BY:&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/annaspoerre/">ANNA SPOERRE</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/02/20/state-senator-throws-first-punches-of-2024-missouri-governors-campaign/">Missouri Independent</a>

A lawsuit filed by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey accusing Planned Parenthood of transporting minors out of state for abortions will move forward, a judge ruled Tuesday evening.

The lawsuit is based on conversations between Planned Parenthood staff and a man with Project Veritas who secretly filmed the staff while<a target="_blank" href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article289159614.html">&nbsp;inquiring about an abortion for his fake 13-year-old niece.&nbsp;</a>

Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which runs the Kansas City area clinic where the video was taken, asked that the judge dismiss the lawsuit shortly after it was filed.&nbsp;

“We’re reviewing all our options and will continue to vigorously defend this case based on hypotheticals and fictitious patients,” Erin Thompson, general counsel with Planned Parenthood Great Plain, said in a statement Wednesday.

<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/06/10/planned-parenthood-andrew-bailey-project-veritas/">At a hearing in early June,</a>&nbsp;John Andrew Hirth, an attorney for Planned Parenthood, said there was no proof the Kansas City area clinic broke the law.

“There’s no allegation that any abortion has been performed either in Missouri or outside of Missouri, with or without parental consent here,” Hirth said. “The whole conversation is hypothetical.”

But Boone County Judge Brouck Jacobs found merit for moving forward with the case. He did not issue an opinion along with his ruling explaining his reasoning.

“This is the beginning of the end for Planned Parenthood in the State of Missouri,” Bailey said in a statement Tuesday following the ruling.

The video, captured in December, was posted on social media by Project Veritas, a self-proclaimed right wing news organization that often conducts undercover stings.&nbsp;

The man filming in the clinic told staff that the made-up girl’s parents couldn’t know about the abortion. Staff then directed him to their affiliate clinics in Kansas where they said he could “bypass” parental consent.&nbsp; When the man asked how often girls go out of state for abortions, the Planned Parenthood employee said it happens “every day.”

Kathryn Monroe, who represented the attorney general’s office at the hearing, said while the man’s questions were hypothetical, the employee at Planned Parenthood thought the situation was real.&nbsp;

“There was admitted conduct about what they would do in this actual situation,” she said.

The attorney general’s office in its arguments before the court pointed to Missouri law which states: “No one shall intentionally cause aid or assist a minor to obtain an abortion.”&nbsp;

That law was written before the state’s trigger law went into place in June 2022, effectively making all abortions — with the exception of life-threatening situations — illegal.

Missouri doesn’t have explicit laws requiring parental consent for minors getting abortions in other states, nor does it prohibit minors from going to other states to get abortions.

<a target="_blank" href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li_2016/b2015_16/statute/065_000_0000_chapter/065_067_0000_article/065_067_0005_section/065_067_0005_k/">Kansas law</a>&nbsp;requires physicians to either obtain parental consent or to go through the judicial bypass process where a judge can authorize a minor to get an abortion without parental consent.

A spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Great Plains said in February that they do not provide any form of transportation directly to any patients, regardless of age or where they live.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/10/1665657486023.png" alt="Google image" />
 <figcaption>Google image</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/annaspoerre/">ANNA SPOERRE</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2023/02/20/state-senator-throws-first-punches-of-2024-missouri-governors-campaign/">Missouri Independent</a>A lawsuit filed by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey accusing Planned Parenthood of transporting minors out of state for abortions will move forward, a judge ruled Tuesday evening.The lawsuit is based on conversations between Planned Parenthood staff and a man with Project Veritas who secretly filmed the staff while<a target="_blank" href="https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article289159614.html">&nbsp;inquiring about an abortion for his fake 13-year-old niece.&nbsp;</a>Planned Parenthood Great Plains, which runs the Kansas City area clinic where the video was taken, asked that the judge dismiss the lawsuit shortly after it was filed.&nbsp;“We’re reviewing all our options and will continue to vigorously defend this case based on hypotheticals and fictitious patients,” Erin Thompson, general counsel with Planned Parenthood Great Plain, said in a statement Wednesday.<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/2024/06/10/planned-parenthood-andrew-bailey-project-veritas/">At a hearing in early June,</a>&nbsp;John Andrew Hirth, an attorney for Planned Parenthood, said there was no proof the Kansas City area clinic broke the law.“There’s no allegation that any abortion has been performed either in Missouri or outside of Missouri, with or without parental consent here,” Hirth said. “The whole conversation is hypothetical.”But Boone County Judge Brouck Jacobs found merit for moving forward with the case. He did not issue an opinion along with his ruling explaining his reasoning.“This is the beginning of the end for Planned Parenthood in the State of Missouri,” Bailey said in a statement Tuesday following the ruling.The video, captured in December, was posted on social media by Project Veritas, a self-proclaimed right wing news organization that often conducts undercover stings.&nbsp;The man filming in the clinic told staff that the made-up girl’s parents couldn’t know about the abortion. Staff then directed him to their affiliate clinics in Kansas where they said he could “bypass” parental consent.&nbsp; When the man asked how often girls go out of state for abortions, the Planned Parenthood employee said it happens “every day.”Kathryn Monroe, who represented the attorney general’s office at the hearing, said while the man’s questions were hypothetical, the employee at Planned Parenthood thought the situation was real.&nbsp;“There was admitted conduct about what they would do in this actual situation,” she said.The attorney general’s office in its arguments before the court pointed to Missouri law which states: “No one shall intentionally cause aid or assist a minor to obtain an abortion.”&nbsp;That law was written before the state’s trigger law went into place in June 2022, effectively making all abortions — with the exception of life-threatening situations — illegal.Missouri doesn’t have explicit laws requiring parental consent for minors getting abortions in other states, nor does it prohibit minors from going to other states to get abortions.<a target="_blank" href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li_2016/b2015_16/statute/065_000_0000_chapter/065_067_0000_article/065_067_0005_section/065_067_0005_k/">Kansas law</a>&nbsp;requires physicians to either obtain parental consent or to go through the judicial bypass process where a judge can authorize a minor to get an abortion without parental consent.A spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Great Plains said in February that they do not provide any form of transportation directly to any patients, regardless of age or where they live.

Judge denies Planned Parenthood’s request to dismiss suit based on Project Veritas video

HESSTON, Kan. — AGCO announced in a meeting on Wednesday that they are moving the Small Square Baler, Windrower Header, and Round Baler Lines to Mexico.

It is currently unknown what will happen to the employees of the line, but the company does not expect layoffs.

“To simplify and streamline operations at AGCO’s Hesston, Kansas, facility, the company is shifting some production to another AGCO plant. Hesston will continue to manufacture Massey Ferguson windrowers, large square balers, combines and combine headers using the more than $28 million in investments made in the Kansas facility since 2021. Those investments have focused on updating and modernizing Hesston’s systems and equipment. Production of small square balers, round balers and rotary mowers will move to its Querétaro, Mexico, facility beginning in 2025. By streamlining the Hesston portfolio, our goal is to secure a profitable future for the plant. AGCO expects the impact of this change on the overall workforce in Hesston to be accomplished through typical attrition.“

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1718278218409.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>HESSTON, Kan. — AGCO announced in a meeting on Wednesday that they are moving the Small Square Baler, Windrower Header, and Round Baler Lines to Mexico.It is currently unknown what will happen to the employees of the line, but the company does not expect layoffs.A statement from AGCO is below.“To simplify and streamline operations at AGCO’s Hesston, Kansas, facility, the company is shifting some production to another AGCO plant. Hesston will continue to manufacture Massey Ferguson windrowers, large square balers, combines and combine headers using the more than $28 million in investments made in the Kansas facility since 2021. Those investments have focused on updating and modernizing Hesston’s systems and equipment. Production of small square balers, round balers and rotary mowers will move to its Querétaro, Mexico, facility beginning in 2025. By streamlining the Hesston portfolio, our goal is to secure a profitable future for the plant. AGCO expects the impact of this change on the overall workforce in Hesston to be accomplished through typical attrition.“

AGCO Hesston moving some work to Mexico

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Senate Republicans released their&nbsp;<a href="https://www.agriculture.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Senate%20Republican%20Framework%20Short%20Summary.pdf">Farm Bill framework</a>&nbsp;Tuesday, and Kansas U.S. Senator Dr. Roger Marshall held a press availability on Zoom to talk about it.&nbsp;

"This Farm Bill touches, I would think, every Kansan, in some way, somehow," Marshall said. "What are the next steps? I would explain it like this. A farmer goes in to buy a combine and he agrees with the dealer, all the ins and outs he wants, what type of header he wants on that combine. What we haven't agreed on yet is the price."

It sounds like the difference really isn't that large, all things considered.

"The Democrats and Republicans, we both want strong crop insurance, we both want strong nutrition programs," Marshall said. "We want rural economic development. I think it's just a matter of where we're going to move some dollars from one place to the other and still keep this on budget, because our Farm Bill is completely paid for. We're not asking for any more monies. The Democrats Farm Bill has a request for, I think $20 or $30 billion more each year."

Practically speaking, there's not a lot of legislative time between now and the end of the federal fiscal year on September 30.

"We'll see how far apart we are," Marshall said. "There will be a lot of talks between the two staffs, the two ag committee staffs, as well and see where we can close the gap. There really aren't very many legislative days left up here this summer. We have an election in November. I understand. We'll see if we can mark up something here in the next month or so. It will probably be this summer."

If the deal doesn't get done by the deadline, there is still the idea of a short term continuation of the current bill, which has already been extended for a sixth year, at least to past the election. Ag state legislators really don't want that, as they'd like more certainty, if possible.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1718131641346.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>NICK GOSNELL&nbsp;Hutch PostHUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Senate Republicans released their&nbsp;<a href="https://www.agriculture.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Senate%20Republican%20Framework%20Short%20Summary.pdf">Farm Bill framework</a>&nbsp;Tuesday, and Kansas U.S. Senator Dr. Roger Marshall held a press availability on Zoom to talk about it.&nbsp;"This Farm Bill touches, I would think, every Kansan, in some way, somehow," Marshall said. "What are the next steps? I would explain it like this. A farmer goes in to buy a combine and he agrees with the dealer, all the ins and outs he wants, what type of header he wants on that combine. What we haven't agreed on yet is the price."It sounds like the difference really isn't that large, all things considered."The Democrats and Republicans, we both want strong crop insurance, we both want strong nutrition programs," Marshall said. "We want rural economic development. I think it's just a matter of where we're going to move some dollars from one place to the other and still keep this on budget, because our Farm Bill is completely paid for. We're not asking for any more monies. The Democrats Farm Bill has a request for, I think $20 or $30 billion more each year."Practically speaking, there's not a lot of legislative time between now and the end of the federal fiscal year on September 30."We'll see how far apart we are," Marshall said. "There will be a lot of talks between the two staffs, the two ag committee staffs, as well and see where we can close the gap. There really aren't very many legislative days left up here this summer. We have an election in November. I understand. We'll see if we can mark up something here in the next month or so. It will probably be this summer."If the deal doesn't get done by the deadline, there is still the idea of a short term continuation of the current bill, which has already been extended for a sixth year, at least to past the election. Ag state legislators really don't want that, as they'd like more certainty, if possible.

Senate Republicans release their Farm Bill framework

By JULIE APPLEBY&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-01-14/private-practice-doctors-patients-wonder-when-its-their-turn-for-the-covid-19-vaccine">Kaiser Health News</a>

A company that makes tests for lead poisoning has agreed to resolve criminal charges that it concealed for years a malfunction that resulted in inaccurately low results.

It’s the latest in a long-running saga involving Massachusetts-based Magellan Diagnostics, which will&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/magellan-diagnostics-agrees-plead-guilty-and-pay-42-million-resolve-criminal-charges">pay $42 million in penalties</a>, according to the Department of Justice.

While many of the fault-prone devices were used from 2013 to 2017, some were being recalled&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CCDPHP/DEODC/CLPPB/CDPH%20Document%20Library/magellan_fact_sheet_20211203_ADA_v2.pdf">as late as 2021</a>. The Justice Department said the malfunction produced inaccurate results for “potentially tens of thousands” of children and other patients.

Doctors don’t consider any level of lead in the blood to be safe, especially for children. Several U.S. cities, including Washington, D.C., and Flint, Michigan, have struggled with widespread lead contamination of their water supplies in the last two decades, making accurate tests critical for public health.

It’s possible faulty Magellan kits were used to test children for lead exposure into the early 2020s, based on the recall in 2021. Here’s what parents should know.

The inaccurate results came from three Magellan devices: LeadCare Ultra, LeadCare II, and LeadCare Plus. One, the LeadCare II, uses finger-stick samples primarily and accounted for more than half of all blood lead tests conducted in the U.S. from 2013 to 2017, according to the Justice Department. It was often used in physician offices to check children’s lead levels.

The other two could also be used with blood drawn from a vein and may have been more common in labs than doctor’s offices. The company “first learned that a malfunction in its LeadCare Ultra device could cause inaccurate lead test results – specifically, lead test results that were falsely low” in June 2013 while seeking regulatory clearance to sell the product, the DOJ said. But it did not disclose that information and went on to market the tests, according to the settlement.

The agency said 2013 testing indicated the same flaw affected the LeadCare II device. A 2021 recall included most of all three types of test kits distributed since October 27, 2020.

The company said in a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.magellandx.com/resources/magellan-diagnostics-announces-voluntary-resolution-of-federal-investigation/">press release</a>&nbsp;announcing the resolution that “the underlying issues that affected the results of some of Magellan’s products from 2013 to 2018 have been fully and effectively remediated,” and that the tests it currently sells are safe.

Children are often tested during pediatrician visits at age 1 and again at age 2. Elevated lead levels can put kids at risk of developmental delay, lower IQ, and other problems. And symptoms, such as stomachache, poor appetite, or irritability, may not appear until high levels are reached.

Falsely low test results could mean parents and physicians were unaware of the problem.

That’s a concern because treatment for lead poisoning is, initially, mainly preventive. Results showing elevated levels should prompt parents and health officials to determine the sources of lead and take steps to prevent continued lead intake, said Janine Kerr, health educator with the Virginia Department of Health’s&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/leadsafe/">Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program</a>.

Children can be exposed to lead in a variety of ways, including by drinking water contaminated with lead from old pipes, such as in Flint and Washington; ingesting lead-based paint flakes often found in older homes; or, as reported recently, eating some&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/investigation-elevated-lead-chromium-levels-cinnamon-applesauce-pouches-november-2023">brands of cinnamon-flavored applesauce.</a>

“Parents can contact their child’s pediatrician to determine if their child had a blood lead test with a LeadCare device” and discuss whether a repeat blood lead test is needed, said&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://profiles.mountsinai.org/maida-p-galvez">Maida Galvez</a>, a pediatrician and professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.

During an earlier recall of some Magellan devices, in 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-warns-americans-about-risk-inaccurate-results-certain-lead-tests">recommended that patients be retested</a>&nbsp;if they were pregnant, nursing, or children younger than 6 and had a blood lead level of less than 10 micrograms per deciliter as determined by a Magellan device from a venous blood draw.

The 2021 recall of Magellan devices recommended retesting children whose results were less than the current CDC reference level of 3.5 micrograms per deciliter. Many of those tests were of the finger-stick variety.

Kerr, at the Virginia health department, said her agency has not had many calls about that recall.

The finger-stick tests “are not that widely used in Virginia,” said Kerr, adding that “we did get a lot of questions about the applesauce recall.”

In any case, she said, the “best course of action for parents is to talk with a health care provider.”

<a target="_blank" href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us">KFF Health News</a>&nbsp;is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.kff.org/about-us">KFF</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1717934001181.png" alt=" From left, a lead pipe, a corroded steel pipe, and a lead pipe treated with protective orthophosphate (Photo courtesy Environmental Protection Agency)." />
 <figcaption> From left, a lead pipe, a corroded steel pipe, and a lead pipe treated with protective orthophosphate (Photo courtesy Environmental Protection Agency).</figcaption>
 </figure>By JULIE APPLEBY&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kcur.org/news/2021-01-14/private-practice-doctors-patients-wonder-when-its-their-turn-for-the-covid-19-vaccine">Kaiser Health News</a>A company that makes tests for lead poisoning has agreed to resolve criminal charges that it concealed for years a malfunction that resulted in inaccurately low results.It’s the latest in a long-running saga involving Massachusetts-based Magellan Diagnostics, which will&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/magellan-diagnostics-agrees-plead-guilty-and-pay-42-million-resolve-criminal-charges">pay $42 million in penalties</a>, according to the Department of Justice.While many of the fault-prone devices were used from 2013 to 2017, some were being recalled&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CCDPHP/DEODC/CLPPB/CDPH%20Document%20Library/magellan_fact_sheet_20211203_ADA_v2.pdf">as late as 2021</a>. The Justice Department said the malfunction produced inaccurate results for “potentially tens of thousands” of children and other patients.Doctors don’t consider any level of lead in the blood to be safe, especially for children. Several U.S. cities, including Washington, D.C., and Flint, Michigan, have struggled with widespread lead contamination of their water supplies in the last two decades, making accurate tests critical for public health.It’s possible faulty Magellan kits were used to test children for lead exposure into the early 2020s, based on the recall in 2021. Here’s what parents should know.<h2>What tests were affected?</h2>The inaccurate results came from three Magellan devices: LeadCare Ultra, LeadCare II, and LeadCare Plus. One, the LeadCare II, uses finger-stick samples primarily and accounted for more than half of all blood lead tests conducted in the U.S. from 2013 to 2017, according to the Justice Department. It was often used in physician offices to check children’s lead levels.The other two could also be used with blood drawn from a vein and may have been more common in labs than doctor’s offices. The company “first learned that a malfunction in its LeadCare Ultra device could cause inaccurate lead test results – specifically, lead test results that were falsely low” in June 2013 while seeking regulatory clearance to sell the product, the DOJ said. But it did not disclose that information and went on to market the tests, according to the settlement.The agency said 2013 testing indicated the same flaw affected the LeadCare II device. A 2021 recall included most of all three types of test kits distributed since October 27, 2020.The company said in a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.magellandx.com/resources/magellan-diagnostics-announces-voluntary-resolution-of-federal-investigation/">press release</a>&nbsp;announcing the resolution that “the underlying issues that affected the results of some of Magellan’s products from 2013 to 2018 have been fully and effectively remediated,” and that the tests it currently sells are safe.<h2>What does a falsely low result mean?</h2>Children are often tested during pediatrician visits at age 1 and again at age 2. Elevated lead levels can put kids at risk of developmental delay, lower IQ, and other problems. And symptoms, such as stomachache, poor appetite, or irritability, may not appear until high levels are reached.Falsely low test results could mean parents and physicians were unaware of the problem.That’s a concern because treatment for lead poisoning is, initially, mainly preventive. Results showing elevated levels should prompt parents and health officials to determine the sources of lead and take steps to prevent continued lead intake, said Janine Kerr, health educator with the Virginia Department of Health’s&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/leadsafe/">Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program</a>.Children can be exposed to lead in a variety of ways, including by drinking water contaminated with lead from old pipes, such as in Flint and Washington; ingesting lead-based paint flakes often found in older homes; or, as reported recently, eating some&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/investigation-elevated-lead-chromium-levels-cinnamon-applesauce-pouches-november-2023">brands of cinnamon-flavored applesauce.</a><h2>What should parents do now?</h2>“Parents can contact their child’s pediatrician to determine if their child had a blood lead test with a LeadCare device” and discuss whether a repeat blood lead test is needed, said&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://profiles.mountsinai.org/maida-p-galvez">Maida Galvez</a>, a pediatrician and professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York.During an earlier recall of some Magellan devices, in 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-warns-americans-about-risk-inaccurate-results-certain-lead-tests">recommended that patients be retested</a>&nbsp;if they were pregnant, nursing, or children younger than 6 and had a blood lead level of less than 10 micrograms per deciliter as determined by a Magellan device from a venous blood draw.The 2021 recall of Magellan devices recommended retesting children whose results were less than the current CDC reference level of 3.5 micrograms per deciliter. Many of those tests were of the finger-stick variety.Kerr, at the Virginia health department, said her agency has not had many calls about that recall.The finger-stick tests “are not that widely used in Virginia,” said Kerr, adding that “we did get a lot of questions about the applesauce recall.”In any case, she said, the “best course of action for parents is to talk with a health care provider.”<a target="_blank" href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us">KFF Health News</a>&nbsp;is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.kff.org/about-us">KFF</a>.

Thousands of children got tested for lead with faulty devices: What parents should know

The overdue farm bill is finally making its way through Congress, after the House agriculture committee recently advanced a proposal. Food assistance is likely to be one of the biggest sticking points as the draft moves forward.

By ELIZABETH REMBERT <a href="https://www.hppr.org/hppr-news/2024-06-07/snap-benefits-are-a-huge-part-of-the-farm-bill-and-a-big-point-of-contention-for-lawmakers?mc_cid=a5f0d9d772&amp;mc_eid=4e2c084f1d">KCUR</a>

The long-stalled farm bill took a step forward in the House of Representatives last month as a Republican-led proposal made it out of the agriculture committee.

The clock is ticking as the extension of the 2018 Farm Bill, which expired eight months ago, ends in September.

Yet food assistance will likely be a flashpoint in the discussions ahead.

<a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap/key-statistics-and-research/#:~:text=In%20FY%202022%2C%20SNAP%20served,%24230.88%20per%20participant%20per%20month." target="_blank">More than 41 million Americans</a>&nbsp;rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program monthly to put food on the table. The program takes a lot of funding –&nbsp;<a href="https://www.agriculture.senate.gov/newsroom/minority-blog/reviewing-the-february-2024-baseline-for-usda-farm-and-nutrition-programs" target="_blank">about 80% of the farm bill’s massive budget goes to SNAP.</a>

The House draft suggests placing limits on how the Thrifty Food Plan is updated in the future. The Thrifty Food Plan is a basket of foods that represents a “nutritious, practical, cost-effective diet prepared at home” for a family of four,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/thriftyfoodplan" target="_blank">according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.</a>

The money people receive through SNAP is calculated by how much that basket of food costs.

Right now, the plan is updated&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/cnpp/usda-food-plans#:~:text=As%20stipulated%20in%20the%20Agriculture,reevaluation%20is%20anticipated%20in%202026." target="_blank">every five years</a>&nbsp;based on food prices, food composition data, consumer data and dietary standards. The new proposal suggests updating the cost of the plan only for inflation.

According to&nbsp;<a href="https://thompson.house.gov/" target="_blank">House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson</a>&nbsp;– a Republican from Pennsylvania – the nonpartisan&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbo.gov/" target="_blank">Congressional Budget Office</a>&nbsp;estimates the limit would cut SNAP by $30 billion over the next 10 years.

“The cut would take away a day’s worth of benefits from the participants each month, then it would rise to two days of benefits each day,” said&nbsp;<a href="https://hayes.house.gov/" target="_blank">Democratic Rep. Jahana Hayes</a>&nbsp;from Connecticut during discussions. “You may think losing one or two days of food is not significant. But I do think it’s quite significant for a low-income family trying to make ends meet.”

But&nbsp;<a href="https://alford.house.gov/" target="_blank">Republican Rep. Mark Alford</a>&nbsp;from Missouri said he’s focused on making the program more efficient, not slashing benefits.

“Democrats feel like we’re trying to cut the program. And that’s not the case,” he said. “If we can move to a program that has more integrity, more health benefits, it is going to be greater for our nation and greater for our taxpayers.”

Alford points to&nbsp;<a href="https://agriculture.house.gov/uploadedfiles/detailed_summary_final.pdf" target="_blank">parts of the bill</a>&nbsp;that would allow frozen and canned produce to be covered, create an accountability office and expand eligibility for the program.

Other SNAP proposals in the House’s farm bill draft would:

“We don’t feel there are cuts to SNAP – we’re just tightening up some of the issues,” Alford said. “I don’t want anyone who is truly hungry, truly needy and can’t work to go to bed hungry at night.”

Megan Hamann, a community organizer focused on food and nutrition access with&nbsp;<a href="https://neappleseed.org/who-we-are" target="_blank">Nebraska Appleseed</a>, said framing limits to the Thrifty Food Plan as anything but cuts to SNAP is a “pretty problematic characterization, because it would erode SNAP’s buying power over time.”

“So while families wouldn’t see their benefits go down in an immediate sense, SNAP would be increasingly less efficient as time goes on,” she said. “What we would see is a decline in how well the program actually works in people’s lives.”

Hamann said she hopes the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.agriculture.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/rural_prosperity_and_food_security_section-by-section.pdf" target="_blank">Senate’s farm bill proposal</a>&nbsp;can find support, which would maintain the regular re-evaluation of SNAP benefits.

The House’s draft has a long way to go before it makes it into law as the new farm bill; it will need final passage in the House and endorsement from the Senate.

“Everyone knows that this bill would never become law. The Senate won’t accept it and the administration won’t accept it,” Rep. David Scott of Georgia, the ranking Democrat on the House’s Agriculture committee, said during discussions. “And while this bill is a giant misstep, it nevertheless begins our journey toward passing a farm bill.”

This story was produced in partnership with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kcur.org/harvestpublicmedia" target="_blank">Harvest Public Media,</a>&nbsp;a collaboration of public media newsrooms in the Midwest. It reports on food systems, agriculture and rural issues.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/6/1717798696726.png" alt="This story is part of Harvest Public Media's ongoing coverage of the 2023 Farm Bill." />
 <figcaption>This story is part of Harvest Public Media's ongoing coverage of the 2023 Farm Bill.</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>The overdue farm bill is finally making its way through Congress, after the House agriculture committee recently advanced a proposal. Food assistance is likely to be one of the biggest sticking points as the draft moves forward.</h2>By ELIZABETH REMBERT <a href="https://www.hppr.org/hppr-news/2024-06-07/snap-benefits-are-a-huge-part-of-the-farm-bill-and-a-big-point-of-contention-for-lawmakers?mc_cid=a5f0d9d772&amp;mc_eid=4e2c084f1d">KCUR</a>The long-stalled farm bill took a step forward in the House of Representatives last month as a Republican-led proposal made it out of the agriculture committee.The clock is ticking as the extension of the 2018 Farm Bill, which expired eight months ago, ends in September.Yet food assistance will likely be a flashpoint in the discussions ahead.<a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap/key-statistics-and-research/#:~:text=In%20FY%202022%2C%20SNAP%20served,%24230.88%20per%20participant%20per%20month." target="_blank">More than 41 million Americans</a>&nbsp;rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program monthly to put food on the table. The program takes a lot of funding –&nbsp;<a href="https://www.agriculture.senate.gov/newsroom/minority-blog/reviewing-the-february-2024-baseline-for-usda-farm-and-nutrition-programs" target="_blank">about 80% of the farm bill’s massive budget goes to SNAP.</a><h2>House farm bill proposal</h2>The House draft suggests placing limits on how the Thrifty Food Plan is updated in the future. The Thrifty Food Plan is a basket of foods that represents a “nutritious, practical, cost-effective diet prepared at home” for a family of four,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/thriftyfoodplan" target="_blank">according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.</a>The money people receive through SNAP is calculated by how much that basket of food costs.Right now, the plan is updated&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/cnpp/usda-food-plans#:~:text=As%20stipulated%20in%20the%20Agriculture,reevaluation%20is%20anticipated%20in%202026." target="_blank">every five years</a>&nbsp;based on food prices, food composition data, consumer data and dietary standards. The new proposal suggests updating the cost of the plan only for inflation.According to&nbsp;<a href="https://thompson.house.gov/" target="_blank">House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson</a>&nbsp;– a Republican from Pennsylvania – the nonpartisan&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbo.gov/" target="_blank">Congressional Budget Office</a>&nbsp;estimates the limit would cut SNAP by $30 billion over the next 10 years.“The cut would take away a day’s worth of benefits from the participants each month, then it would rise to two days of benefits each day,” said&nbsp;<a href="https://hayes.house.gov/" target="_blank">Democratic Rep. Jahana Hayes</a>&nbsp;from Connecticut during discussions. “You may think losing one or two days of food is not significant. But I do think it’s quite significant for a low-income family trying to make ends meet.”But&nbsp;<a href="https://alford.house.gov/" target="_blank">Republican Rep. Mark Alford</a>&nbsp;from Missouri said he’s focused on making the program more efficient, not slashing benefits.“Democrats feel like we’re trying to cut the program. And that’s not the case,” he said. “If we can move to a program that has more integrity, more health benefits, it is going to be greater for our nation and greater for our taxpayers.”Alford points to&nbsp;<a href="https://agriculture.house.gov/uploadedfiles/detailed_summary_final.pdf" target="_blank">parts of the bill</a>&nbsp;that would allow frozen and canned produce to be covered, create an accountability office and expand eligibility for the program.Other SNAP proposals in the House’s farm bill draft would:<ul>
 <li>Add frozen, fresh, canned and dried fruits and vegetables as SNAP-eligible products&nbsp;</li><li>Create an office of program integrity to focus on SNAP and address erroneous payments and other inefficiencies&nbsp;</li><li>Allow individuals with past drug offenses to receive SNAP</li><li>Direct the USDA to issue formal guidance on notifying eligible college students that they qualify for SNAP</li>
 </ul>“We don’t feel there are cuts to SNAP – we’re just tightening up some of the issues,” Alford said. “I don’t want anyone who is truly hungry, truly needy and can’t work to go to bed hungry at night.”Megan Hamann, a community organizer focused on food and nutrition access with&nbsp;<a href="https://neappleseed.org/who-we-are" target="_blank">Nebraska Appleseed</a>, said framing limits to the Thrifty Food Plan as anything but cuts to SNAP is a “pretty problematic characterization, because it would erode SNAP’s buying power over time.”“So while families wouldn’t see their benefits go down in an immediate sense, SNAP would be increasingly less efficient as time goes on,” she said. “What we would see is a decline in how well the program actually works in people’s lives.”Hamann said she hopes the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.agriculture.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/rural_prosperity_and_food_security_section-by-section.pdf" target="_blank">Senate’s farm bill proposal</a>&nbsp;can find support, which would maintain the regular re-evaluation of SNAP benefits.The House’s draft has a long way to go before it makes it into law as the new farm bill; it will need final passage in the House and endorsement from the Senate.“Everyone knows that this bill would never become law. The Senate won’t accept it and the administration won’t accept it,” Rep. David Scott of Georgia, the ranking Democrat on the House’s Agriculture committee, said during discussions. “And while this bill is a giant misstep, it nevertheless begins our journey toward passing a farm bill.”This story was produced in partnership with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kcur.org/harvestpublicmedia" target="_blank">Harvest Public Media,</a>&nbsp;a collaboration of public media newsrooms in the Midwest. It reports on food systems, agriculture and rural issues.&nbsp;

SNAP benefits huge part of farm bill, big point of contention for lawmakers

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jennifer-shutt/">JENNIFER SHUTT</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;&nbsp;AND&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jaredstrong/">JARED STRONG</a>&nbsp;-&nbsp;State's Newsroom

Dairy farmers throughout the country are on guard and the federal government is mobilizing after an outbreak among cattle herds of highly pathogenic avian influenza — once thought to be confined to poultry flocks.

What’s more, the virus, also known as H5N1 or bird flu, was diagnosed in a third dairy farmworker last week, marking the first U.S. case with respiratory symptoms, said to be mild. The other two cases, also both mild, were diagnosed as pink eye.

The notable leap from cows and chickens to humans is not yet ringing alarm bells for public health officials or veterinarians, who believe the risk to the public remains low. However, they are closely monitoring poultry and dairy farms for any changes, despite a reluctance among some dairy farmers to test their herds.

“Avian influenza is something that public health scientists are worried about,” said Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. “It’s probably the potential infection or outbreak that causes the greatest amount of anxiety just because, if this did get into a place where it was easily transmissible among humans, everybody fears that could be a really, really bad scenario.”

The ongoing response has brought together a veritable alphabet soup of government agencies and agricultural organizations, highlighting the complicated nature of fighting bird flu. The mobilization is intended to stem the significant economic toll that farmers could face and curb the virus’ spread.

At the federal level, the Agriculture Department is responsible for the farm animals, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for human health, the Food and Drug Administration has jurisdiction over the eggs and milk sold in grocery stores, and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response oversees its piece of the pie.

Then come the state agencies, interest groups, agribusiness and family farms.

As of last week, more than 40 people had been tested for H5N1 with more than 350 people enrolled in monitoring, about 220 of whom are in Michigan. Two of the human cases have been in Michigan while the other was diagnosed in Texas.

Michigan also has several dairy cattle herds diagnosed with H5N1.

The USDA has performed more than 17,000 PCR tests on cattle, with a total of 67 herds affected throughout nine states, including Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota and Texas.

This strain of bird flu has also cropped up in a wide variety of mammals, including domestic cats. That’s led experts to recommend that people limit their pets’ interactions with wild birds, which hold a reservoir of the virus, as well as all farm animals.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced last week that it’s launching a voluntary pilot program to expand testing for dairy farms to gain better insight into the virus and make it easier for farmers to ship dairy cows across state lines.

The department is also transferring $824 million from the Commodity Credit Corporation to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service for the ongoing response.

“It’s important to note that as these additional testing measures take place, USDA anticipates that we may see an increase in the number of herds that are testing positive,” said Eric Deeble, acting senior adviser for highly pathogenic avian influenza and deputy assistant secretary for congressional relations.

The pilot program will test milk samples from bulk tanks for H5N1. Farms that consistently test negative will “be able to ship their cows at the time they prefer and without testing individual animals, knowing that their entire herd is free of the disease,” Deeble said.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, on a press call with reporters Monday, declined to say whether USDA has a full grasp of the extent of the virus’ spread in dairy cattle, but he said, “We have a pretty good understanding of the nature of this virus and essentially what’s causing its spread.”

“We’re trying to essentially corner this virus, so that over time it dissipates,” Vilsack said.

Dairy farmers can begin enrolling in the pilot program this week in participating states.

Infected cows have tremendous amounts of the virus&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2024/05/02/bird-flu-virus-is-abundant-in-the-milk-of-sick-cows/">in their milk</a>, so those that are lactating must test negative for the virus before they can be transported across state lines, the USDA has ordered.

In states such as Iowa, which has no detections of the virus in cattle, dairy farmers have been reluctant to test more than is required.

“There has not been a lot of testing to date,” said Rodger Main, director of the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, which first discovered bird flu was infecting cattle. “What’s being tested is the dairy cattle that are moving interstate.”

Scientists are sequencing the genetic code of an avian flu that&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2024/05/28/bird-flu-strikes-flock-of-4-2-million-chickens-in-sioux-county/">was found</a>&nbsp;in a flock of 4.2 million egg-laying hens last week in northwest Iowa to determine if it is the same variant that has been infecting cattle, said Don McDowell, a spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. If so, it might indicate that there are infected cattle in Iowa.

A similar detection happened more than a month ago at a turkey flock in Minnesota, another state with no known dairy cattle infections.

However, no coordinated testing was done of dairy farms near the infected turkey flock to determine whether they had infected cattle and might have been the source of the transmission, said Michael Crusan, a spokesperson for the Minnesota Board of Animal Health.

“The Board of Animal Health didn’t collect any samples from dairy farms surrounding HPAI positive poultry premises,” Crusan said. “We do not have authority to test those dairy farms without suspected or confirmed illness reported to us.”

There is reluctance among some dairy farmers to voluntarily test their cattle for fear of what might happen if those tests reveal their herds are infected, said Dr. Barb Petersen, a Texas veterinarian&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2024/04/17/two-veterinarians-hundreds-of-miles-apart-solved-a-cow-sickness-whodunit/">who helped discover</a>&nbsp;that bird flu was infecting cattle.

They might be afraid that they’ll be barred from selling their cattle for an unknown amount of time or that animal movements to and from their farms will be otherwise restricted.

Petersen suspects that nearly all the dairies in her area near Amarillo were infected but that many were not tested.

Infected cows typically recover in 10 to 14 days. Infected herds suffer a drop in milk production that can last about a month.

The virus is much more severe for chicken and turkey flocks, where it often causes fatal illness. Entire flocks are destroyed to prevent the spread of the virus.

More testing and better biosecurity measures are important to help prevent the virus from spreading from infected cattle to the poultry flocks, said Phillip Jardon, the dairy extension veterinarian for Iowa State University.

He is aware of several dairy farms that installed noise-making systems to keep away wild birds, which are believed to be an initial source of the infections. It’s unclear how many other state-recommended precautions are being adopted.

“The risk to dairies is not as large as it is to poultry, but dairies should keep in mind that they have neighbors who are poultry producers where it can be devastating, and they don’t want to have a local source of the virus,” he said.

Vilsack said USDA needs to better educate dairy farmers about the risks to their neighboring farmers to get more voluntary help in tracking and containing the virus.

It spread from Texas to faraway states through the transportation of infected cattle, but it has likely spread locally via farmworkers, veterinarians and equipment moving farm to farm, Vilsack said.

Plescia from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials said during an interview with States Newsroom that while the risk to the public remains low, health officials are paying close attention to agricultural workers.

Ensuring farmworkers have access to personal protective equipment is essential, though it could be challenging to get all workers to use it during the hotter summer months, Plescia said.

The most recent case in a farmworker in Michigan, announced May 30, is more concerning to experts. “We’re much, much more worried about respiratory infections because it’s respiratory infections, where in the past with earlier versions of H5N1, we’ve seen that those infections can be very, very severe and the mortality can be very high,” Plescia said.

Public health officials need to work with farm owners and farmworkers to make sure that even people with mild symptoms get tested for avian flu to ensure that it isn’t circulating more widely than the documented cases, he said.

They need to ensure that undocumented workers or those on agricultural work visas who are concerned about interaction with the government are comfortable enough to get tested.

“When the state government starts showing up to do testing as far as they’re concerned, people are fearful of that and so they’ll stop coming to work,” Plescia said.

Plescia also cautioned that people shouldn’t drink raw milk for the foreseeable future.

Dr. Nirav Shah, principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in an interview with States Newsroom the agency is focusing its attention on farmworker safety through personal protective equipment, testing and additional resources.

The CDC is also working to build trust so that workers who might be in the U.S. on visas or who are undocumented feel comfortable getting tested for H5N1 or reporting an illness to public health officials.

“When H5 became a phenomenon in poultry farms, it took some time for poultry farm owners and poultry farmworkers to gain trust with the public health system,” Shah said. “The same thing, the same dynamic, is at play here.”

Shah, speaking during a separate press briefing on H5N1, said that even with the new respiratory case, there have been no signs, either genetically or epidemiologically, that this strain of avian influenza is adapting in a way that would lead to greater transmission.

“We are on the lookout for those changes, but the mere fact that this individual displayed some respiratory symptoms — again, we should be alert — but, in and of itself, is not a cause to change or suggest that we’re at an inflection point,” Shah said. “It is a cause and a reason to remain alert.”

Amira Roess, professor of global health and epidemiology at George Mason University, said in a written statement that public health officials must “provide incentives for individuals to report illness and to get tested, or at least we have to remove barriers.”

“Because we don’t have meaningful, high quality and accessible health care for the majority of our population, particularly those in rural areas where the virus has first spilled over, it will be challenging to get ahead of this,” Roess wrote in response to questions from States Newsroom about H5N1. “Many farmworkers are hourly workers and cannot afford to take time off for what they perceive as mild illness.”

Meghan Davis, associate professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said in an interview with States Newsroom this particular strain of avian flu has been spreading between mammals, including domestic pets, and will likely continue to do so.

“The fact that this particular clade has been able to infect so many different mammalian species, and has now caused at least two documented cases in people — although, thankfully, with relatively mild symptoms — is a concern,” she said, before the third case was announced.

Davis cautioned that because there have been cases among cats living on dairy farms that drank raw cow’s milk, people shouldn’t give raw milk to their pets.

Pet owners should also be cautious about letting their animals interact with wild birds, which are known to spread the virus.

Milk purchased in grocery stores is safe to drink since it’s been pasteurized and has been&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/fda-chief-says-feds-are-preparing-low-probability-bird-flu-moving-humans">repeatedly tested</a>&nbsp;by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration during the past few months to ensure there’s no active virus in the country’s food supply.

Other mammals diagnosed with avian flu this year include a mountain lion in Montana, red foxes in Michigan and Missouri, and a raccoon in Colorado. Domestic cats have been diagnosed in Michigan, Montana, New Mexico, Ohio, South Dakota and Texas, according to&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-detections/mammals">data</a>&nbsp;from the CDC.

Davis said the surveillance system for H5N1 should be broadened to include “more systematic testing, which would require us to have somewhat better access to workers, to animals on farms, etc.” as well as antibody testing to determine if more people have contracted avian flu and recovered.

The additional information could help if the virus were to shift in the coming months or years.

“We don’t know exactly what this virus is going to do,” Davis said, noting the mild nature of the virus detected so far could mean that more people have contracted it and simply didn’t realize it.

Davis explained that public health officials and researchers need to closely monitor viruses like H5N1 since they can change in a way similar to how the flu changes, leading to the need for a different flu shot each year.

Roess, the epidemiology professor from George Mason University, noted that an uptick in human cases of avian influenza, could “be an indication of other types of transmission than what is currently believed.”

“Right now, the cases reported are a result of direct contact with infected food animals,” Roess said. “It is critical to ramp up surveillance of people working closely with possibly infected animals, other animals in the vicinity and other people who are not directly in contact with possibly infected animals in the community.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/5/1716902758487.jpeg" alt="The USDA has performed more than 17,000 tests for avian influenza on cattle, with a total of 67 herds affected throughout nine states&nbsp; (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File)" />
 <figcaption>The USDA has performed more than 17,000 tests for avian influenza on cattle, with a total of 67 herds affected throughout nine states&nbsp; (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File)</figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jennifer-shutt/">JENNIFER SHUTT</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;&nbsp;AND&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/jaredstrong/">JARED STRONG</a>&nbsp;-&nbsp;State's NewsroomDairy farmers throughout the country are on guard and the federal government is mobilizing after an outbreak among cattle herds of highly pathogenic avian influenza — once thought to be confined to poultry flocks.What’s more, the virus, also known as H5N1 or bird flu, was diagnosed in a third dairy farmworker last week, marking the first U.S. case with respiratory symptoms, said to be mild. The other two cases, also both mild, were diagnosed as pink eye.The notable leap from cows and chickens to humans is not yet ringing alarm bells for public health officials or veterinarians, who believe the risk to the public remains low. However, they are closely monitoring poultry and dairy farms for any changes, despite a reluctance among some dairy farmers to test their herds.“Avian influenza is something that public health scientists are worried about,” said Marcus Plescia, chief medical officer for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. “It’s probably the potential infection or outbreak that causes the greatest amount of anxiety just because, if this did get into a place where it was easily transmissible among humans, everybody fears that could be a really, really bad scenario.”The ongoing response has brought together a veritable alphabet soup of government agencies and agricultural organizations, highlighting the complicated nature of fighting bird flu. The mobilization is intended to stem the significant economic toll that farmers could face and curb the virus’ spread.At the federal level, the Agriculture Department is responsible for the farm animals, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for human health, the Food and Drug Administration has jurisdiction over the eggs and milk sold in grocery stores, and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response oversees its piece of the pie.Then come the state agencies, interest groups, agribusiness and family farms.As of last week, more than 40 people had been tested for H5N1 with more than 350 people enrolled in monitoring, about 220 of whom are in Michigan. Two of the human cases have been in Michigan while the other was diagnosed in Texas.Michigan also has several dairy cattle herds diagnosed with H5N1.The USDA has performed more than 17,000 PCR tests on cattle, with a total of 67 herds affected throughout nine states, including Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota and Texas.This strain of bird flu has also cropped up in a wide variety of mammals, including domestic cats. That’s led experts to recommend that people limit their pets’ interactions with wild birds, which hold a reservoir of the virus, as well as all farm animals.<h2>USDA begins expanded testing</h2>The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced last week that it’s launching a voluntary pilot program to expand testing for dairy farms to gain better insight into the virus and make it easier for farmers to ship dairy cows across state lines.The department is also transferring $824 million from the Commodity Credit Corporation to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service for the ongoing response.“It’s important to note that as these additional testing measures take place, USDA anticipates that we may see an increase in the number of herds that are testing positive,” said Eric Deeble, acting senior adviser for highly pathogenic avian influenza and deputy assistant secretary for congressional relations.The pilot program will test milk samples from bulk tanks for H5N1. Farms that consistently test negative will “be able to ship their cows at the time they prefer and without testing individual animals, knowing that their entire herd is free of the disease,” Deeble said.Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, on a press call with reporters Monday, declined to say whether USDA has a full grasp of the extent of the virus’ spread in dairy cattle, but he said, “We have a pretty good understanding of the nature of this virus and essentially what’s causing its spread.”“We’re trying to essentially corner this virus, so that over time it dissipates,” Vilsack said.Dairy farmers can begin enrolling in the pilot program this week in participating states.<h2>Dairy farms reluctant to test</h2>Infected cows have tremendous amounts of the virus&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2024/05/02/bird-flu-virus-is-abundant-in-the-milk-of-sick-cows/">in their milk</a>, so those that are lactating must test negative for the virus before they can be transported across state lines, the USDA has ordered.In states such as Iowa, which has no detections of the virus in cattle, dairy farmers have been reluctant to test more than is required.“There has not been a lot of testing to date,” said Rodger Main, director of the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, which first discovered bird flu was infecting cattle. “What’s being tested is the dairy cattle that are moving interstate.”Scientists are sequencing the genetic code of an avian flu that&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2024/05/28/bird-flu-strikes-flock-of-4-2-million-chickens-in-sioux-county/">was found</a>&nbsp;in a flock of 4.2 million egg-laying hens last week in northwest Iowa to determine if it is the same variant that has been infecting cattle, said Don McDowell, a spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. If so, it might indicate that there are infected cattle in Iowa.A similar detection happened more than a month ago at a turkey flock in Minnesota, another state with no known dairy cattle infections.However, no coordinated testing was done of dairy farms near the infected turkey flock to determine whether they had infected cattle and might have been the source of the transmission, said Michael Crusan, a spokesperson for the Minnesota Board of Animal Health.“The Board of Animal Health didn’t collect any samples from dairy farms surrounding HPAI positive poultry premises,” Crusan said. “We do not have authority to test those dairy farms without suspected or confirmed illness reported to us.”There is reluctance among some dairy farmers to voluntarily test their cattle for fear of what might happen if those tests reveal their herds are infected, said Dr. Barb Petersen, a Texas veterinarian&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2024/04/17/two-veterinarians-hundreds-of-miles-apart-solved-a-cow-sickness-whodunit/">who helped discover</a>&nbsp;that bird flu was infecting cattle.They might be afraid that they’ll be barred from selling their cattle for an unknown amount of time or that animal movements to and from their farms will be otherwise restricted.Petersen suspects that nearly all the dairies in her area near Amarillo were infected but that many were not tested.Infected cows typically recover in 10 to 14 days. Infected herds suffer a drop in milk production that can last about a month.The virus is much more severe for chicken and turkey flocks, where it often causes fatal illness. Entire flocks are destroyed to prevent the spread of the virus.More testing and better biosecurity measures are important to help prevent the virus from spreading from infected cattle to the poultry flocks, said Phillip Jardon, the dairy extension veterinarian for Iowa State University.He is aware of several dairy farms that installed noise-making systems to keep away wild birds, which are believed to be an initial source of the infections. It’s unclear how many other state-recommended precautions are being adopted.“The risk to dairies is not as large as it is to poultry, but dairies should keep in mind that they have neighbors who are poultry producers where it can be devastating, and they don’t want to have a local source of the virus,” he said.Vilsack said USDA needs to better educate dairy farmers about the risks to their neighboring farmers to get more voluntary help in tracking and containing the virus.It spread from Texas to faraway states through the transportation of infected cattle, but it has likely spread locally via farmworkers, veterinarians and equipment moving farm to farm, Vilsack said.<h2>PPE for farmworkers</h2>Plescia from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials said during an interview with States Newsroom that while the risk to the public remains low, health officials are paying close attention to agricultural workers.Ensuring farmworkers have access to personal protective equipment is essential, though it could be challenging to get all workers to use it during the hotter summer months, Plescia said.The most recent case in a farmworker in Michigan, announced May 30, is more concerning to experts. “We’re much, much more worried about respiratory infections because it’s respiratory infections, where in the past with earlier versions of H5N1, we’ve seen that those infections can be very, very severe and the mortality can be very high,” Plescia said.Public health officials need to work with farm owners and farmworkers to make sure that even people with mild symptoms get tested for avian flu to ensure that it isn’t circulating more widely than the documented cases, he said.They need to ensure that undocumented workers or those on agricultural work visas who are concerned about interaction with the government are comfortable enough to get tested.“When the state government starts showing up to do testing as far as they’re concerned, people are fearful of that and so they’ll stop coming to work,” Plescia said.Plescia also cautioned that people shouldn’t drink raw milk for the foreseeable future.Dr. Nirav Shah, principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in an interview with States Newsroom the agency is focusing its attention on farmworker safety through personal protective equipment, testing and additional resources.The CDC is also working to build trust so that workers who might be in the U.S. on visas or who are undocumented feel comfortable getting tested for H5N1 or reporting an illness to public health officials.“When H5 became a phenomenon in poultry farms, it took some time for poultry farm owners and poultry farmworkers to gain trust with the public health system,” Shah said. “The same thing, the same dynamic, is at play here.”Shah, speaking during a separate press briefing on H5N1, said that even with the new respiratory case, there have been no signs, either genetically or epidemiologically, that this strain of avian influenza is adapting in a way that would lead to greater transmission.“We are on the lookout for those changes, but the mere fact that this individual displayed some respiratory symptoms — again, we should be alert — but, in and of itself, is not a cause to change or suggest that we’re at an inflection point,” Shah said. “It is a cause and a reason to remain alert.”Amira Roess, professor of global health and epidemiology at George Mason University, said in a written statement that public health officials must “provide incentives for individuals to report illness and to get tested, or at least we have to remove barriers.”“Because we don’t have meaningful, high quality and accessible health care for the majority of our population, particularly those in rural areas where the virus has first spilled over, it will be challenging to get ahead of this,” Roess wrote in response to questions from States Newsroom about H5N1. “Many farmworkers are hourly workers and cannot afford to take time off for what they perceive as mild illness.”<h2>Keep pets away from wild birds</h2>Meghan Davis, associate professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said in an interview with States Newsroom this particular strain of avian flu has been spreading between mammals, including domestic pets, and will likely continue to do so.“The fact that this particular clade has been able to infect so many different mammalian species, and has now caused at least two documented cases in people — although, thankfully, with relatively mild symptoms — is a concern,” she said, before the third case was announced.Davis cautioned that because there have been cases among cats living on dairy farms that drank raw cow’s milk, people shouldn’t give raw milk to their pets.Pet owners should also be cautious about letting their animals interact with wild birds, which are known to spread the virus.Milk purchased in grocery stores is safe to drink since it’s been pasteurized and has been&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/fda-chief-says-feds-are-preparing-low-probability-bird-flu-moving-humans">repeatedly tested</a>&nbsp;by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration during the past few months to ensure there’s no active virus in the country’s food supply.Other mammals diagnosed with avian flu this year include a mountain lion in Montana, red foxes in Michigan and Missouri, and a raccoon in Colorado. Domestic cats have been diagnosed in Michigan, Montana, New Mexico, Ohio, South Dakota and Texas, according to&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-detections/mammals">data</a>&nbsp;from the CDC.Davis said the surveillance system for H5N1 should be broadened to include “more systematic testing, which would require us to have somewhat better access to workers, to animals on farms, etc.” as well as antibody testing to determine if more people have contracted avian flu and recovered.The additional information could help if the virus were to shift in the coming months or years.“We don’t know exactly what this virus is going to do,” Davis said, noting the mild nature of the virus detected so far could mean that more people have contracted it and simply didn’t realize it.Davis explained that public health officials and researchers need to closely monitor viruses like H5N1 since they can change in a way similar to how the flu changes, leading to the need for a different flu shot each year.Roess, the epidemiology professor from George Mason University, noted that an uptick in human cases of avian influenza, could “be an indication of other types of transmission than what is currently believed.”“Right now, the cases reported are a result of direct contact with infected food animals,” Roess said. “It is critical to ramp up surveillance of people working closely with possibly infected animals, other animals in the vicinity and other people who are not directly in contact with possibly infected animals in the community.”

Bird flu’s spread from poultry to cattle to humans provokes worry among feds, states

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/author/ashley-murray/">ASHLEY MURRAY</a>

WASHINGTON — Taxpayers across the United States could be guaranteed a free public option to file federal tax returns online as the Internal Revenue Service announced plans Thursday to make its Direct File program permanent.

The pilot program&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/irs-testing-free-method-directly-file-taxes-not-everyone-thrilled">offered</a>&nbsp;in 12 states from March to April drew roughly 140,000 accepted returns this filing season and saved participants $5.6 million in tax preparation costs and helped filers receive $90 million in refunds, according to the IRS.

The states involved in this year’s pilot included Arizona, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.

The agency is now inviting all 50 states to participate and will accommodate however many sign on, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel told reporters on a call Thursday morning.

“We heard directly from hundreds of organizations across the country, more than 100 members of Congress, individual direct file users and those that are interested in using direct file. The clear message is that many taxpayers across the nation want the IRS to provide options for filing electronically at no cost,” Werfel said.

Yellen touted results of a user&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p5969.pdf">survey</a>&nbsp;that showed 90% of participants rate their experience as excellent or above average.

“They appreciated that it allowed them to quickly fix mistakes and there were no fees or upsells. The success of the Direct File pilot means there’s now strong demand for direct file from taxpayers across the country,” Yellen said.

The average American spends $270 and 13 hours filing their taxes, according to the agency’s Taxpayer Burden Survey.

The left-leaning Economic Security Project, which advocates for tax credits for low-income and middle class households, praised the IRS decision to make permanent the program that “delivered on the promise of free and simplified tax filing for taxpayers.”

“It was evident that taxpayers saw the value of Direct File, both in making their lives easier and demonstrating what great government customer service looks like,” Adam Ruben, the organization’s vice president of campaigns and political strategy, said in a statement Thursday.

“We are already working with our partners in states across the nation to support the expansion of Direct File next year so more taxpayers can take advantage of free and simplified tax filing in the next tax season,” he said.

Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top tax writer of the upper chamber, praised the IRS announcement in a statement Thursday as “tremendous news for taxpayers all over the country who are tired of getting ripped off by the big tax prep companies that routinely upcharge for unnecessary services, oversell the quality of their products and offer crummy customer service.”

Werfel said the IRS cannot provide an estimated cost of expanding the program because the agency has yet to learn how many states will jump on board.

The cost to run the program this year totaled $31.8 million, breaking down to $24.6 million in IRS costs, and $7.2 million in U.S. Digital Service costs to create the online platform, Werfel said.

Among the tens of billions of dollars Congress authorized for the IRS in its 2022 budget reconciliation law, otherwise known as the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/5376/text">Inflation Reduction Act</a>, $15 million was earmarked for exploring a way for the public to electronically file federal returns for free directly to the government, rather than through a third party.

This year’s pilot program was only available to taxpayers with basic tax situations, including W-2 income or simple credits and deductions, like the child tax credit or student loan interest.

“Our goal is to gradually expand the scope of Direct File to support most common tax situations, focusing in particular on tax situations that impact working families,” Werfel said.

When asked on the call whether the success of the program depends on who is in the Oval Office next year, Werfel responded, “I truly believe that the vision that the IRS has for the future tax administration is a nonpartisan one.”

The free public program was met with fierce opposition from congressional Republicans and GOP state officials who&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://waysandmeans.house.gov/event/hearing-with-commissioner-of-the-internal-revenue-service-daniel-werfel/">criticized</a>&nbsp;it as redundant, “<a target="_blank" href="https://dojmt.gov/wp-content/uploads/IRS-Direct-File-Letter-Final.pdf">unconstitutional</a>” and a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://myfloridacfo.com/docs-sf/cfo-news-libraries/news-documents/2024/irs-direct-file-letter.pdf">threat</a>&nbsp;to state tax revenue.

Many cited the already established IRS Free File program, a regularly evolving partnership between the federal agency and private tax prep software companies that provide a free federal return filing option.

That 22-year-old program has been riddled with issues, including low participation and “confusion and complexity” that led millions of eligible taxpayers to actually pay the commercial partners who were supposed to offer the free service, according to a 2019 Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/6768599/TIGTA-Free-File-audit.pdf">report</a>.

A 2019 ProPublica investigation&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-fight-to-stop-americans-from-filing-their-taxes-for-free">revealed</a>&nbsp;deliberate tactics by Free File participant Intuit, maker of TurboTax, to cloud access to the free option.

Nearly two dozen state auditors, comptrollers and treasurers from 18 states urged the IRS to “shut down” the new Direct File pilot program because users could be confused about having to file a state return separately, therefore resulting in a loss in state revenue.

This argument is based on the fact that many commercial tax prep software companies and private tax preparers automatically prompt taxpayers to complete their state returns after filing the federal one.

The state officials who signed on to the March 25&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://myfloridacfo.com/docs-sf/cfo-news-libraries/news-documents/2024/irs-direct-file-letter.pdf">letter</a>&nbsp;to the IRS hailed from Alaska, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Two of the Direct File pilot program states — Arizona and New York — worked with the nonprofit Code for America to&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/yellen-touts-success-irs-direct-free-file-pilot-program-which-includes-sd">integrate</a>&nbsp;a free state tax return filing option in concert with Direct File. The nonprofit reported that of the state returns filed through its tool, 98% were accepted.

Several state governments already offer free public electronic filing for state income tax returns that users must access separately through dedicated state websites, including&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.revenue.alabama.gov/individual-corporate/individual-income-tax-electronic-filing-options/">Alabama</a>,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.ksrevenue.gov/iiwebfile.html">Kansas</a>,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://revenue.ky.gov/Individual/Pages/Free-Electronic-Filing.aspx">Kentucky</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.revenue.pa.gov/OnlineServices/mypath/Individuals/Pages/PIT.aspx">Pennsylvania</a>, which offer the service regardless of income level. Some states, like&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.ftb.ca.gov/file/ways-to-file/online/calfile/calfile-qualifications.html">California</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://tax.iowa.gov/individual-income-tax-electronic-filing-options">Iowa</a>, have income thresholds for free filing.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/1/1704465937849.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/author/ashley-murray/">ASHLEY MURRAY</a>WASHINGTON — Taxpayers across the United States could be guaranteed a free public option to file federal tax returns online as the Internal Revenue Service announced plans Thursday to make its Direct File program permanent.The pilot program&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/irs-testing-free-method-directly-file-taxes-not-everyone-thrilled">offered</a>&nbsp;in 12 states from March to April drew roughly 140,000 accepted returns this filing season and saved participants $5.6 million in tax preparation costs and helped filers receive $90 million in refunds, according to the IRS.The states involved in this year’s pilot included Arizona, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.The agency is now inviting all 50 states to participate and will accommodate however many sign on, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel told reporters on a call Thursday morning.“We heard directly from hundreds of organizations across the country, more than 100 members of Congress, individual direct file users and those that are interested in using direct file. The clear message is that many taxpayers across the nation want the IRS to provide options for filing electronically at no cost,” Werfel said.Yellen touted results of a user&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p5969.pdf">survey</a>&nbsp;that showed 90% of participants rate their experience as excellent or above average.“They appreciated that it allowed them to quickly fix mistakes and there were no fees or upsells. The success of the Direct File pilot means there’s now strong demand for direct file from taxpayers across the country,” Yellen said.The average American spends $270 and 13 hours filing their taxes, according to the agency’s Taxpayer Burden Survey.<h2>The program ‘delivered’</h2>The left-leaning Economic Security Project, which advocates for tax credits for low-income and middle class households, praised the IRS decision to make permanent the program that “delivered on the promise of free and simplified tax filing for taxpayers.”“It was evident that taxpayers saw the value of Direct File, both in making their lives easier and demonstrating what great government customer service looks like,” Adam Ruben, the organization’s vice president of campaigns and political strategy, said in a statement Thursday.“We are already working with our partners in states across the nation to support the expansion of Direct File next year so more taxpayers can take advantage of free and simplified tax filing in the next tax season,” he said.Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top tax writer of the upper chamber, praised the IRS announcement in a statement Thursday as “tremendous news for taxpayers all over the country who are tired of getting ripped off by the big tax prep companies that routinely upcharge for unnecessary services, oversell the quality of their products and offer crummy customer service.”Werfel said the IRS cannot provide an estimated cost of expanding the program because the agency has yet to learn how many states will jump on board.The cost to run the program this year totaled $31.8 million, breaking down to $24.6 million in IRS costs, and $7.2 million in U.S. Digital Service costs to create the online platform, Werfel said.Among the tens of billions of dollars Congress authorized for the IRS in its 2022 budget reconciliation law, otherwise known as the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/5376/text">Inflation Reduction Act</a>, $15 million was earmarked for exploring a way for the public to electronically file federal returns for free directly to the government, rather than through a third party.This year’s pilot program was only available to taxpayers with basic tax situations, including W-2 income or simple credits and deductions, like the child tax credit or student loan interest.“Our goal is to gradually expand the scope of Direct File to support most common tax situations, focusing in particular on tax situations that impact working families,” Werfel said.When asked on the call whether the success of the program depends on who is in the Oval Office next year, Werfel responded, “I truly believe that the vision that the IRS has for the future tax administration is a nonpartisan one.”<h2>Opposition from GOP</h2>The free public program was met with fierce opposition from congressional Republicans and GOP state officials who&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://waysandmeans.house.gov/event/hearing-with-commissioner-of-the-internal-revenue-service-daniel-werfel/">criticized</a>&nbsp;it as redundant, “<a target="_blank" href="https://dojmt.gov/wp-content/uploads/IRS-Direct-File-Letter-Final.pdf">unconstitutional</a>” and a&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://myfloridacfo.com/docs-sf/cfo-news-libraries/news-documents/2024/irs-direct-file-letter.pdf">threat</a>&nbsp;to state tax revenue.Many cited the already established IRS Free File program, a regularly evolving partnership between the federal agency and private tax prep software companies that provide a free federal return filing option.That 22-year-old program has been riddled with issues, including low participation and “confusion and complexity” that led millions of eligible taxpayers to actually pay the commercial partners who were supposed to offer the free service, according to a 2019 Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/6768599/TIGTA-Free-File-audit.pdf">report</a>.A 2019 ProPublica investigation&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-turbotax-20-year-fight-to-stop-americans-from-filing-their-taxes-for-free">revealed</a>&nbsp;deliberate tactics by Free File participant Intuit, maker of TurboTax, to cloud access to the free option.Nearly two dozen state auditors, comptrollers and treasurers from 18 states urged the IRS to “shut down” the new Direct File pilot program because users could be confused about having to file a state return separately, therefore resulting in a loss in state revenue.This argument is based on the fact that many commercial tax prep software companies and private tax preparers automatically prompt taxpayers to complete their state returns after filing the federal one.The state officials who signed on to the March 25&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://myfloridacfo.com/docs-sf/cfo-news-libraries/news-documents/2024/irs-direct-file-letter.pdf">letter</a>&nbsp;to the IRS hailed from Alaska, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.Two of the Direct File pilot program states — Arizona and New York — worked with the nonprofit Code for America to&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/yellen-touts-success-irs-direct-free-file-pilot-program-which-includes-sd">integrate</a>&nbsp;a free state tax return filing option in concert with Direct File. The nonprofit reported that of the state returns filed through its tool, 98% were accepted.Several state governments already offer free public electronic filing for state income tax returns that users must access separately through dedicated state websites, including&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.revenue.alabama.gov/individual-corporate/individual-income-tax-electronic-filing-options/">Alabama</a>,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.ksrevenue.gov/iiwebfile.html">Kansas</a>,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://revenue.ky.gov/Individual/Pages/Free-Electronic-Filing.aspx">Kentucky</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.revenue.pa.gov/OnlineServices/mypath/Individuals/Pages/PIT.aspx">Pennsylvania</a>, which offer the service regardless of income level. Some states, like&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.ftb.ca.gov/file/ways-to-file/online/calfile/calfile-qualifications.html">California</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://tax.iowa.gov/individual-income-tax-electronic-filing-options">Iowa</a>, have income thresholds for free filing.

Free direct filing of federal taxes may be offered soon throughout the U.S.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – An Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, man has pleaded guilty to his role in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine after law enforcement officers seized more than $1 million worth of cocaine from a rental truck that was stopped on Interstate 70 in Lafayette County, Missouri, according to the United State's Attorney.

Luis Gerardo Nieto-Acosta, 37, a citizen of Mexico, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough on April 29, to one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, one count of possessing cocaine with the intent to distribute, and one count of possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.

Nieto-Acosta, the fourth and final defendant to plead guilty in this case, entered his plea on the day his trial was scheduled to begin. Co-defendants Wilmer Antony Mendoza-Perez, 25, a citizen of Honduras, and Miguel Angel Anguiano-Viera, 27, both of Oklahoma City, and Jose Eduardo Acosta-Bermejo, 29, a citizen of Mexico, of Bethany, Okla., also have pleaded guilty to their roles in the drug-trafficking conspiracy.

An officer with the Missouri State Highway Patrol stopped Mendoza-Perez on Jan. 24, 2023, as he was driving a Penske rental truck eastbound on Interstate 70 in Lafayette County. A Toyota Highlander, later determined to be occupied by Nieto-Acosta and Acosta-Bermejo, attempted to prevent the officer from getting behind the Penske truck to initiate a stop. When the Penske truck pulled over, the Toyota Highlander continued traveling eastbound on Interstate 70.

According to the rental agreement for the Penske truck, it was rented in Oklahoma City on Jan. 20, 2023, by a woman who was not present in the truck, and scheduled to be returned to Fullerton, California, on Jan. 26, 2023. Mendoza-Perez could not explain why he was driving the truck in Missouri.

The officer searched the rear cargo area of the truck and found two boxes that contained a total of 34 kilograms of cocaine. The average street price in the Kansas City metropolitan area for a kilogram of cocaine was approximately $30,000 at that time, which would make 34 kilograms of cocaine worth approximately $1,020,000.

Mendoza-Perez was arrested. The Toyota Highlander was found abandoned at the Pilot truck stop a few miles away. Investigators later searched the Highlander and found two Taurus 9mm semi-automatic handguns, with four magazines and 9mm ammunition.

Investigators reviewed surveillance video at the truck stop, which showed a third vehicle, a Honda Pilot occupied by Anguiano-Viera and a juvenile female, arrived at the truck stop and picked up Nieto-Acosta and Acosta-Bermejo. A short time later, this vehicle was located, and the occupants arrested when they stopped at a convenience store in Odessa, Mo.

Under federal statutes, Nieto-Acosta is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of life in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – An Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, man has pleaded guilty to his role in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine after law enforcement officers seized more than $1 million worth of cocaine from a rental truck that was stopped on Interstate 70 in Lafayette County, Missouri, according to the United State's Attorney.Luis Gerardo Nieto-Acosta, 37, a citizen of Mexico, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough on April 29, to one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, one count of possessing cocaine with the intent to distribute, and one count of possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.Nieto-Acosta, the fourth and final defendant to plead guilty in this case, entered his plea on the day his trial was scheduled to begin. Co-defendants Wilmer Antony Mendoza-Perez, 25, a citizen of Honduras, and Miguel Angel Anguiano-Viera, 27, both of Oklahoma City, and Jose Eduardo Acosta-Bermejo, 29, a citizen of Mexico, of Bethany, Okla., also have pleaded guilty to their roles in the drug-trafficking conspiracy.An officer with the Missouri State Highway Patrol stopped Mendoza-Perez on Jan. 24, 2023, as he was driving a Penske rental truck eastbound on Interstate 70 in Lafayette County. A Toyota Highlander, later determined to be occupied by Nieto-Acosta and Acosta-Bermejo, attempted to prevent the officer from getting behind the Penske truck to initiate a stop. When the Penske truck pulled over, the Toyota Highlander continued traveling eastbound on Interstate 70.According to the rental agreement for the Penske truck, it was rented in Oklahoma City on Jan. 20, 2023, by a woman who was not present in the truck, and scheduled to be returned to Fullerton, California, on Jan. 26, 2023. Mendoza-Perez could not explain why he was driving the truck in Missouri.The officer searched the rear cargo area of the truck and found two boxes that contained a total of 34 kilograms of cocaine. The average street price in the Kansas City metropolitan area for a kilogram of cocaine was approximately $30,000 at that time, which would make 34 kilograms of cocaine worth approximately $1,020,000.Mendoza-Perez was arrested. The Toyota Highlander was found abandoned at the Pilot truck stop a few miles away. Investigators later searched the Highlander and found two Taurus 9mm semi-automatic handguns, with four magazines and 9mm ammunition.Investigators reviewed surveillance video at the truck stop, which showed a third vehicle, a Honda Pilot occupied by Anguiano-Viera and a juvenile female, arrived at the truck stop and picked up Nieto-Acosta and Acosta-Bermejo. A short time later, this vehicle was located, and the occupants arrested when they stopped at a convenience store in Odessa, Mo.Under federal statutes, Nieto-Acosta is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of life in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

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