This week on Mountain Talk, in honor of Black History Month, we begin with two audio portraits of one-of-a-kind Black Appalachian women. First, we hear a profile of the local community organizer & activist Evelyn Williams, via a radio adaptation of a 1995 Appalshop film about Evelyn’s life (‘Evelyn Williams,’ dir. Anne Lewis). Then, we visit with the beloved local schoolteacher and musician Mabel Parker Hardison Smith, through an adaptation of another Appalshop film that focused on her (‘Mabel Parker Hardison Smith,’ also dir. by Anne Lewis, 1985). Then, we head to Frankfort, where Kentucky lawmakers convened last month for the 2026 legislative session. In addition to writing & passing bills, this year legislators will also pass Kentucky’s budget for the next two years, which determines a whole host of state funding levels. Last month, Jason Bailey, of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy (KCEP), held a webinar discussing various dimensions of this year’s budget, including how both state & federal policies have put increasing strain on Kentucky’s pocketbook, and our state safety net. For one, he says, on a state level, the GOP supermajority in the KY legislature has recently passed a series of income tax cuts, which have deprived the state budget of some $2.1 billion annually— and that’s money that goes towards things like local schools, the SNAP program, Medicaid, and more. But also, Bailey discusses how federal changes, including the passage of H.R. 1 (the Trump Administration’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill”), have put further pressure on states like Kentucky, through H.R. 1's nearly $1 trillion cut to Medicaid, as well as through the bill's changes to the SNAP program, which shift more pressure, and funding responsibility, onto states. And for the second half of our show today, we hear clips from Bailey’s talk, about these topics & more. As a final note, the 2026 legislative session runs until April 15— and as KCEP reminds us, if anyone has thoughts or opinions on this year’s budget, there is still time to get in touch with your local state representatives, and let them know. (Music in this show comes from Sparky Rucker, from the June Appal Records Release "Cold and Lonesome on a Train"; Don Bikoff, from the Free Music Archive; and Glenn Jones & Laura Baird, also from the Free Music Archive.)
