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Balanced Reporting. Trusted Insights.
Wednesday, May 25, 2022
Hemp supporters are touting the crop's myriad uses and soil-nurturing properties while pushing some ideas for increasing its viability as Congress prepares to update the 2018 farm bill that sparked a growing interest.
The House ventures into the debate over livestock pricing this week, taking up a bill that would require USDA to compile data on cattle contracts, while congressional Democratic leaders try to find a way to raise the debt ceiling and finalize a Senate deal on their Build Back Better plan.
The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved a fiscal 2022 spending bill for the Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration that includes about $7 billion in disaster assistance and $700 million for USDA’s ReConnect program for rural broadband.
Supporters of the Growing Climate Solutions Act are signing up new co-sponsors for the Senate-passed legislation in hopes of getting the House to take up the bill.
President Joe Biden’s proposal to tax capital gains at death accounts for about one-third of the revenue to pay for his American Families Plan, a sweeping package of education, health and child care benefits. That’s according to an analysis of Biden’s tax proposals by the Tax Foundation.
Some 300 corporations, including some industry giants in the agriculture and food industry, are calling on President Joe Biden to commit the U.S. to cutting its greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 from 2005 levels.
Michael Regan is officially in place as administrator of the EPA after being sworn in Wednesday by Vice President Kamala Harris. The ceremony took place shortly after another nominee who had strong backing from farm groups, Katharine Tai, was confirmed by the Senate 98-0 to be U.S. trade representative.
House Democrats are gearing up to pass the Farm Workforce Modernization Act to reform the H-2A visa program and legalize undocumented workers. But the path ahead in the Senate for an ag labor bill is as difficult as ever, especially with the surge of migrants at the border.
Tom Vilsack’s return to USDA has been on hold for reasons because of delays in getting the 50-50 Senate organized. But incoming Senate Agriculture Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow tells Agri-Pulse she hopes to get Vilsack’s nomination for agriculture secretary approved “as soon as possible” once she takes over the committee.
