WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Florida farmworkers' rights groups say it is urgent farmworkers be deemed "essential" in Gov. Ron DeSantis' COVID-19 vaccine rollout plan.

The groups put their views in a letter to the governor in January, calling for better healthcare for farmworkers and asking that all incoming temporary, non-immigrant workers arrive vaccinated, or be vaccinated first in the U.S.

Mariana Blanco, assistant executive director of the Guatemalan Maya Center, said they also want to see an expansion of COVID-19 testing sites, since many are inaccessible to farmworkers.

"If the Health Department would provide us the vaccines and a mobile clinic, we'd be able to have volunteers and registered nurses that we already have contact with, and we'd have all the translators," Blanco suggested. "And we'd just go directly to the fields and vaccinate the farmworkers."

Blanco pointed out those in opposition assume farmworkers won't want to be vaccinated, or that doses couldn't be kept cold enough in mobile settings.

According to the Guatemalan Maya Center, 600 farmworkers and families, regularly tested for COVID-19 one night a week, had a 30% infection rate.

Nikki Fried, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services, in a "Protect Farmworkers Roundtable" held Wednesday, said she and Vice President Kamala Harris toured FEMA locations last week to create smaller vaccination sites.

Blanco contended more sites are long overdue.

"We know that our community wants to get vaccinated," Blanco stressed. "We have had a waitlist for a couple of months now, and so now, it's just providing them access to this vaccine. And so, the pushback from the mobile clinic was pretty disappointing to us."

Fried is in the race for governor, and considered a top challenger of DeSantis.

The Palm Beach Health Department is working with the groups to facilitate a specific day when farmworkers could be vaccinated.

Blanco stressed there is a long road ahead to make that happen, and pointed to the challenges these workers already face to making vaccination appointments online.

"A lot of them are illiterate," Blanco explained. "A lot, most, of them don't speak English, and now having to only make the appointment online, all of it just became absolutely impossible for any of our community members to even come close to think about getting the vaccine."

Blanco added the governor hasn't yet responded to the letter.


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Montana citizens and environmental advocates have sued the state for withholding documents that have, for decades, been considered public information.

The division that provides bill drafting and other support to the Montana Legislature has announced a new policy that requires a legislator's approval before releasing documents to the public.

That includes all the correspondence and communication that goes into drafting a bill, including lawmakers conferring with lobbyists and other legislators.

Upper Seven Law's Founder Rylee Sommers-Flanagan said Montana's Constitution protects residents' right to know about and participate in the legislative process.

"The right to know is meant to protect our ability to examine the documents of any public agency," said Sommers-Flanagan. "This includes all Executive Branch agencies. It includes all aspects of the Legislature. Anything that relates to their official business belongs to the people of Montana."

A Helena judge over the summer ruled that correspondence used to draft bills - so called "junque files" - are not public record, reversing a 25-year-old policy.

Sommers-Flanagan argued the move undermines transparency, which she said has been the backbone of Montana's lawmaking process, and calls into question interactions between lawmakers and lobbyists who often work together to create a bill.

"We could literally be deprived of opportunity to see bribery happening in writing," said Sommers-Flanagan. "And, of course, I doubt that our legislators are engaged in bribery - but what this does is, it protects them fully from any sort of disclosure around what they might be exchanging."

The rule was implemented when a district court ruled in favor of a state senator who argued that junque files related to a gerrymandering law should not be made public.




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The state Supreme Court has upheld a law giving Nebraskans with prior felony convictions the right to vote once they have completed their sentence.

Proponents of the measure are calling it a hard-fought victory to restore full rights to citizens who have paid their debt to society.

State lawmakers challenged a clause in the state's 1875 constitution disenfranchising people with felony convictions for life.

Steve Smith, director of communications with the group Civic Nebraska, said the ruling ends a decades-long legal battle.

"Had the court ruled the underlying statute is unconstitutional, those folks would have been out of luck," said Smith. "And so, the stakes were pretty high. In a state the size of Nebraska, that's close to 10% of the electorate. It's about 100,000 voters."

Smith said eligible people must register in person by 6 p.m. on Oct. 25 at their county's local elections office.

Smith said the ruling negates an order by the secretary of state blocking county officials from registering former felons despite a bipartisan bill that eliminated a two year waiting period for people with convictions.

He said the requirements to register have been simplified.

"It is fully completing your sentence. And so, the term is 'off-papers,'" said Smith. "And most folks who have been justice-impacted understand what off-papers mean. They've served any term of incarceration. They have completed any terms of parole, probation or supervised release, and they have not reoffended."

Smith said his organization and other are urging people who are now eligible to register and to vote, calling it both a civil right and a civic duty.

"For those of you going, 'I don't know if I want to do this,' know that the Supreme Court, the highest court in our state, has said, 'You are good to go, and you should vote with confidence,'" said Smith. "If you're on the fence about not voting, think about how hard some people tried to keep your vote away from you, and then wonder why that is."

Support for this reporting was provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.


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One in three Americans indicates they're living paycheck-to-paycheck, and that includes many artists. A Minnesota organization is expanding its guaranteed-income program for these individuals, so they can carry on with their creative contributions.

This fall, Springboard for the Arts announced it was tacking on more years and recipients to its pilot initiative, launched early in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ricardo Beaird, community development director for Springboard for the Arts, said the changes mean that over the next five years, a total of 100 participants will receive monthly payments of $500, no strings attached. He said they're building a case for systemic change in how artists are supported.

"Artists are vital to the cultural and economic fabric of our communities. They help us imagine new futures. They help us rethink public spaces and they create connections that make our lives richer and more meaningful," Beaird explained.

But he added that artists tend to operate in a "gig economy" and often fall through the cracks because financial stability is out of reach. Based on initial program data, 36% of recipients used the income for essential purchases and services. This effort is part of a patchwork of similar programs surfacing around the U.S. for low-income populations, including one led by the city of St. Paul.

Springboard's guaranteed-income program, funded by private foundations, helps artists in St. Paul and rural Otter Tail County. Beaird said they're also trying to be more dynamic with their assistance by offering things such as personal finance guidance, and added that can help artists overcome the short-term thinking they're often locked in.

"I'm a theater artist, so the way that I thought about my year was in these six-week bursts, and it didn't really give me the opportunity to think about, 'What does my next year look like, or my next two years, or five years look like?" he continued.

Another benefit is helping emerging artists be more financially resilient when dealing with unexpected expenses, such as a hospital bill or car repair.


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