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Bill Directs $25M In Federal Funding To Meat-Processing Plants

The Tyson Foods processing plant in Wilkes County, North Carolina. KERI BROWN/WFDD

A bill being introduced in the state House on Tuesday would earmark $25 million in federal funding to aid meat-processing plants. 

House Bill 1201 is sponsored by GOP Representatives Jeffrey Elmore of Wilkes County and Julia Howard of Davie County and appears to have bipartisan support.

The Winston-Salem Journal reports the $25 million aid package comes from federal CARES Act funding and is meant to help meat-processing plants add production capacity.

The bill states that the COVID-19 pandemic has seriously impacted the food supply chain and that the money is needed “to help small producers get their product to market.”

The legislation does not address worker-safety conditions, despite several coronavirus outbreaks at meat-processing facilities. At least 570 workers tested positive for COVID-19 at Tyson Foods' Wilkesboro plant.

The bill is set to be introduced in a House Agriculture committee meeting.

For the most up-to-date information on coronavirus in North Carolina, visit our Live Updates blog here. WFDD wants to hear your stories — connect with us and let us know what you're experiencing.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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