RALEIGH, N.C. - The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote Thursday on the Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018, more commonly known as the Farm Bill.

While the name might imply it will influence only the country's agriculture industry, the impact extends far beyond that. At stake in this year's legislation are measures that would institute work requirements for SNAP recipients.

It might sound like a reasonable expectation on the surface – but Beth Messersmith, North Carolina campaign director for MomsRising, said the implications run deep in the Tar Heel State.

"When we talk about the Farm Bill, it's not something vague that happens in Washington," she said. "It's going to have very real impacts here at home, and it's particularly going to hit hard parents with young children, those with disabilities, those caring for someone with disabilities and our seniors."

North Carolina is the 10th hungriest state in the country, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and at least one in seven families struggles to put food on its table daily.

More than half of SNAP recipients aleady work, Messersmith said, and those who do not often are incapable of working. Without the benefits, many will rely on community food pantries, already struggling to meet the needs of their communities.

Messersmith said the new work requirements don't take into account fluctuating hours of many service-industry jobs and related needs that come from working, such as child care and transportation.

"If they saw their hours cut at work, they could be at risk of losing their SNAP benefits for up to a year," she said. "Seniors, for example; if they can't meet the minimum number of work requirements because of age discrimination, they would be at risk of losing the SNAP benefits they rely on. "

While the legislation starts at the federal level, Messersmith said it will fall to the states to find funding to enforce the legislation.

"States are going to have to provide increased job training and employment, but it doesn't provide meaningful funding to help states do that," she said, "and it's going to say that states have to track the work hours of these 6 million to 7 million SNAP recipients every month, but it really doesn't provide the funding to make that happen."

The Farm Bill would cut SNAP funding by $17 billion, a savings partly needed to cover the cost of the tax cuts passed by Congress last year. Its text is online at agriculture.house.gov.

Reporting by North Carolina News Connection in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the Park Foundation.


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Washington joins a handful of states to do away with mandatory meetings for employees on political or religious matters.

Sometimes known as captive audience meetings, the gatherings were seen as a way for employers to give their opinions on subjects like unionization, and held potential consequences for employees who didn't attend. Lawmakers passed a bill this session allowing workers to skip the meetings without repercussions.

Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Des Moines, a sponsor of the bill, said we live in a divided society where emotions run high on political topics.

"This bill simply protects employees to have a real choice on whether or not to attend a meeting called by their boss to be told about some political or religious issue," Keiser explained.

Keiser pointed out the legislation is nonpartisan. For instance, employers could not force employees to attend anti-union meetings, but also could not force them to attend a meeting about the importance of reproductive rights. The bill takes effect June 6.

Keiser noted the bill likely got across the finish line this session because of the uptick in union organizing and support for labor. She added there are widely known stories of Starbucks managers, for example, requiring employees to attend anti-union meetings while the employees organized the workplace.

"Employees have been forced to attend meetings to listen to the boss or the employer basically tell them why they shouldn't join a union," Keiser observed.

Washington is the sixth state to pass a law prohibiting attendance at captive audience meetings. Connecticut, Maine, Minnesota and New York have passed similar laws in recent years. Oregon passed a law allowing workers to skip such meetings without repercussions in 2010.


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A bill vetoed by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin would have raised the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour starting in 2026.

While the bill moved out of committee and the General Assembly, it did so on party-line votes. Youngkin opposed the bill, saying it could hurt small businesses and some restaurants.

Jay Speer, executive director of the Virginia Poverty Law Center, said it was disappointing to see the measure vetoed.

"Wages are way too low. People cannot afford housing and food and everything else," Speer pointed out. "It's a disappointment that they can't raise the minimum wage so people can survive. I mean, it's long overdue."

Passing the bill was part of a 2020 minimum-wage increase requiring a reauthorization to bring it up to $15. A state study found a person has to make at least $14.55 an hour to afford the cheapest place to live while only spending one-third of his or her income on housing. The current minimum wage in Virginia is $12 an hour, but around 500,000 Virginians make $12 or less.

Youngkin also vetoed a bill ending exemptions from Virginia's minimum-wage requirements for farmworkers or temporary foreign workers.

Kim Bobo, executive director of the Virginia Interfaith Center on Public Policy, said it was not as impactful since most farmworkers make more than the minimum wage. But she said the exemption remains for another reason.

"The only reason farmworkers continue to be exempted in Virginia is racism," Bobo contended. "That's why they're exempted. And, we should just change that, like there's no reason not to. It really does not affect that many workers in Virginia."

Youngkin and other legislators with a farming background said the bill would hinder farmers' ability to turn a profit.

New York restaurant workers need to know their rights to better navigate their workplaces. A new report finds high rates of what it calls "occupational segregation" in the restaurant industry, which can relegate some people to lower-paying jobs.

Workers' rights organizations are counteracting this with training programs. Alima Iskakova, a server for Exquisite Staffing, a catering company, said the CHOW training from Restaurant Opportunities Centers United is helping her.

"Since I completed this training course, I am more confident when it comes to job interviews," she said. "I am more confident - like, when it comes to these types of interviews, plus with all my experience and the knowledge that I got from ROC United, I have a higher income."

She was also trained in safe food handling, OSHA certification and other need-to-know information about the restaurant industry. These courses are available in several cities beyond New York.

The report also notes that, unlike training offered by organizations such as the National Restaurant Association, these courses prioritize developing restaurant workers' power to support individual career development.

The report says racism and sexism abound in the restaurant industry. White men make up a majority of higher-earning positions, such as bartenders.

Although these training courses are helpful, Iskakova noteed that not knowing English can be a disadvantage. She said other cultural differences can make this work challenging.

"In the hospitality industry, even like when people come here as an immigrant, they don't know the rules, they don't know the laws," she said. "And ROC United, they help us to do the cover letter, resume. There are certain things - like, there is a difference."

Another challenge she encountered was the difference between Celsius and Fahrenheit.

Iskakova said her work has been interesting, but she's got ambitions outside of food service. Along with photography, she's a communications major at CUNY.


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