8 billion people: Four ways climate change and population growth combine to threaten public health, with global consequences

Maureen Lichtveld, Dean of the School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh -
The Conversation
NOV. 15,2022

Infectious diseases like COVID-19 top the list of health concerns.

© Marco Longari/AFP via Getty Images

There are questions that worry me profoundly as a population- and environmental-health scientist.

Will we have enough food for a growing global population? How will we take care of more people in the next pandemic? What will heat do to millions with hypertension? Will countries wage water wars because of increasing droughts?

These risks all have three things in common: health, climate change and a growing population that the United Nations forecast would pass 8 billion people on Nov. 15, 2022 – double the population of just 48 years ago.

In my 40-year career, first working in the Amazon rainforest and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and then in academia, I have encountered many public health threats, but none so intransigent and pervasive as climate change.

Of the multitude of climate-related adverse health effects, the following four represent the greatest public health concerns for a growing population.

Infectious diseases

Researchers have found that over half of all human infectious diseases can be worsened by climate change.

Flooding, for example, can affect water quality and the habitats where dangerous bacteria and vectors like mosquitoes can breed and transmit infectious diseases to people.

Dengue, a painful mosquito-borne viral disease that sickens about 100 million people a year, becomes more common in warm, wet environments. Its R0, or basic reproduction number – a gauge of how quickly it spreads – increased by about 12% from the 1950s to the average in 2012-2021, according to the 2022 Lancet Countdown report. Malaria’s season expanded by 31% in highland areas of Latin America and nearly 14% in Africa’s highlands as temperatures rose over the same period.



Patients rest in a makeshift dengue ward at a hospital during a severe outbreak in Pakistan in 2021.© Arif Ali/AFP via Getty Images

Flooding can also spread waterborne organisms that cause hepatitis and diarrheal diseases, such as cholera, particularly when large numbers of people are displaced by disasters and living in areas with poor water quality for drinking or washing.

Droughts, too, can degrade drinking water quality. As a result, more rodent populations enter into human communities in search of food, increasing the potential to spread hantavirus.

Extreme heat

Another serious health risk is rising temperatures.

Excessive heat can exacerbate existing health problems, such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. And when heat stress becomes heat stroke, it can damage the heart, brain and kidneys and become lethal.

Today, about 30% of the global population is exposed to potentially deadly heat stress each year. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that percentage will rise to at least 48% and as high as 76% by the end of this century.



Where climate change affects human health.© Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Related video: World population growth will reduce due to climate change by 2060, top health expert says   Duration 3:09  View on Watch

In addition to lives lost, heat exposure was projected to have resulted in 470 billion potential work hours lost globally in 2021, with associated income losses totaling up to US9 billion. As populations grow and heat rises, more people will be relying on air conditioning powered by fossil fuels, which further contributes to climate change.

Food and water security

Heat also affects food and water security for a growing population.

The Lancet review found that high temperatures in 2021 shortened the growing season by about 9.3 days on average for corn, or maize, and six days for wheat compared with the 1981-2020 average. Warming oceans, meanwhile, can kill shellfish and shift fisheries that coastal communities rely on. Heat waves in 2020 alone resulted in 98 million more people facing food insecurity compared with the 1981-2010 average.



A farmer in Zimbabwe switched to sorghum, a grain crop that can thrive in dry conditions, as drought withered other crops in 2019.© Jekesai Njikizana/AFP via Getty Images

Rising temperatures also affect fresh water supplies through evaporation and by shrinking mountain glaciers and snowpack that historically have kept water flowing through the summer months.

Water scarcity and drought have the potential to displace almost 700 million people by 2030, according to U.N. estimates. Combined with population growth and growing energy needs, they can also fuel geopolitical conflicts as countries face food shortages and compete for water.

Poor air quality

Air pollution can be exacerbated by the drivers of climate change. Hot weather and the same fossil fuel gases warming the planet contribute to ground-level ozone, a key component of smog. That can exacerbate allergies, asthma and other respiratory problems, as well as cardiovascular disease.

Wildfires fueled by hot, dry landscapes add to the air pollution health risk. Wildfire smoke is laden with tiny particles that can travel deep into the lungs, causing heart and respiratory problems.


Smog in New Delhi, India, is an ongoing problem. It got so bad in 2017 that the city temporarily closed its primary schools.

© Sajjad Hussain/AFP via Getty Images

What can we do about it?

Many groups and medical experts are working to counter this cascade of negative climate consequences on human health.

The U.S. National Academy of Medicine has embarked on an ambitious grand challenge in climate change, human health, and equity to ramp up research. At many academic institutions, including the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Public Health, where I am dean, climate and health are being embedded in research, teaching and service.

Addressing the health burden on low- and middle-income countries is pivotal. Often, the most vulnerable people in these countries face the greatest harms from climate change without having the resources to protect their health and environment. Population growth can deepen these iniquities.

Adaptation assessments can help high-risk countries prepare for the effects of climate change. Development groups are also leading projects to expand the cultivation of crops that can thrive in dry conditions. The Pan American Health Organization, which focuses on the Caribbean, is an example of how countries are working to reduce communicable diseases and advance regional capacity to counter the impact of climate change.

Ultimately, reducing the health risks will require reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that are driving climate change.

Countries worldwide committed in 1992 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Thirty years later, global emissions are only beginning to flatten, and communities around the world are increasingly suffering extreme heat waves and devastating floods and droughts.

The U.N. climate change talks, which in my view aren’t focusing enough on health, can help bring attention to key climate impacts that harm health. As U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres noted: While we celebrate our advances, “at the same time, it is a reminder of our shared responsibility to care for our planet and a moment to reflect on where we still fall short of our commitments to one another.”

Samantha Totoni, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, contributed to this article.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.

Read more:
Loss and damage: Who is responsible when climate change harms the world’s poorest countries?

58% of human infectious diseases can be worsened by climate change – we scoured 77,000 studies to map the pathways

The ‘tripledemic’ of RSV, COVID and flu is causing school closures across the U.S.: ‘It's going to be a tough winter’


Korin Miller
Mon, November 14, 2022 

 (Photo: Getty Images)

Public health experts continue to warn about a trifecta of illnesses that are swirling in many parts of the country. Respiratory syncitial viruses (RSV) and flu cases are surging, causing a strain on children's hospital capacities around the U.S., while COVID-19 simmers in the background.

This so-called "tripledemic" is impacting schools as well. Reports are trickling in from around the country of schools needing to close, owing to outbreaks of illness. In Kentucky, the Williamstown Independent School District held a "Non-Traditional Instruction Day" on Nov. 4, "due to student and staff illness," district officials announced on Facebook.

The McNairy County school district in Tennessee was closed on the same day, "due to an increase in illness of student, faculty and staff," according to a Facebook post from the district. One person noted in the comments that "over half of the junior high cheer team is sick." Fellow Tennessee school district Polk County Schools closed on Monday "due to illness," officials simply announced in a Facebook statement.

These closures have been happening for weeks. North Carolina's Shining Rock Academy closed on Oct. 28 "due to an overwhelming amount of flu cases impacting student and staff attendance," officials said on Facebook. "By 1pm today, nearly 24% of the school was absent, primarily due to diagnosed cases of the flu, or flu-like symptoms," the post read, noting that "the day will be utilized to conduct a deep cleaning" of the campus.

Infectious disease experts say to expect more of the same as we head into winter. "We're in for a little bit of a rough winter in terms of respiratory viruses," Dr. Thomas Russo, professor and chief of infectious disease at the University at Buffalo in New York, tells Yahoo Life. "RSV has struck with a vengeance — ERs and hospitals are already at capacity in much of the country, and this will continue for a bit."

Flu season also picked up early, Russo says. "We're already seeing hospitalizations for flu on top of RSV, and, of course, we have COVID on top of this," he says.

Dr. Ian Michelow, division head of pediatric infectious diseases and immunology at Connecticut Children's Medical Center, agrees. "RSV is the worst we've seen in a long time. We're already strained under the burden of RSV," he tells Yahoo Life. "We're now seeing a large number of children with influenza. Literally overnight, it was an explosion of influenza."

RSV in particular is bad this year because most children typically get the virus before the age of 2, Russo explains. But, with COVID-19 prevention measures over the past few years, many children weren't exposed to the virus. Now, "there are now a greater number of children susceptible to RSV, and they're interacting with each other at school — and off we go," he says.

Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, tells Yahoo Life that RSV season also "began earlier than its traditional start," noting that it's not clear when it will peak.

Experts say there are a lot of unknowns going into winter. "The question is, will these viruses come and then go, or are they going to persist together over much of the winter season?" Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist and professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, tells Yahoo Life. "That's something we just don't know yet."

Michelow says he's also concerned that a new COVID variant will rise up that will cause more severe illness. "That would be another problem — but so far, that hasn't happened," he says. However, that can quickly change, as new variants, such as BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, grow rapidly.

To protect yourself and your family, doctors stress the importance of getting vaccinated against the flu and making sure you're up to date on your COVID-19 vaccinations. (There isn't a vaccine for RSV, although several are currently in the works.) Schaffner also stresses the importance of good hand hygiene, which can help prevent the spread of RSV in particular. Wearing masks in crowded indoor spaces, when cases of respiratory viruses are high in your area, also "makes sense," Michelow says.

In general, "All the COVID-19 prevention measures will get it done to prevent these respiratory viruses," Russo says. And, he says, if someone in your household is sick, try to isolate them as best as possible to keep the rest of your household healthy.

Experts agree this winter could get intense. "It's going to be a tough winter," Russo says. Schaffner adds: "We hope this respiratory season will be brief — but we can't count on it."

Pediatric health groups call for national emergency to fight respiratory illnesses

Nathaniel Weixel
Tue, November 15, 2022 

Pediatric health provider groups are calling on the Biden administration to declare a national emergency to help them combat the surge of hospitalizations due to respiratory illnesses in children.

Seasonal flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and other respiratory viruses are hitting young children especially hard this year. The resulting hospitalizations are putting an immense strain on a pediatric health system that is still reeling from COVID-19.

Hospitals are at capacity, beds are scarce and staffing shortages are pushing the workforce to the breaking point.

In a letter sent to President Biden and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, the Children’s Hospital Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics said a dual declaration of a national emergency along with a public health emergency is needed.

“We need emergency funding support and flexibilities along the same lines of what was provided to respond to COVID surges,” the organizations wrote.

Capacity constraints at children’s hospitals and pediatric offices are resulting in more children being cared for in community and adult hospitals, which may have limited or no capacity to care for children.

“The confluence of these capacity issues in pediatric hospitals and communities requires nimbleness and flexibilities that can only be provided through a Presidential declaration of an emergency under the Stafford Act or National Emergencies Act and a Public Health Emergency declaration,” the letter stated.

According to the groups, the dual emergency declarations would allow the waiver of certain Medicare, Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program requirements so that hospitals, physicians and other health care providers can have access to emergency funding to keep up with the growing demands, specifically related to workforce support.

Most RSV cases and other respiratory illnesses don’t require hospitalizations. But when so many children are stricken with viruses at the same time, the surge can quickly overwhelm hospitals.

YOU WOULD HOPE SO

Experts: Dallas air show crash may lead to more safety rules

Texas air show victims named; New footage released

JUAN A. LOZANO, JIM SALTER and SEAN MURPHY
Mon, November 14, 2022 

While the cause of a deadly collision between two vintage military aircraft at a Dallas air show to commemorate Veterans Day remains unknown, experts said Monday that the accident will likely renew discussion over whether additional safety rules are needed for such events.

Safety recommendations made following aircraft accidents at similar events have focused on protecting spectators, pilot medical fitness and aircraft maintenance.

“The (Federal Aviation Administration) has tightened airshow requirements. This will certainly raise the debate again,” said Steven Wallace, former director of the FAA's office of accident investigations.

On Monday, officials identified the six men killed Saturday when a World War II-era bomber and a fighter plane collided and crashed in a ball of flames at the Commemorative Air Force Wings Over Dallas show. All six were experienced aviators with years of flight training, including as current and retired airline pilots and retired military pilots.

The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation into why the aircraft were flying at the same altitude and in the same air space, NTSB member Michael Graham said.

The Commemorative Air Force, which put on the show, identified the victims as: Terry Barker, Craig Hutain, Kevin “K5” Michels, Dan Ragan, Leonard “Len” Root, and Curt Rowe.

All of the men were volunteers, but each had gone through a strict process of logging hours and training flights and were vetted carefully, Hank Coates, the CEO of Commemorative Air Force said at a weekend news conference.

Officials have not publicly identified which of them were piloting the aircrafts.

Hutain, of Montgomery, Texas, had been a commercial airline pilot since 1985. He started flying at the age of 10 and had logged more than 34,500 flight hours, according to his LinkedIn page.

In a recent interview with Vintage Aviation News posted on YouTube, Hutain described aviation as a “lifelong obsession" passed down from his father, a bomber pilot in World War II.

Barker was a retired pilot who had worked for American Airlines and lived in Keller, Texas. He was an Army veteran who flew helicopters during his military service.

Rowe, a member of the Ohio Wing Civil Air Patrol, was a crew chief on the B-17, his brother-in-law Andy Keller told The Associated Press on Sunday. Rowe, of Hilliard, Ohio, participated in air shows several times a year because he loved WWII aircraft, Keller said.

Root, also from Keller, was a pilot and manager for the Gulf Coast Wing of the Commemorative Air Force who worked as a contract commercial pilot, according to his LinkedIn page.

There were no reports of injuries on the ground and that can probably be attributed to a “very careful evaluation over the decades” by the NTSB and FAA to protect spectators, said former NTSB investigator and safety author Alan Diehl.

Jeff Guzzetti, a pilot who spent more than 30 years investigating aircraft accidents for the NTSB and FAA, said while much of the regulatory focus over the decades has been on protecting spectators, other recommendations have led to incremental, cumulative safety improvements in emergency response, pilot medical fitness and aircraft maintenance at air shows.

John Cudahy, president of the International Council of Air Shows, a trade group that sets air show standards, said his group and others don’t typically get many recommendations from the FAA or the NTSB following such accidents because they don’t tend to result from systemic or procedural problems, or gross negligence.

“When they do make a recommendation, we listen very attentively. We are very collaborative,” Cudahy said.

Guzzetti said he doesn’t believe there has been “any systemic degradation of safety with these air shows.”

While the ages of those who died Saturday was not immediately known, James E. Hall, who was NTSB chairman from 1994 to 2001, said the age of the pilots is an issue that must be reviewed.

The planes need more scrutiny, too, “because like the crews in these situations, the aircraft are much older.”

Graham said investigators are analyzing radar and video footage to pinpoint the exact location of the collision. Debris will be carefully examined, along with audio recordings from the air traffic control tower, pilot training records and aircraft maintenance records, he said.

Neither aircraft was equipped with a flight-data recorder or a cockpit voice recorder, separate devices referred to collectively as the black boxes, and neither were required to have those devices, Graham said.

Although rain was hampering the collection of pieces of the B-17 bomber, Graham said Monday an electronic flight display from the B-17 and a GPS navigational unit from the fighter, both damaged, will be sent to an NTSB laboratory to see if data can be recovered.

He said it’s also possible the NTSB could recommend vintage aircraft install flight data recorders.

The crash came three years after the crash of a bomber in Connecticut that killed seven, and amid ongoing concern about the safety of air shows involving older warplanes. The company that owned the planes at the Dallas show has had other crashes in its more than 60-year history.

A preliminary report from the NTSB is expected in four to six weeks, and a final report will take up to 18 months to complete.

The B-17, a cornerstone of U.S. air power during World War II, is an immense four-engine bomber that was used in daylight raids against Germany. The Kingcobra, a U.S. fighter plane, was used mostly by Soviet forces during the war. Most B-17s were scrapped at the end of World War II and only a handful remain today, largely featured at museums and air shows, according to Boeing.

Some recent fatal crashes involving vintage aircraft


Debris from two planes that crashed during an airshow at Dallas Executive Airport are shown in Dallas on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022

(AP Photo/LM Otero) 

The Associated Press
Mon, November 14, 2022

The collision between two World War II-era military planes at a Dallas air show on Saturday was the latest in a long list of crashes involving vintage planes used or designed for military purposes. Some recent fatal crashes in the U.S. and abroad:

— Nov. 12, 2022: A P-63 Kingcobra fighter plane collided with a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber at a Dallas air show, killing all six people aboard the two vintage aircraft.

— Oct. 2, 2019: A four-engine, propeller-driven B-17G Flying Fortress bomber with 13 people aboard crashed at Bradley International Airport, north of Hartford, Connecticut, during a traveling vintage aircraft show. Seven people were killed and six were hurt. The National Transportation Safety Board found that pilot error was the probable cause, with inadequate maintenance a contributing factor.

— Nov. 17, 2018: A privately owned vintage World War II Mustang fighter airport plane crashed into the parking lot of an apartment complex in Fredericksburg, Texas, killing the pilot and a passenger. The P-51D Mustang was returning after performing a flyover during a living history show at the national Museum of the Pacific War. The aircraft was destroyed, and several vehicles in the parking lot were damaged.

— Aug. 4, 2018: A 79-year-old Junkers Ju-52 plane operated by the Swiss company Ju-Air plunged into the Piz Segnas mountain near the Flims ski resort in eastern Switzerland, killing all 20 on board. Retired from Switzerland’s air force in 1981, the German-built plane was carrying tourists who wanted to take “adventure flights” to experience the country’s landscape in vintage planes. Swiss investigators said that “high-risk flying” by the pilots led to the crash.

— May 30, 2018: A small vintage airplane that was part of a GEICO stunt team with five other planes crashed in a wooded residential area in Melville, New York, killing the pilot. The World War II-era SNJ-2 aircraft, known as a North American T-6 Texan, had departed from a nearby airport and was heading to Maryland when it crashed.

— July 16, 2017: A pilot and an airport manager were killed in Cummings, Kansas, after their World War II-era P-51D Mustang “Baby Duck” crashed into a field. Authorities say the pilot was re-creating a stunt he had performed on the prior day at the Amelia Earhart Festival.

— Jan. 26, 2017: A World War II-era Grumman G-73 Mallard flying boat stalled and nosedived into the Swan River in Perth, Australia, during Australia Day celebrations. Both the pilot and his passenger died.

— Aug. 27, 2016 — A pilot from Alaska was killed when his 450 Stearman biplane, a World War II-era plane often used for military training, crashed during the Airshow of the Cascades in Madras, Oregon.

— July 17, 2016 — A T-28 Trojan, used by the U.S. military as a training aircraft beginning in the 1950s and also as a counterinsurgency aircraft during the Vietnam War, crashed at the Cold Lake Air Show in Alberta, killing the pilot. Thousands of spectators witnessed the accident.

— Aug. 22, 2015 — A 1950s-era Hawker Hunter T7 jet crashed into a busy highway near West Sussex, England, killing 11 and injuring more than a dozen others. Investigators said the pilot, who survived, was flying too low and slowly to successfully complete a loop-the-loop. He was charged with 11 counts of manslaughter but ultimately was cleared.

— June 22, 2013 — A pilot and a wing-walker were killed when their World War II-era Boeing-Stearman IB75A biplane crashed into the ground and burst into flames during a performance at the Vectren Dayton Air Show in Vandalia, Ohio. Thousands of spectators saw the crash, which federal safety investigators said was likely caused by pilot error.

— Sept. 16, 2011 — The pilot of a 70-year-old modified P-51D Mustang called the Galloping Ghost lost control of the aircraft at the National Championship Air Races and Air Show in Reno, Nevada, and crashed into spectators, killing 10 and injuring more than 60. The pilot also died. Federal investigators blamed the crash on worn parts and speed.

U$A

Doctors explain why pending 'ominous' cuts to Medicare would limit healthcare for seniors in the new year

Jason Lalljee
Tue, November 15, 2022 

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren was one of 46 signatories on a bipartisan letter calling for leadership to price hikes for Medicare recipients next year.

Win McNamee/Getty Images

Reimbursements for doctors who see Medicare patients are set to be cut by up to 8.5% starting next year.

Doctors warn cuts will prevent seniors from getting vital health services.

A bipartisan group of congresspeople wrote a letter to congressional leadership asking them to intervene.

New changes are set to come to Medicare next year. They will likely make expenses tighter for doctors, and put vital healthcare out of reach for some older patients.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a federal agency within the Department of Health and Human Services, announced several policy changes in early November that will come into effect at the beginning of next year.

Among them are Medicare cuts to doctors through the Physician Fee Schedule, which is used to determine which services doctors are reimbursed for, and how much they get. Medicare reimbursement will decrease by about 4.5%, and surgical care will face a nearly 8.5% cut.

"It's affecting how doctors can run their businesses," Christian Shalgain, Director of Advocacy and Health Policy at the American College of Surgeons, told Insider. "I've talked to doctors who are saying, 'I have to decide whether to hire a new person or buy a new piece of equipment.' That's a significant problem from a patient's perspective."

If healthcare providers get less money through Medicare, they won't be able to hire as many nurses, doctors, and other staff, as well as fund necessary equipment for services. It affects the quality of care patients are able to get, and can even impact how many Medicare patients a healthcare provider can take on, Shalgain said.

In years past, Congress has been able to postpone these preplanned cuts until the next year, varyingly achieving full scraps of the plan, or reduced cuts. Doctors' groups lobby annually for Congress to intervene, because they say that it stretches their budgets thin, which is especially a problem given that hospitals are already strained from COVID and healthcare costs are skyrocketing.

Democrats will likely lose control of the House during this year's midterms even as the remaining races remain too close to call. However, they did retain control of the Senate, in a surprising rebuke of the GOP platform. Republicans have signaled an inclination to push for Medicare cuts in general, and having less power than expected for the rest of President Biden's term suggests that preventing the announced cuts this year is more likely.

"The Medicare payment schedule released today puts Congress on notice that a nearly 4.5 percent across-the-board reduction in payment rates is an ominous reality unless lawmakers act before Jan. 1," Jack Resneck Jr., President of the American Medical Association, said in a statement. "The rate cuts would create immediate financial instability in the Medicare physician payment system and threaten patient access to Medicare-participating physicians."

As the amount that Medicare will pay for a certain service decreases, payments to providers across the board go down. That's because private insurance companies use Medicare as a frame of reference, Shalgain said, offering to pay "100%, or 110% of Medicare" for a given service. If the payment for Medicare goes down, then, so does cash from private providers.

"And as that Medicare number goes down, you can't see as many Medicare patients," he said.

A bipartisan effort to pay doctors more

Although Republicans are staunchly opposed to increasing Medicare funding in general, as evidenced by the Republican Study Committee's 2023 fiscal budget, paying doctors more tends to be where Congress can see some bipartisan compromise.

That's what Cote is hoping to see come out of a letter released by 46 senators, including Democrats like Elizabeth Warren and Republicans like Rand Paul, asking congressional leadership to address the impending fee schedule cuts before the end of the year.

"It is essential in the coming weeks that we make sure providers have the resources they need to keep their doors open for seniors and families," the senators wrote in the letter, sent the day after the cuts were announced. "Going forward, we support bipartisan, long-term payment reforms to Medicare in a fiscally responsible manner."

Republicans and Democrats are often at odds when it comes to entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security, with the GOP looking to slash government spending on for both. A bipartisan effort to prevent cuts is at odds with Republicans' current long-term plan for the program, Mary Johnson, a Social Security and Medicare policy analyst at the Senior Citizens' League, told Insider. The Republican budget will dramatically cut spending on Medicare for new beneficiaries by more than $2,200 per person per year starting in 2030, for instance, and by $8,000 in 2050, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

"We don't know what they're going to do this year," Shalgain said. "If the cut goes into effect, we're going to be on the steps of Congress on January 2nd, asking them to reverse it retroactively."

MacKenzie Scott donations avoided feared pitfalls: New study


El Pasoans Fighting Hunger volunteers distribute food at a center in El Paso, Texas. The nonprofit received $9 million from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott in December 2020, shoring up the food bank’s financial health after soaring food-assistance needs forced the charity to expand faster than it could handle. 

(Lonnie Valencia/El Pasoans Fighting Hunger via AP) 

MARIA DI MENTO of The Chronicle of Philanthropy
Tue, November 15, 2022 

MacKenzie Scott’s big gifts have been a boon to the charities who received them, and widespread fears in the nonprofit world that her gifts would lead other donors to pull back their support or that small groups wouldn’t be able to handle them were largely unfounded.

That’s according to a study by the Center for Effective Philanthropy, which surveyed more than 700 nonprofits that Scott identified as grant recipients in 2020 and 2021. The center received responses from 277 nonprofits.

Among the findings:

• Nearly 90% of respondents said the gift from Scott was the largest unrestricted donation their organization had ever received.


• Almost all of the nonprofits — 98% — said they were directing the funds toward improving their existing programs and starting new ones.

• Almost three-quarters — 73% — said they were hiring more staff or consultants to take on that new work.

• More than 90% said they were using the donation to improve their charity’s financial stability.

Susan Goodell, chief executive of El Pasoans Fighting Hunger, a food bank that received $9 million from Scott in December 2020, said the money came at a pivotal time. It shored up her group’s financial health after soaring food-assistance needs forced the charity to expand faster than it could handle. The organization had taken out a loan to buy a building it could turn into a food-storage warehouse.

“Looking toward 2021, we were terribly afraid we were going to have to scale back when need was still incredibly high,” Goodell says.

Instead of scaling back in 2021 as Goodell feared, Scott’s $9 million infusion in late 2020 meant Goodell was able to pay off roughly $2.6 million in debt the food bank had taken on and buy more food to meet the growing needs in El Paso.

“It was really a shot in the arm at a time when this organization was in incredible need,” Goodell says. “Frankly, I don’t know what we would have done without this gift.”

Most of the respondents said foundations and individual donors didn’t change their support because of the Scott donation, something many nonprofits and philanthropy experts had worried about. Slightly more than half of the respondents in the study — 52% — said receiving a donation from Scott made their fundraising efforts easier, and 35% said it had no effect at all on their fundraising.

The possibility that other donors might rethink their support was on the mind of Akil Vohra, executive director of Asian American Youth LEAD, which received $2 million from Scott in 2021. So far, however, his organization hasn’t experienced a decrease in support from other donors or foundations.

“It’s still a concern for me about what that (gift) means for new funders moving forward,” he says. “But I think that’s kind of my responsibility to continue to talk about the work we’re doing and what impact it’s having and the need in the AAPI community.”

Vohra’s group provides after-school academic programs, leadership development, mentoring, and summer programs to underserved Asian-American and Pacific Islander youths in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.

“Her investment put a spotlight on a community that is often seen as this model minority but that in truth has great needs,” says Vohra, who points out that the majority of the youths his group serves are on free or reduced-cost school meals, and many are recent immigrants.

Like nearly 60% of survey respondents, Vohra says Scott’s gift gave the charity a boost to improve its infrastructure. In his group’s case, that has meant purchasing new and better laptops, phones, and development technology. He was also able to give employees significant raises, something 62% of respondents said Scott’s support made possible.

Scott’s gift also enabled Asian American Youth LEAD to expand its programs. As a result, the charity now serves 30% more youths.

About 75% of respondents said receiving a donation from Scott changed their approach to fundraising because it bolstered their confidence when asking foundations or individuals for support. Some said Scott’s gift made them feel confident enough to ask foundations for larger grants than they had in the past, or it gave them greater courage to ask for larger annual gifts from donors.

Scott started giving big in the summer of 2020 when she announced her first round of unrestricted, mostly one-time donations to hundreds of charities. For many organizations, the seven- and eight-figure gifts were the largest they had ever received, and her subsequent giving has continued to follow that model.

Scott has supported a number of large, well-known charities like Easterseals, Goodwill, and Boys and Girls Clubs of America. But she has also given significant sums to historically Black colleges and universities; nonprofits led by people of color, women, and those who identify as LGBTQ; and other overlooked charities that help underserved populations.

To date, she has given more than $13 billion to charity. Nearly $8.6 billion of that went out in her first three rounds of giving, on which the study, Giving Big: The Impact of Large, Unrestricted Gifts on Nonprofits, is focused.

Advancing racial, gender, and other types of equity is an important part of the missions of many organizations that received Scott gifts.

• Nearly 70% of survey respondents said Scott’s gift allowed their organization to advance racial equity more effectively, and nearly two-thirds said they were better able to further economic mobility.

• 65% of the survey’s respondents identify as women and 40% as people of color. Among the latter, many said that receiving a donation from Scott was especially galvanizing.

Kathleen Enright, CEO of the Council on Foundations and former head of Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, says Scott’s funding choices are especially important because they go against a historical trend.

“She is prioritizing nonprofits led by women and people of color for enormous unrestricted grants, whereas historically, nonprofits led particularly by people of color and sometimes also women are required to go over a higher bar of proof and oftentimes receive smaller grants,” Enright says. “So that is a positive move.”

Nonprofits in the study received donations from Scott of $1 million to $250 million. The study puts the significant size of those gifts into context. The median grant from Scott was $8 million, a monumental sum when compared with $100,000, the median grant most staffed foundations give to nonprofits, according to the study.

“This is an order of magnitude different. Even big foundations that make big grants, at the median give around $500,000, maybe $1 million at the outside,” says Phil Buchanan, president of the Center for Effective Philanthropy. “These are $8 million gifts, so I don’t think the scale of these gifts relative both to the size of the organizations and to what is typical of other major donors can be overstated.”

_____

This article was provided to The Associated Press by the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Maria Di Mento is a senior reporter at the Chronicle. Email: maria.dimento@philanthropy.com. The AP and the Chronicle receive support from the Lilly Endowment for coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits. The AP and the Chronicle are solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

MacKenzie Scott says she has given $2 billion to 343 organizations supporting underserved communities in the last 7 months, raising her total to at least $14.5 billion since she pledged to give away most of her fortune

Isabella Zavarise, INSIDER
Mon, November 14, 2022 

Marianne Ayala/Insider

Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott gave nearly $2 billion to 343 organizations since 2019.

In the last 7 months, Scott gave money to organizations supporting people from underserved communities.

With this addition, she has now given away $14.5 billion of her fortune since signing the Giving Pledge.

Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has made another round of donations as part of her pledge to give away her billions.

In a blog post on Monday, Scott said in the last seven months, she gave nearly $2 billion to 343 organizations supporting people from underserved communities.

The donation has brought Scott's total to at least $14.5 billion since she pledged to give away most of her fortune in 2019 after signing the Giving Pledge — a commitment to give away most of a person's wealth to philanthropy in their lifetime. Since signing the pledge, Scott has become one of the leading philanthropists in the US.

Scott's most recent donation focused on funds, which she described as a "great resource" to support. "They pool donations and spread them across a diverse group of smaller organizations working toward a common cause," she wrote in the Medium post. "The funds we picked look for teams with lived experience in the issues they're addressing."

Some of the organizations included in this round of contributions are GLAAD and the Native American Community Centre. In October, Scott donated $84.5 million to the Girl Scouts.

In an interview with CNN, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos revealed he plans to give away the majority of his $124 billion net worth during his lifetime to causes like fighting climate change.

Scott is worth $23.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Her divorce from Bezos in 2019 made her a billionaire mainly because of her 3% stake in Amazon, per reports.

U.S. agency sued over hands-off decision on Okefenokee mine


 - A group of visitors return to Stephen C. Foster State Park after an overnight camping trip on the Red Trail in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, April 6, 2022, in Fargo, Ga. Conservation groups filed suit Tuesday, Nov. 15, against a U.S. government agency challenging its decision to allow a mining project to move forward without federal permits near the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp's vast wildlife refuge.

 (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton, File)

RUSS BYNUM
Tue, November 15, 2022 

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Conservation groups filed suit Tuesday against a U.S. government agency challenging its decision to allow a mining project to move forward without federal permits near the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp's vast wildlife refuge.

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court accuses the Army Corps of Engineers of contradicting its own policies and violating federal law when the agency agreed in August to relinquish regulatory jurisdiction over the proposed mine near the Georgia-Florida line.

It's the latest move by environmentalists seeking to stop Twin Pines Minerals from mining titanium dioxide near the eastern edge of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. It's the largest refuge east of the Mississippi River, covering 630 square miles (1,630 square kilometers). Government scientists have warned that mining near the swamp's bowl-like rim could damage its ability to hold water.

“The Corps has stripped the proposed mine site of not only protections provided by a Clean Water Act permit, but also a host of other protections guaranteed by federal law,” attorneys for the Southern Environmental Law Center said in the lawsuit, filed on behalf of four conservation groups.

The Army Corps said it doesn't comment on pending litigation.

Shifting answers by the Army Corps over whether the federal government has regulatory authority over the Georgia project have vexed Alabama-based Twin Pines and opponents of the planned mine for more than two years.

That's because the rules have changed twice since the company began applying for mining permits in 2019. President Donald Trump's administration narrowed the types of waterways qualifying for protection under the Clean Water Act, prompting the Army Corps to declare in 2020 that it no longer had jurisdiction over wetlands on the Twin Pines project site.

The Army Corps then briefly reasserted authority in June after Trump's regulatory rollbacks were scrapped by federal courts and President Joe Biden's administration sought to restore federal oversight of Twin Pines' proposed mine.

The company responded by suing the government. In August, the Army Corps agreed to a legal settlement that again let the planned mine move ahead without its interference.

That's left Georgia state regulators with sole permitting authority over the project. The state Environmental Protection Division is still reviewing Twin Pines' permit applications.

The conservation groups' lawsuit says the Army Corps' hands-off agreement with Twin Pines contradicts the agency's own internal guidance that says landowners can no longer rely on jurisdictional waivers made under the invalidated Trump-era rules. It also says the decision violates the Administrative Procedures Act.

The groups are asking a court to vacate the Army Corps' agreement with Twin Pines. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the National Wildlife Refuge Association, the National Parks Conservation Association, Defenders of Wildlife and the Center for Biological Diversity.

The sprawling Okefenokee refuge is home to alligators, bald eagles and other protected species. The swamp’s wildlife, cypress forests and flooded prairies draw roughly 600,000 visitors each year, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages the refuge.

Twin Pines President Steve Ingle has insisted his company can mine the site that includes more than 556 acres (225 hectares) of wetlands without harming the swamp.

Government scientists have been skeptical. In February 2019, the Fish and Wildlife Service wrote that the proposed mine could pose “substantial risks” to the swamp, including its ability to hold water. Some impacts, it said, “may not be able to be reversed, repaired, or mitigated for.”

NO MORE CONTRACTING OUT

Ford must bring more work in-house to preserve jobs - CEO

Tue, November 15, 2022 
By Joseph White

DETROIT, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co Chief Executive Jim Farley said on Tuesday the automaker will need to build more components for electric vehicles in its own factories so "everyone has a role" in the future.

Electric vehicles will require 40% less labor to build than current combustion vehicles, Farley told a conference in Detroit sponsored by the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, a civil rights group.

Farley told reporters on the sidelines of the conference that Ford was "going back..to our Model A," when the company built many of the components for vehicles itself at the Rouge manufacturing complex in Dearborn, Michigan.

Bringing production of electric vehicle motors, batteries and other components in-house was necessary to preserve jobs and to be competitive, Farley said.

Tesla Inc, the No. 1 U.S. electric vehicle maker, builds much of the hardware for its electric vehicles, including batteries. Tesla's profit margins are now superior to Ford's and many other established automakers.

"We want to be No. 1," Farley told the Rainbow PUSH conference in Detroit.

Ford has begun building an electric vehicle manufacturing complex in Western Tennessee called Blue Oval City. Farley said he "would be thrilled" if workers hired there decide to join a union. But that decision is up to the workers.

Ford and Detroit rivals General Motors Co and Stellantis NV begin contract talks with the United Auto Workers next year. The changes driven by the shift to electrification will be central to those negotiations. The UAW's President, Ray Curry, has said he wants workers at new U.S. EV operations, including joint venture battery plants, to be organized without the process of secret ballot votes.

"Next year's negotiations will be hugely important for all stakeholders," Farley said.

Farley has brought in a number of executives from outside the auto industry to lead electrification and software development efforts. But he said Ford must do a better job of developing managers from within its ranks.

"We can't keep hiring from outside," he said. (Reporting By Joe White; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

WILDCAT!

U.S. Railroad unions struggle to get rebellious workers to ‘yes’ on contracts


LM Otero/AP Photo

Eleanor Mueller
Tue, November 15, 2022 

More than half of freight rail workers will vote on proposed contracts next week amid a highly organized effort by some of their colleagues to urge a “no” vote.

It’s the biggest test yet of the Biden administration’s push to avert an economically crippling rail strike after it helped a dozen unions broker a compromise with freight carriers in September. A rebel group, Railroad Workers United, is stoking opposition among members who believe the compromise green-lit by union leaders doesn’t go far enough to address working conditions that have led to severe attrition at the nation’s largest carriers.

So far, seven smaller unions have voted to approve their tentative agreements, while three have voted against — one as recently as Monday.

“There's a sense of hopelessness amongst a number of working railroaders,” said one of RWU’s leaders, Ron Kaminkow, who is a member of one of the unions voting next week. “The goal of our campaign is to basically empower people to just vote 'no' if they actually believe that this thing is not good. Don't be conned into voting for something that you really don't want.”

If unions don't get members on board by the end of an industry-wide cooling-off period Dec. 9, just one could spark a strike that capsizes the nation’s supply chain — stripping store shelves, starving livestock and compromising drinking water. At that point, Congress could be forced to step in and extend the cooling-off period, during which workers are barred from walking off the job — or impose the employer-championed recommendations of a presidentially appointed emergency board.

The presidents of the industry’s two largest unions — Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen — are criss-crossing the U.S. to buoy support for the proposed contracts before their members' votes are tallied Monday. They say they’ve gotten them the best deal possible.

“My message is, ‘Guys, we went all the way to the championship. We never backed down,’” SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson said from his car recently on the way to yet another event in Boone, Iowa.

But the RWU’s message is resonating with burnt-out freight rail employees frustrated by what they consider employers’ punitive attendance policies, among other things, and critical of the compromises accepted by their union presidents.

RWU is “just trying to get the unions to put the full interest of the membership ahead of everything else,” said one railroad worker, who is not associated with RWU and spoke anonymously to avoid retaliation from their employer. “I can definitely see interest in their message grow significantly.”

One union official called the situation “out of control.”

“There's going to be lessons learned going into the next round of bargaining about how we … control the narrative a little bit better — and I don't mean that in the propaganda way, I mean making sure that people have the facts,” said Greg Regan, president of the AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department. “This was, for all intents and purposes, the first major national bargaining round in which social media reached this place it is right now.”

Since launching its campaign last month, RWU has held virtual events, solicited support from other organizations, and even peddled merch. A recent town hall drew nearly 500 RSVPs on Eventbrite as well as about $4,000 in donations, according to RWU — and, as of last Thursday, around 1,800 views on YouTube.

Union leaders, meanwhile, have been just as active. SMART-TD’s Ferguson has gone on podcasts, sent letters, participated in conference calls and attended town halls across the country alongside BLET President Dennis Pierce.

Face-to-face with workers, “I can tell right away who the ‘no’ votes are” and start “explaining how it works,” Ferguson said. “‘We're at the end. This is it. We're out of runway, guys.’”

Part of the effort is just explaining the negotiating process, said BLET Vice President Vince Verna — and the few options left to unions.

“It reminds me of those signs in the mall that say, ‘You are here,’” Verna said. “That's been part of this whole thing with our members — saying ’Here, ‘we're at this point in the process, and we're at the very last stages of the process.’”

As it stands, union officials are unsure of which way the rank-and-file will vote.

“It’s on a razor's edge,” Ferguson said. “It’s going to be tight.”

Workers’ decision to strike could cause Congress to step in and lengthen the cooling-off period — or impose the employer-endorsed recommendations of a presidentially appointed emergency board.

“We're gonna get what [workers] ratify, or we're gonna go back and forth to Congress — and God knows what's going to come out of this,” Ferguson said.

Either way, AFL-CIO’s Regan said, the proposed contracts aren’t the end of the line for rail workers.

“We are going to need to have major reforms to the industry, period,” he said, noting that those reforms go well beyond what can be negotiated in a labor contract. “All those quality-of-life issues are directly tied to the fact that [carriers] have cut their workforce to the bone.”

So far, RWU has steered clear of endorsing or advocating for specific contract language — earning them criticism from union officials.

“There are factions out there on social media … actively campaigning against this thing, with no thought on the merit,” Jared Cassity, SMART-TD’s alternative national legislative director, said. “It sucks. It sucks.”

RWU’s leaders maintain that there are too many disparate interests at play to weigh in on particular proposals.

”Each craft is going to be very different in their demands,” another RWU leader, Ross Grooters, said. The group “isn't going to represent every specific demand for each craft; that's up to us as workers to bring forward and push up.”

Tanya Snyder contributed to this report.

Another union rejects deal with nation's freight railroads


A worker walks along tracks at a BNSF rail yard, Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022, in Kansas City, Kan. On Monday, Nov. 14, 2022, a third railroad union has rejected its agreement with the nation's freight railroads, increasing the chances that Congress may be called upon to settle the dispute and block a strike. 

(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File) 

JOSH FUNK
Mon, November 14, 2022 

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A third railroad union has rejected its agreement with the nation's freight railroads, increasing the chances that Congress may be called upon to settle the dispute and block a strike.

The small International Brotherhood of Boilermakers union on Monday voted down the contract even though it includes the biggest raises workers have seen in more than four decades. The union represents just a few hundred of the roughly 115,000 rail workers involved in the contract dispute with Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, BNSF, Kansas City Southern, CSX and other railroads.

All 12 rail unions must approve their deals to prevent a strike, although no strike is imminent because all the unions have agreed to keep negotiating even if their members vote no, until a deadline early next month.

Seven other unions have ratified the five-year deals that include 24% raises and $5,000 in bonuses. The focus now is on the three unions that have voted down their agreements and the remaining two that haven’t finished voting.

Workers' quality-of-life concerns about demanding schedules and the lack of paid sick time in the industry have threatened to derail the agreements even with the sizeable raises railroads are offering.

Contract talks with the two unions that rejected their deals last month remain deadlocked over the issue of paid sick time. So it is looking increasingly likely that Congress will have to step in to settle this dispute

“If we can’t improve the agreement by getting some sort of sick leave, I think Congress is going to have to intervene because I think the railroads are just too stubborn to give us what we want unless we are able to strike," Tony Cardwell, president of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division union, said Monday.

The railroads have said they want these contracts to closely follow the recommendations made this summer by a special board of arbitrators that President Joe Biden appointed. Offering sick leave on top of the raises and bonuses that are already in the deal would require the railroads to spend more.

Congress is expected to block a rail strike and impose contract terms on both sides if they can't come to an agreement before next month's deadline. That's because the stakes are so high for the economy with so many businesses relying on railroads to deliver their raw materials and finished products.

When they’re not at the negotiating table, the railroads and unions will be lobbying Congress over the next few weeks about what should be included if lawmakers do decide to impose contract terms on the freight railroads.

If the two biggest unions that represent conductors and engineers also reject their deals when they release the results of their votes next Monday, that would put additional pressure on the railroads. But Cardwell said he doesn't think even that would be enough to get the railroads to budge on sick time.

The railroads declined to comment Monday on the status of the talks with the BMWED and Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen unions, but they have been adamant about not offering paid sick time. They say they believe the unions agreed to forego paid sick time over the years in favor of higher wages and strong short-term disability benefits.

One reason the unions object to the railroads' refusal to offer sick time is because federal contractors are required by an executive order to give that to their employees. The railroads insisted they were federal contractors last year when they required employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine but now they say the sick time requirement doesn't apply to them.

Hundreds of business groups have written letters to Biden and members of Congress urging them to be prepared to intervene in the contract dispute, if necessary. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh has said he is in daily contact with the railroads and unions urging them to work out a deal.

HISTORIC

Illinois voters approve collective bargaining amendment

Illinois voters decided to amend their state constitution to guarantee the right to bargain collectively.


 Pro-union protesters march around the the Wisconsin state Capitol in Madison, Wis., March 26, 2011. With U.S. union ranks swelling as everyone from coffee shop baristas to warehouse workers seeks to organize,  (AP Photo/Andy Manis, File) 

8JOHN O'CONNOR
Tue, November 15, 2022 


SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois voters have approved an amendment to their state constitution guaranteeing the right to bargain collectively.

The measure in last week's election was closely watched in Illinois and beyond as a gauge of public support for the labor movement, which has lost ground for years in conservative-led states. Unions groups say it could signal a new chapter in the struggle over workers’ rights as U.S. union ranks have grown as everyone from coffee shop baristas to warehouse workers seeks to organize.

They view it as a way to ensure workers will always be able to use their collective clout to secure better pay, hours and working conditions. They also say it will prevent the Legislature, should it undergo a shift to the right, from passing a so-called right-to-work law that would allow workers covered by union contracts to not pay dues.

“Being able to protect everyone’s ability to step up and organize their workplace is a critical component to making sure everyone has access to some higher paying jobs and safer workplaces,” said Joe Bowen, spokesman for the Vote Yes for Workers’ Rights group. “Specifically, you’ve certainly seen a lot of abuses -- Starbucks baristas or folks who might work at Amazon warehouses. But these historical examples have existed for generations and it’s really important that we do what we can to secure these rights for Illinoisans.”

Business groups and conservatives opposed the measure, saying they think it will drive up taxes, give unions too much power, lead to more strikes and prompt companies to leave for more industry-friendly states.

Union rights have taken a beating in Republican-led states in recent years. Twenty-seven states now have right-to-work laws, and Wisconsin went so far as to strip nearly all of its public workers, including teachers, of collective bargaining rights.

Tennessee voters last week approved a change to the state Constitution that reinforces the state’s existing law freeing workers from being required to pay union dues.

The Associated Press called the race on Tuesday. The Illinois measure required 60% of those voting on the question to vote “yes” for it to pass or 50% of all votes cast to be in favor of the question. It failed to get the 60% of those voting on the question, but was approved by more than 50% of all votes cast.

HISTORIC

Mormon Church comes out in support of same-sex marriage law
 

Flowers bloom in front of the Salt Lake Temple, at Temple Square, in Salt Lake City. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022, came out in support of The Respect for Marriage Act under consideration in Congress after years of opposing recognition of same-sex marriage. 

(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File) 

SAM METZ
Tue, November 15, 2022 

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said Tuesday it supports proposed federal legislation to safeguard same-sex marriages. It's the church's latest show of support in the lead-up to an expected congressional vote Wednesday.

The 17-million member, Utah-based faith said in a statement that church doctrine would continue to consider same-sex relationships against God's commandments, yet would support rights for same-sex couples as long as they didn't infringe upon religious groups' right to believe as they choose.

“We believe this approach is the way forward. As we work together to preserve the principles and practices of religious freedom together with the rights of LGBTQ individuals much can be accomplished to heal relationships and foster greater understanding,” an unnamed spokesperson for the church said.

Support for the Respect for Marriage Act under consideration in Congress is the church's latest step to stake out a more welcoming stance toward the LGBTQ community while holding firm to its belief that same-sex relationships are sinful.

Patrick Mason, a professor of religious studies at Utah State University, said the church's position was both a departure from and continuation of its past stances — respecting laws yet working to safeguard religious liberty and ensuring they won't be forced to perform same-sex marriages or grant them official church sanction.

“This is part of the church’s overall theology essentially sustaining the law of the land, recognizing that what they dictate and enforce for their members in terms of their behavior is different than what it means to be part of a pluralistic society,” he said.

The faith opposes same-sex marriage and sexual intimacy, but it has taken a more welcoming stance to LGBTQ people in recent years. In 2016, it declared that same-sex attraction is not a sin, while maintaining that acting on it was.

The bill, which has won support from Democrats and Republicans, is set for a test vote in the Senate on the legislation Wednesday, with a final vote as soon as this week or later this month. It comes after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion, with Justice Clarence Thomas issuing a concurring opinion indicating that an earlier high court decision protecting same-sex marriage could come under threat.

The legislation would repeal the Clinton-era Defense of Marriage Act and require states to recognize all marriages that were legal where they were performed. It makes clear that the rights of private individuals and businesses wouldn’t be affected.

Utah’s four congressmen — who are all Latter-day Saints — each came out in support of the legislation earlier this year.

The church’s public stance is a dramatic departure from 14 years ago, when it was the largest campaign contributor in support of California’s Prop. 8, which defined marriage as between a man and a woman in response to cities such as San Francisco granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

It has since made incremental changes, including allowing the children of same-sex couples to get baptized. Yet its stance toward LGBTQ people — including those who grow up in the church — remains painful for many.

Troy Williams, the executive director of Equality Utah, said it was “thrilling” to see the church part of the coalition in support of the legislation.

“Despite differences we may have, we can always discover common ground on laws that support the strengthening of all families,” Williams, who grew up a church member, said.

The faith opposes anti-discrimination laws that would limit the rights of businesses and individuals who object to same-sex marriage or force religious groups to accept same-sex couples who want to marry in their churches or on their property. But it has supported state-based efforts to pass laws that prohibit employment and housing discrimination as long as they clarify respect for religious freedom.

___

News Editor Brady McCombs contributed to this report.