Alaska Cannot Survive This Bill; The New York Times, June 27, 2025

 Bryce Edgmon and Cathy Giessel, The New York Times ; Alaska Cannot Survive This Bill

"The likely impacts from the “big, beautiful bill” are particularly ugly for our home state, Alaska: Nearly 40,000 Alaskans could lose health care coverage, thousands of families will go hungry through loss of benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, and the shift in costs from the federal government to the state will plunge our budget into a severe deficit, cripple our state economy and make it harder to provide basic services.

This is not about partisanship. One of us is a Republican and the other is an independent. In the Alaska Legislature, our State Senate and House are led by a bipartisan governing coalition. Our focus is squarely on the survival of the people we represent.

The benefits of Medicaid and the SNAP program permeate the entire fabric of the Alaska economy, with one in three Alaskans receiving Medicaid, including more than half of the children. In remote Arctic communities, Medicaid dollars make medical travel possible for residents from the hundreds of roadless villages to the communities where they are able to receive proper medical treatments...

Alaska cannot afford to lose health care funding. Our state is near the top of the list for the highest rates of suicide, tuberculosis and sexually transmitted infections in the nation. It is also severely lacking in adequate behavioral health services. The cuts will only make these problems worse.

Work requirements instituted in Medicaid are untenable for rural Alaska, with many communities facing limited broadband access and job opportunities. Alaskans who lose health care coverage will be forced to delay care until it’s an emergency."

'We had lots of dreams'; Idaho's library system ends, restructures programs amid federal funding cuts; Idaho Press, June 14, 2025

 LAURA GUIDO , Idaho Press; 'We had lots of dreams'; Idaho's library system ends, restructures programs amid federal funding cuts

[Kip Currier: The Digital Equity Act of 2021 would have helped millions of Americans -- like the millions of Idahoans referenced in this Idaho Press article -- to finally have high quality Internet access.

Sadly, those Internet access plans all came crashing down when the Trump administration declared the Act unconstitutional and "racist". As PBS reported on May 25, 2025:

"One program distributes laptops in rural Iowa. Another helped people get back online after Hurricane Helene washed away computers and phones in western North Carolina. Programs in Oregon and rural Alabama teach older people, including some who have never touched a computer, how to navigate in an increasingly digital world.

It all came crashing down this month when President Donald Trump — on his own digital platform, Truth Social — announced his intention to end the Digital Equity Act, a federal grant program meant to help bridge the digital divide. He branded it as “RACIST and ILLEGAL” and said it amounts to “woke handouts based on race.” He said it was an “ILLEGAL $2.5 BILLION DOLLAR giveaway,” though the program was actually funded with $2.75 billion.

The name seemed innocuous enough when the program was approved by Congress in 2021 as part of a $65 billion investment meant to bring internet access to every home and business in the United States. The broadband program itself was a key component of the $1 trillion infrastructure law pushed through by the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden."

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/the-digital-equity-act-tried-to-close-the-digital-divide-trump-targets-it-in-his-war-on-woke 

 

[Excerpt]

"Digital Access for All Idahoans

The commission has ended its nearly four-year effort to improve internet accessibility across the state following the termination of a grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration; the current presidential administration declared the grant, first awarded to Idaho in 2022, unconstitutional.

“On May 9, everything was canceled, and that was a pretty major initiative we’ve been undertaking,” Deputy State Librarian Dylan Baker told the board. “We were really … on the cusp of working through the subgrant process.”

The library commissioners first announced the Digital Access for All Idahoans plan in 2021, with a plan to use the federal grant to both improve access to the internet and improve the skills to navigate it confidently — the libraries focused primarily on the skills aspect of access.

Idaho had been awarded $6.3 million total, with more than $2.3 million slated to go to the first round of subgrantees that included libraries, community colleges, nonprofits and other state agencies, according to board documents.

Nearly 200,000 Idahoans were expected to be reached in 61 cities and towns in 30 counties, the board documents said."

Bridging the Digital Divide: Advancing Access to Broadband for All; American Bar Association (ABA), June 3, 2024

 Emily Bergeron, American Bar Association (ABA); Bridging the Digital Divide: Advancing Access to Broadband for All

"The “digital divide” is the disparity in access to and utilization of information and communication technologies between different groups based on socioeconomic status, geographic location, age, education, or other demographic characteristics. This divide often manifests as unequal access to the internet and digital devices, leading to disparities in opportunities, information, health care, education, and participation in government and the digital- and knowledge-based economy. The COVID-19 pandemic brought considerable focus to the digital divide. Individuals with broadband access could work, attend school, shop, and consult with their doctors from the comfort of their homes, while those lacking access had few options...

Eight out of 10 white adults have a broadband connection at home, whereas smaller percentages of Black and Hispanic adults—precisely 71 percent and 65 percent—indicate the same. Notably, Black adults are more likely than white adults to believe that a lack of high-speed internet at home puts people at a significant disadvantage when connecting with medical professionals, with 63 percent of Black adults expressing this view compared to 49 percent of white adults. The perspective of Hispanic adults, at 53 percent, does not significantly differ from that of individuals from other racial and ethnic backgrounds.

Despite federal efforts to expand broadband access in Tribal lands, a significant disparity persists. Approximately 18 percent of people in these areas still lack broadband services, while this figure is only 4 percent for non-Tribal areas. The gap widens further in rural regions, where about 30 percent of individuals on Tribal lands lack broadband access compared to 14 percent in non-Tribal areas...

The digital divide is not just a matter of technology. It undermines social justice and equality. By working collectively to bridge this divide, we can help create a more inclusive, connected, and equitable society where everyone can harness the benefits of the digital age. It is incumbent on governments, policymakers, and private organizations to take proactive measures and commit to digital inclusion, ensuring that no one is left behind in this fast-evolving digital landscape."

2021 Year in Review; American Libraries, January 3, 2022

American Libraries ; 2021 Year in Review

Looking back at the news that affected libraries

"Wong’s election makes ALA history

At the conclusion of the 2021 Annual Conference Virtual, Patricia “Patty” M. Wong began her term as the first Asian American to serve as ALA president...

Biden, Obama address librarians

First Lady Jill Biden delivered the Closing Session speech at ALA’s 2021 Midwinter Meeting Virtual, and former president Barack Obama closed the 2021 Annual Conference and Exhibition Virtual...

Core values come under fire

The year saw increasing challenges and protests at library and school board meetings over materials and curricula, particularly those addressing race and the legacy of slavery. On August 18 ALA’s Executive Board joined dozens of other institutions in defense of intellectual freedom and social justice in the classroom: “As members of a profession committed to free and equitable access to information and the pursuit of truth, we stand firm in opposing any effort to suppress knowledge, to label ‘controversial’ views, or dictate what is orthodox in history, politics, or belief...

ALA speaks out against anti-Asian hate crimes

On March 11, the ALA Executive Board issued a statement in solidarity with the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association’s stance recognizing and condemning anti-Asian violence. The Executive Board called on ALA members to condemn the “wave of anti-Asian language, hate speech, and physical assaults on streets across the country, in media reports, in statements by politicians, and on social media related to the origins of COVID-19.”"