On Friday, President Donald Trump signed his major reconciliation package he calls the “Big, Beautiful Bill.”
The measure extended compensation to people who have been exposed to radiation from uranium mining and the testing of nuclear weapons.
The extension of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act doubles the amount of money victims could receive to $100,000.
For Arizona, the move expands coverage to downwinders south of the Grand Canyon in Mohave County, who had previously not been covered.
Cullin Pattillo is an advocate for downwinders and celebrated the move.
“It's giving us some justice. The money, the money will be nice for my mother. She could use it," Pattillo said.
Pattillo compared the $100,000 figure included in the law to the millions in medical costs treating his late father’s cancer from radiation exposure.
“It's better than nothing. But it's certainly not a life-changing quantity of money. It’s more of a ‘here, we’re sorry money, this is the best we can do.’ And that's OK. I understand the government's position on that," Pattillo said.
The compensation act, which expired last June, now lasts through 2028.
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Thousands of refugees in the U.S. lost health coverage on Oct. 1 as new Medicaid eligibility rules took effect. In Arizona, unlike in most states, even children and pregnant women are being dropped. -
Arizona applied for around $200 million from the Rural Health Transformation Program, part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The state will be getting $30 million less than expected. -
Nearly 30 people have died from heat stroke in the Mexican state south of Arizona this year. -
Microplastic concentrations in Nevada's Truckee River increased nearly tenfold during spring runoff, according to new research that offers a glimpse into how plastic pollution moves through some western waterways. -
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