skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, February 6, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Judge pauses deadline for federal workers to accept Trump's resignation offer; CA state lawmakers take action to enact safeguards against federal immigration enforcement; Study shows air quality disparities from industrial ag in NC.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Attorney General Pam Bondi strikes a Trump tone at the Justice Department, federal workers get more time to consider buyouts, and an unclassified email request from the White House worries CIA vets.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

During Black History Month, a new book shares how a unique partnership built 5,000 schools for Black students, anti-hunger advocates say ag communities would benefit from an expanded SNAP program, and Americans have $90 billion in unpaid medical bills.

New bill would extend food benefits to undocumented Oregonians

play audio
Play

Tuesday, January 28, 2025   

In the face of rising hunger across the state of Oregon, new legislation would extend food assistance benefits to undocumented children and older adults.

Recent data show one in six children in Oregon and Southwest Washington face food insecurity, with rates growing twice as fast in rural communities.

The Food for All Oregonians bill is part of a broader immigrant justice package, backed by a coalition of over 155 organizations.

Andrea Vanessa Castillo, policy and advocacy manager for the Oregon Latino Health Coalition, is part of the steering committee.

"Despite working on farms that grow much of the nation's food, the Latina community members are facing barriers that perpetuate these cycles of food insecurity," Castillo explained.

The bill would create a new, state-run program similar to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program run by the U.S. Department of Human Services.

Castillo pointed to 2023 U.S. Department of Agriculture data showing nearly a quarter of Latino households had at least one member who faced food insecurity. Castillo added the bill is about preventing health problems that come with not having access to healthy or traditional food.

"We want to keep people from getting to this space by having access to foods that not only make people feel joy from eating, but that contribute to the nutrition in a very culturally specific way," Castillo emphasized.

Oregon Food Bank saw record visits last year across the state, up over 30% from 2023. Only children and older adults would qualify for food assistance under the new bill and the coalition hopes to expand the benefits to all undocumented Oregonians in the future.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Smart agriculture began to emerge in the United States in the early 2000s, with the introduction of GPS technology, sensors and automated systems. (Kaspars Grinvalds/Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

Some experts predict arable land per person will shrink by two-thirds by 2050. To combat it, Michigan students are being trained in "smart" …


Environment

play sound

A new study by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality found nitrate levels have continued to rise across the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado lawmakers are working to ensure all Coloradans with health coverage for ambulance services are not hit with surprise bills or charged higher …


Some $45 million in tax credits for home energy and efficiency upgrades have benefited more than 21,000 Mainers, according to the Natural Resources Council of Maine. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

Conservation groups in Maine are calling on the state's congressional delegation to protect federal funding for clean energy technologies. A new …

play sound

Atlantic menhaden weigh less than a pound and measure little more than a foot long but the small fish has big consequences for the Chesapeake Bay ecos…

Social Issues

play sound

In rural states such as South and North Dakota and large urban centers around the U.S., protests were held Wednesday amid fears about the first wave …

Environment

play sound

On the heels of a regulatory victory, utilities and various energy groups in Minnesota are expressing more optimism about the region's power grid - …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021