Legislative Activity Sonny Perdue Awaits Full Senate Vote Last week, the Senate Agriculture Committee easily approved Sonny Perdue’s nomination for the position of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary. The committee favorably reported his nomination by voice vote; however, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) was the lone vote of opposition. Gillibrand stood behind her vote, … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Outlook for the 115th Congress On Tuesday, January 31, the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee – led by Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) – held a brief business meeting to adopt the committee’s rules and funding resolution for the 115th Congress. Chairman Roberts announced that a separate … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) On Thursday, May 12, the House Agriculture Committee will hold a hearing to examine issues some retailers face while navigating SNAP requirements. During the first 16 months of the 114th Congress, the House Agriculture Committee, along with its Subcommittee on Nutrition, held 14 hearings that focused on SNAP. … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Farm Bill Conference Progress Senate Agriculture Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) has remarked publicly that a farm bill compromise is “doable” before Congress leaves for the Thanksgiving break, as agreements may have been reached or are close to being reached on issues including dairy, crop insurance, and conservation. It also appears that the conference … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Farm Bill Conference: Priority Issues At-A-Glance On October 30, the 41 House and Senate farm bill conferees convened at a public meeting to formally kick-off negotiations, although informal talks began a few months ago between agriculture leadership’s staff. Despite many conferees cautioning against pre-maturely drawing lines on issues, it was clear what issues … Continue Reading
LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITY Farm Bill Conference This Wednesday, October 30, marks the official start to the farm bill conference, which will be a public meeting involving the 41 House and Senate conferees. For months, agriculture leadership and their staff have met behind the scenes on an informal basis to start conversations on reconciling the two farm … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity Farm Bill This week, agriculture leadership in both chambers will likely announce a date for the farm bill conference to begin. Last week, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas (R-OK) shared that the farm bill conference would begin when both chambers are in session, which means that a date will likely be scheduled … Continue Reading
LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITY House Nutrition Title Bill Last week, the House passed its nutrition title bill, the Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act of 2013 (H.R. 3102), by a vote of 217 to 210. The bill would cut Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) funding by $39 billion over the next 10 years, … Continue Reading
LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITY FARM BILL This week, the House will consider the Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act, most likely under a closed rule, after aggressively whipping votes in support of the bill last week. There are fairly serious concerns about getting the majority 218 votes needed, as some Republicans find the proposed $40 billion in … Continue Reading
LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITY Farm Bill As Congress returns from the August recess, the House agenda for September will include floor consideration of a nutrition title bill that looks to enact major reforms to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps). The Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act aims to cut $40 billion … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Farm Bill. On July 12, the House narrowly passed a revised “agriculture-only” Farm Bill (H.R. 2642) by a vote of 216 to 208, with 12 Republicans voting against the bill. The bill repealed the 1949 Act, which would authorize commodity programs to be permanent law. Less than 218 votes were needed to … Continue Reading
Legislative Activity House Farm Bill. Last Thursday, June 20, the House failed to pass its version of the Farm Bill by a vote of 195 to 234. Overall, 171 Republicans voted for the measure and 62 opposed the measure due to concerns that there was still too much spending on farm subsidies and the Supplemental … Continue Reading
