin, the William Church Osborn Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs, and co-director of the Center for Research on Child Wellbeing, praised her performance in her Poverty and Social Policy course.

Haleys final paper was rich, detailed, carefully researched, and extraordinarily insightful, Edin said. It is rare that I read a paper I cant see a way to improve upon. This was one of those papers.

Lemieux co-chaired PUPSG in 2022, advocating forcefully and effectively on behalf of her classmates, most notably for greater access to tutoring for quantitative courses for all those students who expressed interest. She herself was a popular statistics tutor for MPA1s this year.

Last summer, Lemieux interned with the New Jersey Office of the Governor to work on policy issues. She plans to pursue a career focused on reducing urban inequality and advancing economic opportunity.

The Stokes Prize,recognizing both academic achievement and public service leadership, went to Tracy Pierce. The prize is awarded to the graduating MPA student whose achievements best exemplify the life and work of the late Donald E. Stokes, who was dean of the School from 1974 until 1992. During his long years of service, Stokes came to symbolize everything that is superb about the School.

Originally from Emmett, a village in rural Michigan, Pierce studied economics and English at Michigan State University, then joined Teach for America and taught high school math. After teaching for three years in Detroit, she moved to Chicago, where she served on the staff of Teach for America and volunteered as a college access mentor. Last summer she returned to Detroit for her required summer internship, working with the Diploma Equity Project.

Pierce compiled a perfect academic record at SPIA, and added to this extraordinary feat by earning distinction on the first year Qualifying Exam (QE1), in May 2022, and then earlier this month, earning high distinction on the second year Qualifying Exam (QE2). Earning both honors is rare, and it occurs only about three times a decade.

As part of SPIAs student government, Pierce served as one of two curriculum co-chairs in 2022, advocating passionately and persistently on behalf of the interests of her classmates. Her policy workshop instructor praised her strong project management skills and her highly collaborative leadership style, which supported the overall team success.

Pierce intends to build a career in educational policy and is passionate about efforts to equalize school funding, to invest in post-secondary readiness programs, and to extend opportunity to children in under-resourced urban and rural communities. After graduation, she will join the HKS Government Performance Lab Fellowship in Michigan.

That afternoon, at SPIAs Class Day ceremony, graduating seniors gathered in Richardson Auditorium for the awarding of thesis and departmental prizes. Paul Lipton, SPIAs senior associate dean for academic administration, noted the depth and breadth of the winners work.

The senior thesis, as our graduates know all too well, is a demanding rite of passage, Lipton said in his introductory remarks. Here at SPIA, the variety of thesis topics is as broad as our graduating class is large. One look at the Class Day booklet and, if you had a chance to see the slides that were playing as you walked into this auditorium, the 115 thesis titles tells the story of the richness of the SPIA curriculum and the range of interests of our students and faculty.

Beth N. Rom-Rymer, Class of 1973, Senior Thesis Prize in Global Health and Health Policy Awarded by the Global Health Program to the student who has written the best senior thesis on the topic of Global Health and Health Policy Winner: Nannette Beckley, Community Violence and Postpartum Depression: Associations and Potential Intervention Strategies (Alyssa Sharkey, advisor)

Montgomery Raiser '92 Senior Thesis Prize Awarded by the Program in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies for best thesis in Russian and Eurasian Studies Winner: Margaret Commander, Up in Arms: The Consequences of Globalization on the Russian Defense Industry (Mark Beissinger, advisor)

Isabelle Clark-Decs Memorial South Asian Studies Thesis Awarded by the Program in South Asian Studies for the best thesis related to South Asia Winner: Kanishkh Kanodia, Beyond Norm-Takers or Norm-Breakers: India and Chinas rhetorical engagement with the norm of sovereignty at the United Nations Security Council between 1971-1992 (John Ikenberry, advisor)

Willard Thorp Thesis Prize Awarded by the Effron Center for the Study of America for the most outstanding thesis of a clearly interdisciplinary nature Winner: Susan Baek (pictured on the right), What It Means to Be Asian American in New York City: An Interview-Based Study of an Evolving Political Category (Tanushree Goyal, advisor)

Environmental Studies Senior Thesis Prize Awarded by the High Meadows Environmental Institute recognizes a senior in the Certificate Program in Environmental Studies who has written an outstanding thesis in the broad area of environmental studies Winner: Calif Chen, Building Equitable Outcomes, BRIC by BRIC: Investigating Barriers to Coastal Resilience Funding Faced by Disadvantaged Communities (Michael Oppenheimer, advisor)

Richard H. Ullman Prize Awarded to the senior who writes the best senior thesis on a subject with foreign policy implications for the United States Winner: Annabelle Mauri, Violence Entrepreneurs in a Phantom State: The Drivers of Gang Evolution in Haiti since Aristide (Jennifer Widner, advisor)

Lieutenant John A. Larkin Memorial Prize Awarded to the senior who writes the best thesis in the field of political economy or on a broadly interdisciplinary subject in which economics plays the most important part Winner: Bianca Chan, Does Money Buy Discretion? Chinese Media Investment in Belt and Road Countries (Martin Flaherty, advisor)

School of Public and International Affairs Thesis Prize Awarded to a senior who writes the best thesis on social or racial justice Winner: MacKenzie Caputo, The Surviving Sentiment: An Exploratory Analysis of Qualitative Data on Sexual Assault Survivors (Shamus Khan, advisor)

Myron T. Herrick Prize Awarded to the writer of the best senior thesis in the School of Public and International Affairs Winner: Ella Gantman, Detaining Democracy: An Investigation of Jail-Based Disenfranchisement in New Jersey Jails (Udi Ofer, advisor)

Gale F. Johnston Prize in Public Affairs Awarded to the senior who has shown progressive excellence, scholarly growth, and leadership Winner: Axidi Iglesias

Class of 1924 Award Awarded to a senior who has made an outstanding contribution to a Junior Policy Task Force as a senior commissioner Winner: Mayu Takeuchi

Donald E. Stokes Deans Prize Awarded to the senior who has displayed extraordinary leadership and made the most significant contribution to the Undergraduate Program and to the School Winners: Kanishkh Kanodia and Jen Lee

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SPIA Honors 16 Graduating Students at Hooding and Class Day ... - Princeton School of Public and International Affairs

While the hype for the movie Killers of the Flower Moon is high five months before its worldwide premiere, we want to lift up one of its lesser known actors.

When Tulsa World Scene writer Jimmie Tramel turned in a story based on his interview with Yancey Red Corn, we quickly discovered something about this film we didnt know.

We have a chance to learn from it. And the way Red Corn told us this was emotional.

Martin Scorseses shot-in-Oklahoma film is based on David Granns best-selling book by the same name. Its the true story of the serial murders of the oil-rich Osage in 1920s Oklahoma.

Red Corn, who lives in Norman and acted in theater years ago, plays the part of a former Osage chief. He got a chance to see the finished film during the Cannes Film Festival, where it received a nine-minute standing ovation.

He had to wipe away tears as he watched some scenes, because it was a family story. Red Corns great-grandfather was fatally poisoned during the era captured in the movie.

Being that close to the story, Red Corn praised director Martin Scorsese for creating an intentional and culturally accurate film.

But then Red Corn said this, which is when Tramels story went from an interview with an actor to something much deeper that we want you to think about:

I hope when people watch it, they will recognize other Indigenous people other people all over the world are getting killed and (are victims of) genocide by other governments. The movie is about white supremacy. Its about colonialism and how they justify why theyre killing the Osages and why they deserve the land and the money. It is about white supremacy, which is making a strong resurgence right now. I hope it lets people look at themselves and know that we need to love one another. I hope it helps a little bit with that in Oklahoma. I hope people can say: We can learn from history. We dont have to do that again. But, you know, we always repeat ourselves. I hope we can love one another and treat each other equally and respectfully.

White supremacists targeted Oklahoma communities 169 times in 2022. The Anti-Defamation Leagues annual assessment of propaganda activity said thats an increase of 164% from the previous year.

Twenty-nine of those incidents of white supremacist propaganda distribution and events happened in Tulsa. Oklahoma City saw 21.

Add up the incidents across the country, and its an all-time high: 6,751 incidents in 2022, a 38% increase over the previous year.

Only one state Hawaii didnt record any incidents. The leader was our neighbor to the south. Texas had 526, thanks to the rise of the Patriot Front, a white supremacist group responsible for 80% of propaganda distributions nationwide in 2022.

While we all want a great movie to spring from all the filming in our state, let us also take an opportunity to learn from the words of Grann and the direction of Scorsese. Allow Killers of the Flower Moon to spark a movement to evolve past a deadly history.

The truth is Oklahomas ground is soaked in blood. You had the Trails of Tears there wasnt just one. And then all the violence that killed countless Native Americans once they settled here. Then the Tulsa Race Massacre, which happened in the same decade as the Osage murders. And then the Oklahoma City bombing.

Allow this movie this work of art to do what incredible art can do: move people on an emotional level to change them. Make them resolute to play a vital part in a better future. Maybe then we can do what Red Corn hopes and stop repeating our history.

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Editorial: 'Killers of the Flower Moon' is our chance to learn from ... - Tulsa World

The research team has collaborated with Yuganter a Bihar based organization that works on disaster relief and preparedness to recruit local volunteers from their networks with the goal of helping communities undertake timely preventive measures. These grassroots volunteers are trained to understand advanced alerts from Googles FloodHub tool and amplify their reach and salience using community outreach activities that employ a hybrid of digital and traditional communication channels.

The researchers have taken a gender-intentional lens in the design of the intervention to further facilitate a user-friendly dissemination approach. Women and men also have different responsibilities during floods, and abilities in how they respond, noted Rohini Pande, Henry J. Heinz II Professor of Economics and Director of the Economic Growth Center at Yale University, one of the Principal Investigators on the study. Focus group discussions with community members indicated that while men tend to take the livestock and leave the region in boats, women tend to stay back with the children and move to the roofs of the house or to the highways. "There are also huge gender gaps in smartphone usage and accessin this area, like most other areas in India, Pande added.

To address gender-specific barriers in accessing information, the team worked to recruit and include women volunteers a prospect that also entailed grappling with challenges related to norms around womens mobility and participation with the aim of reaching groups who might otherwise be left out.

This was one component of a wider effort. During the 2022 monsoon season (June-October), when over 27,000 flood alerts were sent to volunteers operating in 160 panchayats in Bihar, local volunteers acted on 81% of these alerts to help disseminate the warnings widely in their local communities. An accompanying midline survey conducted by the researchers indicated that households in treatment communities had better access to alerts, in terms of receipt, timeliness, and perceptions of accuracy.

To further build trust in these alerts, the researchers plan to test the effects of leveraging and including local leaders in the alert outreach model during the 2023 flood season. Results from the 2019 pilot which involved sending flood alerts to local leaders suggest that women local leaders had higher recall of receiving and disseminating them to villagers. It seemed like the women leaders paid more attention to floods than men leaders, said Maulik Jagnani, Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Colorado, one of the other Principal Investigators of the study. Exploring the gender-specific impacts of such components in the alert delivery model can help identify ways to make these systems truly integrated and inclusive.

Anjana Kumari herself joined the effort during the 2022 monsoon season while she was pregnant to alert people in her community to imminent floods.

Her experience in the program suggests that building trust among community members requires time. She had the support of her husband, family, and other women in the community, yet her participation in the project wasnt without some resistance. The villagers used to taunt me and my family initially, she said. It took some time for them to trust and pay heed to what I was saying in the village. Ultimately, though, Kumari feels that it has been gratifying for her to be of service to her community.

The assessment of researchers backs Kumari up. We really needed women to reach women, Pande said.

The authors wish to thank Sathia Chakrapani, Advait Moharir, Surya Ravindran, Rajesh Sarma, and project Field-Managers for conducting interviews in Bihar

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Insights on the cross-sections of gender and climate vulnerability - Yale University

Plans to discontinue the Iowa Youth Risk Behavior Survey and a new barrier for surveying Iowa students pose a threat to data collected on youth behaviors, advocates say, specifically young transgender Iowans.

The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has no plans to administer the Youth Risk Behavior Survey this academic year, the first time since the survey started in 1991.

In a letter sent to Youth Risk Behavior Survey advisory committee members, Robert Kruse, the state medical director for the Iowa Department of HHS, announced Iowa will not participate in the 2023 Center for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) youth risk behavior survey.

The Iowa Department of HHS will not be participating in the CDCs Youth Risk Behavior Survey in 2023 in order to focus our efforts on maximizing the state administered Iowa Youth Survey (IYS) and improving survey participation, Kruses Jan. 27 letter to YRBS advisory committee members said.

The nationwide survey overseen by the CDC is administered every two years and asks students about their behaviors and relationships with authority figures, drugs, alcohol, sexual activity and gambling, to name a few.

Although students in Iowa will still be offered the IYS, they can not take it unless a parent has seen the survey in advance and given permission for their student to take it.

Senate File 496, signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds on May 26,requires that students must receive permission from their parents before taking a survey at school. The law prevents students from taking surveys designed to assess the students mental, emotional or physical health that is not required by state or federal law without first acquiring the written consent of the students parent or guardian.

Parents must receive at least seven days notice of the survey, as well as a copy of the survey.

The law also bans school library books containing written or visual sex acts, prohibits schools from teaching about gender identity or sexual orientation before sixth grade, prohibits a student from using a name or pronoun than they were given at birth and prevents teachers from knowingly providing false or misleading information on a childs gender identity to their parents.

Jenn Turner, chapter chair for the Polk County Moms For Liberty, sees student surveys as a way for young people to get ideas about things they may not have thought about before.

We have found that many parents are not aware of what questions are being asked, Turner said. It ranges from what vegetables you eat to how many sexual partners to if you have considered suicide for children as young as 11. Some parents may determine that these questions are too mature, or cover topics their children are not ready for or do not understand.

Turner and Moms For Liberty support the recent law change, saying that it gives control to parents and allows for more transparency about what is going on in school.

Parents are the number one advocates for their children, Turner said. They should ultimately be making these decisions for their children. This law provides another tool to help parents understand what is presented to their children in school.

Advocates of the IYS say this law will limit participation and usable data. The extra step of taking home a permission slip and having it signed and returned to a classroom will keep some students from taking the survey, in addition to parents who do not permit their children to take the survey.

Anne Discher, executive director of Common Good Iowa and member of the Iowa YRBS advisory committee,acknowledges permission from parents during school registration as reasonable but believes useful data could be harder to collect with permission required for individual surveys throughout the year.

Parental permission could skew results in another way, according to Discher.

Certainly one might assume that the types of parents who would opt out might have things in common, Discher said. It could skew the survey and I think generally speaking the concern would be that participation would be so low you might not get useful data anyway.

In a Feb. 23 committee meeting for Senate File 496, State Sen. Herman Quirmbach raised a potential unintended consequence he sees with parental permission.

The unintended consequence of that may be to protect child molesters, Quirmbach, D-Ames, said. If a survey to a student asking about that students mental state or their social state, if the parent can deny their student the ability to participate in that survey, then an abusive parent can use that denial to help shield them from any consequence of their child abuse.

The surveys are anonymous, but survey data could skew if Quirmbachs speculation is correct, ultimately affecting future legislation and policy decisions.

Surveys like the risk behavior survey and the IYS are used by health departments, educators, lawmakers, doctors and community organizations to make policy decisions, direct campaigns and give direction to research.

The most recent risk behavior survey asked students about their gender identity; the IYS did not.

According to Discher, one of the goals of the Department of HHS in the past was to increase participation in student surveys to allow for the disaggregation of data.

It was a strong goal to be able to disaggregate it by race and ethnicity, for example, or by LGBTQ+ status, Discher said. The conversations we had always had were how can we get more schools to participate so we can have better data for subgroups.

Eventually, there was a sense of pushback contrary to the former beliefs and goals of the department, Discher says.

I find that this pushback which came from somewhere in the department or maybe not in the department, Discher said. I dont know where the push for all of this came from, but it is very much counter to all of the work that we had seen the department do up to this point, which was try to get more data, better data, to disaggregate the data so they could really understand what was happening with youth in Iowa.

According to Kruses letter to the committee, the Iowa Youth Survey will be revised, but the revisions are not currently public, if finished. It is unclear if the IYS will enable disaggregation of data for students who identify as transgender.

In advance of IYS in the fall of 2023, HHS will conduct a comprehensive review of survey administration, Kruse said. Most importantly, we are reviewing the analysis-to-action strategy and how HHS can tailor the data collection to inform how we meet the needs of Iowa youth, families, schools and communities.

Without the Iowa youth risk behavior survey, and if the IYS is not revised to include a question about gender identity, disaggregating data for trans youth will not be possible.

I find it sad that thats a piece of data that we are going to lose, Discher said. I find it kind of cynical that the state Legislature took all of these moves to make life worse, in particular for trans kids. To deny them gender-affirming care, to make them feel less like theyre an important member of their community and now we arent going to collect data on mental health for that group.

Although the letter sent to YRBS committee members stated Iowa would not participate in the risk behavior survey to focus efforts on maximizing the IYS participation, the survey switch-up feels more intentional than maximizing efforts, according to Discher.

It is very hard for me to look at it and not understand it as part of a larger anti-trans push in our state, Discher said. In the Legislature, we passed a lot of very punitive, harmful bills and now were going to stop collecting data on the well-being of the kids that theyre harming. Did anyone sit and think of it in that exact way? I dont know, but its very hard to not interpret it that way.

The 2021, IYS did include a question asking students their sexual orientation, with answer options of straight, gay or lesbian, bisexual, another identity or not sure.

The survey was first administered in 1991, with 26 states participating. Survey participation peaked at 47 four times; 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015.

Iowa will be one of seven states not participating in the survey in 2023, joining Colorado, Idaho, Florida, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming.

The reasoning for participation varies from state to state and many states have their own survey as a replacement or in addition to the CDCs survey.

According to CDC.gov, the youth risk behavior data helps health departments, educators, lawmakers, doctors and community organizations to inform school and community programs, communications campaigns and other efforts. The survey measures health-related behaviors and experiences that may lead to death and disability among youth and adults.

Although the IYS asks similar questions as the risk behavior survey, IYS is only taken statewide, so results cannot be easily compared among other states. Data from the IYS, though, can be broken up into smaller regions of Iowa, compared to the risk behavior survey, which gives data for youth in the state as a whole.

The national survey only reports state-level data which makes it impossible to identify areas of the state with the greatest needs, Alex Carfrae, public information officer for the Iowa Department of HHS said in an email response to the Iowa Capital Dispatch.

IYS data is reported and analyzed at multiple jurisdiction levels, allowing more specific, targeted decisions to be made for specific areas such as counties, judicial districts and Area Education Agencies.

The two surveys have a history in Iowa, with the youth risk behavior survey taken every other year since 1991 and the Iowa youth survey taken every other year since 1999.

The IYS is answered by students in grades 6, 8 and 11, where the youth risk behavior survey has only been offered to students in grades 9-12. The CDC does offer a middle school version of the youth risk behavior survey, but Iowa has never participated.

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Parental permission, survey opt out will affect data on young Iowans ... - Iowa Capital Dispatch